Bel Kaufman - Up The Down Staircase

And a friend of mine, a Millay scholar, was failed for poor interpretation of a sonnet by Millay. Her appeal was not granted, even after Edna Millay herself wrote a letter to the Board explaining that was exactly what she had meant in her poem. My friend did establish a precedent, I believe: ever since, candidates for the English license have been given poems by very dead poets, long silent in their graves.

Now, of course, things are different: they thrust the license upon anybody who can stand up and use a board eraser.

The Aide didn't show up and I'm stuck in the lobby again. Send down some cheery news!

Bea

INTRASCHOOL COMMUNICATION

FROM: 304

TO: Mrs. B. Schachter, Lobby

Dear Bea—

Cheery? I feel lost and a bit absurd—as if I were tilting at windmills which aren't there, or shouting in an empty tunnel. I keep trying to remember who I am. The Board of Ed has the same trouble.

Now they inform me that "A teacher who has exhausted his cumulative sick leave may borrow up to 20 days of additional sick leave."

Who's sick? I don't mind their lack of faith in my health; it's the Dear Sir or Madam I mind. How do I convince them I'm a Madam?

Syl

126

INTRASCHOOL COMMUNICATION

FROM: Mrs. B. Schachter

TO: 304

Dear Syl—

Play it cool. They'll catch on.

Bea

INTRASCHOOL COMMUNICATION

FROM: 304

TO: 508

Dear Bea,

Today I must return Odyssey and Myths & Their Meaning ; someone else needs crack at them. I've had only ten school days on them, in my slow class, with half of students absent or truant, and not enough books to go around, and no help from librarian—whose note is enclosed:

My dear Miss Barrett,

I am forced to cancel the library lesson you had planned for your 3rd term students in connection with their study of mythology. Sending them here six at a time creates havoc and disorder. They have already misplaced The Golden Age of Greece and have put Bullfinch on the Zoology shelf, besides 'talking. Two of your students took out books indiscriminately, that had nothing to do with the assignment. I cannot allow them the facilities of the school library until they learn the proper respect for the printed page.

Sincerely,

Charlotte Wolf , Librarian

Do you know Paul's song about her: "Who's Afraid of Charlotte Wolf?

I think I really got the kids interested; I made myths live for them by linking them with their own lives and with the present. To find out how much they've actually absorbed, I'm giving them a quiz next period. I've armed myself with a red pencil (over McHabe's dead body!) for correcting content, and a blue one for mistakes in spelling, grammar, etc. The two-tone correction was the idea of a Fed Prof of mine in college.

What I had attempted to do was to convey the comedy of the gods against the tragedy of mortals—

Syl

INTRASCHOOL COMMUNICATION

FROM: 508

TO: 304

Dear Syl—

That may be the only way to convey tragedy: through comedy. Humor is all we've got.

Bea

ENGLISH 33 SS

ANSWER BRIEFLY:

WHY DO WE STUDY THE MYTHS AND THE ODYSSEY?

Because we want to talk like cultured people. At a party how would you like it if some one mentioned a Greek God and you didn't know him. You would be embarrased.

We study myths like Orpheum & his girl friend because it takes place in the Greek Underground. We want to know how our civilization got that way.

Myths are everywhere. Many everyday things like thunder are based on myths. It helps increase our vocabulery in words like Volcanno and By Jove! and to gain experience for future behavior.

The reason we study it is because it shows the kind of writting they went in for in days of Yore. If this isn't the right answer well I don't know.

The Odessye I've just read helped me an awful lot in my life.

We study myths to learn what it was like to live in the golden age with all the killings.

I'm sure there are many reasons why we study these things but I missed it due to absence. I brought a note.

We study myths so we may comprehend in a superior fashion the origines of many idiocyncracies of our language throughout the decades, constant references to mythologic occurances have spawned such sparkling gems as Jumping Jupiter. By acquaintance with sundry gods and their female counterparts one might discover the birthplaces of such phrases of which we speak.

Diana ruled the moon and fell in love once with a mortal and because of its outcome she never again did so.

If it wasnt for Myths where would Shakesper be today?

Well, for students going to colledge even if they don't go to colledge everybody needs a certain amount of literature in their backround.

To me the "Odyssey" was just another Ethan Frome or Silas Marner.

It's hard to avoid reading because every wheres we go reading is there.

My own opinion is that I hated the Odessy.

I dont know why we read them but I can tell about it. Pyramid and Thisbe are next door neighbors who like Romeo and Juliette were caused to die by their parents. They saw each other thru a hole in the wall. After a while they couldnt stand it and decided not to meet by the hole any more. So they met by a tree. Thisbe runs away at the sight of a lady lion who's mouth is dripping blood. She dropped a clothe which the lady lion only picked up and thats all. Pyramid walks over and sees the clothe full of blood. He became agrieved and slewed himself. She then walks over and seeing her lover laying on the ground she couldnt stand the sight of him and likewise slewed herself. The blood of them both joined and changed the white flower to purple. How beautiful is love.

It developes our

(not finished)

We drove deeply into the Odessey to get what we can out of it. I think it's valuable to us. It's very difficult to understand the English of before.

Mythology is studied in the school system because most of us come from it.

My opinion about the Oddysey is ridiculous. I don't want to hear about some one's troubles.

The reason we study mythology is to gain tolerance for others even if they don't deserve it.

I didn't know we'd have a quizz on it so didn't study for it, but I imagine we read it to be a round person.

What you may call it felt that the people of the earth should have fire and he stole it from Ollympus and took it to earth. He was then punished by being tied to a mountain top and have his liver eaten out every day by a Vultur.

Once a person studies myth's they look on life a little different. I know I do.

Why do we study the Odyssy? Because everybody in high school at one time or another read it and now we have to read it because it's our turn. The Trojan horse was used as a spy of today. Gods were used as dictators and Penelpe still walks the streets of modern society.

If the odessy is of no value to me its probly because I didnt put myself into it to begin with.