language
In the Language Tutorial students study a foreign language and the art of translation. By exploring a foreign tongue (including 2 years of Greek) and your own native tongue you'll develop an understanding of the nature of language in general and its use as a tool of discourse.
Freshman Language: Grammar
During the Freshman Language Tutorial you'll study ancient Greek grammar, examine English grammar and reflect on general questions of how language works. You'll study the nature and function of parts of speech, phrases and clauses, and receive an introduction to Eastern languages by learning written and spoken Chinese. You'll end the year by translating substantial passages from Freshman Seminar readings, such as Sappho's poetry, Aristotle's On Interpretation, Plato's Cratylus and the New Testament. By the end of the freshman year you'll have new skills in Greek translation and improved writing skills overall. At least 5 papers are required during the course of the year, and students meet individually with their language tutor discuss problems in syntax, thought, organization, and style.
Sophomore Language: Logic
The Sophomore Language Tutorial emphasizes questions of logic, especially its relationship to rhetoric and dialectic. You'll closely examine readings that not only explore the nature of language but also serve as significant examples of it. These include selections from the pre-Socratics, Plato's Phaedo, Theaetetus, Sophist and Phaedrus, and Aristotle's Categories, and Prior Analytics. You'll also deliver in-class "position papers" and lead class discussion on selected sections of the texts being studied. 3 or 4 written essays are required during the Sophomore Language Tutorial.
Junior Language: Rhetoric
The Junior Language Tutorial pays special attention to rhetoric and (philosophical) grammar. You'll investigate semantics in Augustine and the Stoics; hermeneutics and interpretation in Shakespeare's sonnets; and the opposition of styles in Pope, Wordsworth and selected short stories. Students also investigate problems in translating classical Chinese texts. The year concludes with modern treatments of languages in Saussure and Chomsky and the logic and language of Wittgenstein.
Senior Language: Dialectic
The Senior Language Tutorial explores the art of dialectic, its ancient and modern uses and its inherent limitations. You'll read Plato's Philebus and Parmenides, related passages in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and Metaphysics, Thomas Aquinas' On the Principles of Nature and On Being and Essence, Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and Hegel's Encyclopaedia Logic.
