The Books: “Up the Down Staircase” (Bel Kaufman)

Daily Book Excerpt: Adult fiction:

Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman.

I read this laugh-out-loud funny book about a woman who goes to teach in an inner city school when I was a kid. I read it because my cousin Susan, who was a year older than myself, and basically the coolest and most admirable person alive to me was reading it (and yes, if she had jumped off a bridge, I would have too) – her guffaws of laughter made me intrigued. She had to be about 13, so I was 12. I remember reading it and there was one section, in particular, which made me laugh so hard that I still remember it, years later, almost word for word. The book is not written with a narrative. There are series of conversations with her students, where she tries to get them under control (no small feat) – they refer to her as ‘teach’, they speak many languages, none of them very well, they are ghetto kids, and full of mischief and bullshit. The book also shows, beautifully, the overwhelming bureaucracy of high schools – all of the inter-office memos are printed (some of them are hilarious) – and the notes passed back and forth between teachers – Sylvia Barrett (our lead character’s name) trying to get her sea legs in this new environment, which feels more like a correctional facility than a high school. We get to know the students through their compositions that they write for her (and one of these was the thing that made me laugh so loud I had to stop reading the book, just to give myself a break). There’s a side plot where a young girl student falls in love with a male teacher – and writes him a passionate badly-spelled illiterate love letter. He doesn’t know what to do, so he gives it back to her – with all of her mistakes corrected, as though it’s just a regular paper. She responds by throwing herself out the window. She doesn’t die, but much brou-haha ensues. I love the structure of the book – it almost feels like you are rifling through a teacher’s desk drawers, at the end of a school year. Baffled notes go out by Sylvia … who is trying to learn the system, as well as teach these kids (and you just fall in love with these kids, even the criminals-in-the-making – they’re just all awesome) … and you watch (through these “found objects”) how Sylvia, over the course of the year, with much hard work, gains the kids’ respect … and figures out how to teach them.

An awesome book – if you haven’t read it, all I can say is – do yourself a favor. It’s got it all. Oh, and if you’re a teacher – you REALLY have to read it!! You seriously will snort with laughter, and there are moments that are so poignant (I love teacher stories anyway) where you feel like you might cry. The breakthroughs are small … it’s not like Sylvia discovers a Dominican Einstein in her rowdy class … but she does figure out how not just to talk to them on their level, but to raise them up as well. To hear their responses to, say, Huck Finn, in their essays – seriously, you have to read it. You will CRY with laughter.

Wonderful book.

Here are some of the students essays, from early on in the year. She has an anonymous drop-box in her room … and she will assign the kids a question to be answered … sometimes it’s general, like, “How do you like my teaching? What can I do to improve?” to more specific, like the following excerpt. I chose this excerpt because I think it’s a nice segue from all of the Ulysses posts I’ve been doing. (And the comment involving “the round person” makes me laugh out loud)

EXCERPT FROM Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman

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 would you like it if some one mentioned a Greek God and you didn’t know him. You would be embarrased.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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

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

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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 sparking 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.

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

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If it wasnt for Myths where would Shakesper be today?

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

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

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

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My own opinion is that I hated the Odessey.

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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 liion 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.

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It develops our
(not finished)

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We dove 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.

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

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

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

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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.

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What you may call it felt that the people of the earth should have fire and he stole it from Olympus 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.

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

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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.

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The Trojan horse was used as a spy of today. Gods were used as dictators and Penelpe still walks the streets of modern society.

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

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Just about all myths are based on Love and that is why.

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We read myths for learning about the gods and godesses and their affairs.

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We read it because it’s a classicle.