A-level Classical Civilisation CIV1A Greek Architecture and Sculpture Report on the Examination Specification 2020 June 2014 Version: 1.0
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CIV1A Greek Architecture and Sculpture Section 1 Option A Questions 01 to 05 were generally answered correctly, although in Question 04 several students believed Praxiteles was associated with the Parthenon, and in Question 05 a few thought the main Order used in this temple was Ionic. In Question 03, nearly a quarter of the students did not know the date of the Parthenon. The main weakness in answers to Question 06 was a failure to focus on the question. Many were almost entirely descriptive, sometimes at considerable length, when they should have been evaluative. Some of these digressed into the interior, even including the cult statue, when they should have been concentrating on the outside, and some provided a background to the building of the Parthenon, when they should have been making comparisons between architectural details. However, better answers used architectural knowledge to reach a balanced judgement that took into account both similarities and differences. The overall standard was comparable to that in Question 11. In Question 07, too, buildings were often described with insufficient focus on the precise evaluative requirements of the question, which in this case required judgments from the point of view of an Athenian visitor when the buildings were in pristine condition, rather than personal comments from a 21st century perspective. Some responses lacked conviction either because they considered very little apart from the Parthenon, or because they dealt only with the other buildings apart from the Parthenon. Of these, the Temple of Athena Nike was the least well known. By contrast, there was some excellent evaluation of the Propylaea s external austere grandeur and internal decorative splendour, even though this gateway was frequently categorised as a temple. This was often particularly the case when the essay was structured according to the likely route of a putative Athenian visitor around the Acropolis. The wording of the first bullet point in the question ( the views of each building ) was a reminder to base judgments on visible architectural details. It was not an invitation to comment on the view from each building over Athens and the Bay of Salamis. The best answers, used detailed knowledge and powers of critical analysis to challenge the quotation in the question and, though opinions varied, demonstrated some good insights into the distinctive qualities of the various buildings on the Athenian Acropolis. Option B Option B on sculpture was rather more popular than Option A on architecture. Most students answered Questions 08 and 09 correctly. However, in Question 09 chronology was sometimes a problem, as it was too in Question 03, and some students were unable to give a sufficiently close date for the original of Discobolos. In Question 10, the most common way to gain both marks was to refer to the addition of the strut and the change in material, though a few mentioned the substitution of a different head at a different angle and, therefore, some students found it difficult to score both marks. Question 11 elicited some pleasing evaluation based on well-observed details. Many students thought that both views were equally successful and found something of value in both but, whatever the final judgement, it was the quality of the argument that counted. Some students did not give sufficient consideration of the relationship between the sculpture and the viewer. Despite 3 of 5
what was stated on the question paper, there were some who thought the photographs were of two different sculptures. It was hoped that the provision of Photographs B and C giving two distinctive views of a single statue and the issue raised in Question 11 would lead students into the discussion required in Question 12. Regrettably this was not always the case. Some students still seemed to find it alien that a statue might look different or more / less interesting from different angles, and consequently discussed only one viewpoint. Some indeed took the word viewpoint to be a synonym of subjectmatter. Of those who did attempt to respond to the issue raised by the question, many simply stated that it was possible to walk around a free-standing statue, without analysing how far the viewer was positively invited to do so or how far the viewer would have been rewarded by doing so. Many answers, therefore, were largely descriptive or, where comments were added, drifted from the central point. Any possibility of arguing for development over time was lost by the relatively large number of students who discussed their four examples in apparently random sequence. Students who included among these Nike by Paionios and / or Aphrodite of Knidos had not looked closely either at the question or at the statues. However, there were some good discussions of the Tyrannicides and, by a smaller number of students, despite its importance for the issue, of Lysippos Apoxyomenos. Overall the standard of work was very similar to that in Question 07. Section 2 Option C Sound chronological awareness was much more in evident in answers to Question 13, and this made possible some very effective analysis of architectural changes and continuities over time. The temples at Olympia were generally well-known, but the Philippeion was often omitted, or confused with the tholos at Epidaurus. Knowledge of the temples at Paestum tended to be less detailed. For example, many students commented on the fact that the earlier Temple of Hera had two entrances and a single internal colonnade, possibly implying a double dedication, but did not discuss the three columns in the pronaos as a consequential innovation. Similarly, while many drew attention to the provision of staircases in the Temple of Athena, few pointed out that the small dimensions of this temple made it possible to dispense with an internal colonnade altogether. Sometimes technical terms were misused, especially antis apparently as a synonym for pronaos. Antae are the pilasters on the ends of the walls that extend forward and backwards from the naos to form the sides of the pronaos and opisthodomos. Distyle in antis therefore describes the arrangement of two columns between the antae at the front of these porches. Option C was considerably less popular than Option D, but it produced a wider spread of marks, with a higher percentage both of very good answers and of rather weak ones. Option D Many responses to Question 14 failed to use the opportunity to argue for development over time, by presenting examples in reverse or random chronological order, as was also the case in Question 12. Instead of analysing five well-chosen examples in detail, many students preferred to give a brief mention of as many statues as they could fit in, with the consequence being that answers tended to become a superficial catalogue and to end abruptly without any overall judgement. Relatively few considered the purpose of each statue as part of their discussion. The most successful answers discussed examples and details that actually survive, rather than, for example, the chryselephantine statue of Athena in the Parthenon or the face of Nike by Paionios. 4 of 5
Above all, responses were structured in such a way that there was a clear theme to the argument throughout and details were used effectively to inform it. Mark Ranges and Award of Grades Grade boundaries and cumulative percentage grades are available on the Results Statistics page of the AQA Website. Converting Marks into UMS marks Convert raw marks into Uniform Mark Scale (UMS) marks by using the link below. UMS conversion calculator 5 of 5