Roderick, Molly, Megan, Anna and a host of other first-year students take Logic with Mr. Spinoza, Rhetoric with Mr. McLuhan and Mathematics with Mr. Heytesbury. There is no "tracking", no credit for Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate (the more mention of which is grounds for immediate expulsion). There is no requirement to attend these classes, but first year students at Old Ivy understand that it is in their best interest to do so if they want to pass the exams.
Mr. Gelehrte, President of the College, aptly expressed the Old Ivy perspective in his remarks at Convocation: "Here, you are all equally ignorant."
Zack Hagen, Emily Scharf and Candy Whistlethorne are all second year students who take the more advanced classes in Logic, Rhetoric and Mathematics.
Among the first year students, the differences are in the electives and extracurricular activities.
Roderick takes Mr. Rothschild's class in the History of Banking and Finance. It's a small class, and he's enjoying it very much. They've covered banking in Antiquity through the Roman era and the decline of banking subsequent to the rise of Christianity and its ban on lending at interest. Those who are inclined towards broad general theories of history might well attribute the Fall of Rome to the decline of Rome's banking institutions. Roderick is not so inclined, but he thinks it's interesting nevertheless.
He still can't find Mr. Strnk.
Molly dropped Mr. Manzoni's Italian class, as did most of the other Music students. It turns out that students need only a smattering of Italian to pass the Music exams. For example, a prospective graduate needs to know the difference between Allegro Scorrevole and Andante Ma Non Troppo, lest they play a piece at the wrong tempo.
For the Opera part of the exam, a student needs to answer questions like this:
In Act One of Le Nozze di Figaro, Susannah sings the following lines:
Così se il mattino
il caro Contino,
din din; e ti manda
tre miglia lontan,
don don; a mia porta
il diavol lo porta,
ed ecco in tre salti ...
What does she mean?
The answer, of course, is that Susannah is telling Figaro that it's a bad idea to have a bedroom next to Count Almaviva because he will rape her repeatedly and with abandon. But a student can muddle through the exam simply by learning the plots of major operas and a few words of the arias. Anna offered to teach Molly basic Italian, so...good-bye Mr. Manzoni.
Instead, Molly takes basic Counterpoint with Mr. Firmus. Anna's in the class, too. She's helping Molly catch up, since she studied some Counterpoint at Ecole Vevey and "gets it" more quickly than Molly.
Molly and Anna also have their private music lessons, plus coaching in Lieder.
Megan takes the Literature Workshop with Miss Joyce, where aspiring young writers sit around, read their work aloud and pretend to listen to the other students.
So much for electives. Turning to extracurricular activities, we start with Roderick who, as you know, as invited into the Bach Chorale but isn't sure if he wants to stay. He definitely plans to join the Chamber Orchestra.
Anna is sure she wants to be in the Bach Chorale and the College Chorus as well.
Megan joined the Gun Club and the Women's Club, where she is organizing the annual anti-rape fair (this year's theme: Just Blow Their Heads Off).
Molly, of course, models in Human Figure class. This isn't exactly an extracurricular activity -- it's a job that pays her tuition. But whatever.
