In this Book
- Teaching Life: Letters from a Life in Literature
- Book
- 2008
- Published by: University of Iowa Press
summary
Part epistolary memoir, part handbook, Teaching Life reflects on more than three decades of teaching literature and touching the lives of students. Both a reflection on a life in literature and a primer on teaching as a vocation, this soul-stirring work also provides behind-the-scenes stories of many of the authors who have influenced Dale Salwak’s career.
Written in response to the sudden death of one of his students, who died tragically in an automobile accident on her way to Salwak’s office to talk over her career plans, Teaching Life is an effort to impart lessons to the next generation of teachers: “It was the suddenness of her death, I think, along with the utter loss of so much potential, which struck me forcibly, and I found myself wondering if anything I had said in class had made a difference in her too-short life or, for that matter, in the lives of any of my students.”
By turns analytical, reflective, and exhortatory, Teaching Life unselfconsciously captures the fascination, enlightenment, and sheer joy that literary studies can offer professors and students. It also implicitly speaks to society's prevailing—and disturbing—prejudice against the profession.
Written in response to the sudden death of one of his students, who died tragically in an automobile accident on her way to Salwak’s office to talk over her career plans, Teaching Life is an effort to impart lessons to the next generation of teachers: “It was the suddenness of her death, I think, along with the utter loss of so much potential, which struck me forcibly, and I found myself wondering if anything I had said in class had made a difference in her too-short life or, for that matter, in the lives of any of my students.”
By turns analytical, reflective, and exhortatory, Teaching Life unselfconsciously captures the fascination, enlightenment, and sheer joy that literary studies can offer professors and students. It also implicitly speaks to society's prevailing—and disturbing—prejudice against the profession.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Chapter 1. Transition
- pp. 1-11
- Chapter 2. Epiphanies
- pp. 12-21
- Chapter 3. Only Connect
- pp. 22-32
- Chapter 4. A Pastor’s Heart
- pp. 33-45
- Chapter 5. Lecturing
- pp. 46-57
- Chapter 6. Choices
- pp. 58-69
- Chapter 7. Reading
- pp. 70-80
- Chapter 9. Life vs. Art
- pp. 93-101
- Chapter 10. Writing
- pp. 102-114
- Chapter 11. Marriage
- pp. 115-123
- Chapter 12. The Adventures of Scholarship
- pp. 124-138
- Chapter 14. When a Parent Dies
- pp. 151-158
- Chapter 15. Intimations of Mortality
- pp. 159-167
- Conclusion
- pp. 175-177
- Acknowledgments
- pp. 179-180
Additional Information
ISBN
9781587297571
Related ISBN(s)
9781587296307
DOI
MARC Record
OCLC
297116340
Pages
200
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No
Copyright
2008