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The classical liberal arts are seven in number, but there are divisions within the seven liberal arts that require some understanding. The seven liberal arts are divided into two groups. The first division was the Trivium, made up of three arts and comparable to (but different from) what we know as "Language Arts" today. The second division was the Quadrivium, made up of four arts and, again, comparable to but different from the "Mathematical Arts" today. You can learn more about the classical Quadrivium, by reading about the CLAA's Classical Mathematics program. Here, we're focused on the Trivium.
The Trivium, in history, was made up of three levels of study, at which students developed a growing set of communication skills necessary for the pursuit of wisdom and work in what were called the "learned professions"--law, medicine, religion, politics, and so on. The goal was to be a penetrating thinker who could speak and write well and communicate effectively and that meant mastery was required in three areas: language, reasoning and persuasion.
"Speaking and writing both have
their own rules. Language is based
on Reason, Antiquity, Authority
and Usage." - Quintillian (1st c. AD)
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The art of Grammar---speaking and writing well was the work of the grammaticus, or Grammar teacher. What he taught and how he taught it is no mystery. He was responsible to teach two different aspects of Grammar, which were called Methodical Grammar and Historical Grammar. Methodical Grammar has three basic divisions: Etmology (Parts of Speech), Syntax (Composition) & Prosody (Accent & Meter), which are represented in our Grammar I, Grammar II-A and Grammar III-A courses, respectively. Historical Grammar provides students with an interpretive study of the master works. In Grammar IB, students read St. Jerome's Latin translation of St. John's Gospel, in Grammar II-B the prose epistles and treatises of Cicero and in Grammar III-B, the poetry of Vergil. Students completing the Latin courses who wish to add the study of Greek will simply add a "C" component to each of the three levels.
The art of reasoning depends on a degree of language mastery and therefore follows Grammar. It is itself divided into two different branches, which may be seen as levels: Dialectic and Demonstration. Aristotle provides us with the distinction between these two forms of reasoning:
"Reasoning is demonstration when it proceeds from premises which are true and primary...Reasoning is dialectical which reasons from generally accepted opinions."
In the CLAA, our study of the art of Reasoning consists of three parts. In Reasoning I, students study terms and propositions in Arisotle's works On Categories and On Interpretation. In Reasoning II, students study the Aristotle's Analytics. In Reasoning III, we study Aristotle's Dialectic.
Note: Dialectic is the counterpart to Rhetoric, and Analytics is required (among other things) for the study of Philosophy. We have arranged Reasoning II to cover the Analytics so that both Posterior Analytics and Dialectic may be studied simultaneously by motivated students who wish to begin the study of Rhetoric and Philosophy as soon as possible.
As students progress toward mastery of the arts of Language and Reasoning, they enter into the study of the third area of the Trivium: the art of Persuasion, which is called Rhetoric. By persuasion here, we should not think that we simply mean the ability to write persuasive essays or deliver persuasive speeches. The art of Rhetoric extends into the enchantment of the human heart and soul, whereby appeal is made through sounds and figures to the emotions of hearers and readers. In the CLAA, two courses in Rhetoric are offered, with Rhetoric I covering the Rhetoric of Aristotle and Rhetoric II that of Cicero.
These three arts, taken together, form the ancient Trivium, taught as it has been throughout history in the Classical Liberal Arts Academy.
William C. Michael
CLAA Director
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COMMON QUESTIONS
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Why We MUST Study Greek and Latin |
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Question: My husband and I do not know Latin or Greek. Will our children be able to handle the CLAA's Grammar courses?
Answer: Yes. Face it, hardly any of the families using the CLAA program have had the privilege of studying the classical liberal arts. Like you, they are seeking something better for their children than they received themselves. At the same time, you cannot give what you do not have. The CLAA Grammar courses are written and taught so that students and parents with no background in classical languages can get along just fine--with hard work, of course.
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Question: What pronunciation is used in CLAA's Grammar courses?
Answer: Our Grammar courses are intended to make students masters of language in general and the classical languages in particular. Therefore, we begin with classical Latin pronunciation, which was the reason for many of the rules in Latin, then quickly move to Ecclesiastical Latin since we are reading the Latin New Testament. We follow the principle that, for the sake of style, every writer ought to be read with the pronunciation he himself used since that is the pronunciation he intended his writing to be heard with.
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Question: My child has already had one year of Latin using another program. Should he/she begin in Grammar I or II?
Answer: We have tried to admit students from other Latin programs into our higher level language courses and they simply were nowhere near being prepared for CLAA studies. No matter what program a child has studied in before ours, they will need to begin in Grammar I.
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Question: Is it necessary for my child to complete lessons online?
Answer: Yes. CLAA students are in touch with their instructors daily and we provide detailed assistance and immediate feedback online. On the other hand, every lesson is available in a printer-friendly format and can be studied away from the computer.
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Question: At what age should a child begin the CLAA's Grammar I course?
Answer: We have students doing well from ages 6 through 15 in Grammar I. Remember that Grammar is first in a series of classical liberal arts courses in our full classical study program, so the earlier the better. If a child is not yet able to work independently, a parent can assist with reading lessons, reciting memory work and completing online activities. The CLAA Petty School is intended for younger children being prepared for the CLAA.
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Question: Do students take Grammar IA and IB at the same time?
Answer: Ideally, yes. We intend for students to work through the "A" (theory) and "B" (reading) courses together at each level. They are loosely connected in content, but not so as to make one depend upon the other. However, parents are free to enroll their children in only one of the courses at one time.
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Question: Will my children have help with pronunciation?
Answer: Yes. Our video prelections allow the child to listen to Latin and Greek readings as they are studied. Also, each Grammar lesson includes audio recordings which allow students to hear their Grammar rules recited. Students and parents have live support help available daily through our Support Services.
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Question: When do students begin Greek?
Answer: In Grammar I, students survey all of classical Grammar--focusing on Latin. In Grammar II, students go deeper into Latin Grammar, translation and composition, and meanwhile begin the study of Greek. Because the system of Grammar used in Grammar I is universal, students will move rapidly through Greek grammar since many of the principles are already known from Grammar I.
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REAL CLASSICAL STUDIES
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The stuff being sold under the banner of "classical" education is shameful and embarrassing. Authors are writing books that have no historical foundation and that are completely unproven and are marketing them with an air of historicity that deceives unknowing parents and schools. True classical studies have specific goals and require specific methods because of those goals. Cardinal John Henry Newman faced the same trouble in his day that we do in ours and wrote the following:
"Nothing is more common in an age like this,
when books abound, than to fancy that the
gratification of a love of reading is real study.
...there are many, who certainly have a taste for reading, but in whom it is little more than the result of mental restlessness and curiosity. Such minds cannot fix their gaze on one object for two seconds together; the very impulse which leads them to read at all, leads them to read on, and never to stay or hang over any one idea. The pleasurable excitement of reading what is new is their motive principle; and the imagination that they are doing something, and the boyish vanity which accompanies it, are their reward. Such youths often profess to like poetry, or to like history or biography; they are fond of lectures on certain of the physical sciences; or they may possibly have a real and true taste for natural history or other cognate subjects;—and so far they may be regarded with satisfaction; but on the other hand they profess that they do not like logic, they do not like algebra, they have no taste for mathematics; which only means that they do not like application, they do not like attention, they shrink from the effort and labour of thinking, and the process of true intellectual gymnastics. The consequence will be that, when they grow up, they may, if it so happen, be agreeable in conversation, they may be well informed in this or that department of knowledge, they may be what is called "literary"; but they will have no consistency, steadiness, or perseverance; they will not be able to make a telling speech, or to write a good letter, or to fling in debate a smart antagonist, unless so far as, now and then, mother-wit supplies a sudden capacity, which cannot be ordinarily counted on. They cannot state an argument or a question, or take a clear survey of a whole transaction, or give sensible and appropriate advice under difficulties, or do any of those things which inspire confidence and gain influence, which raise a man in life, and make him useful to his religion or his country."
Cardinal John Henry Newmann
On the Idea of a University
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