Teaching Life: Letters from a Life in Literature | 
| Author: Dale Salwak
Publisher: University Of Iowa Press
Category: Book
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Sales Rank: 655754
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 200
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 1587296306
Dewey Decimal Number: 808
EAN: 9781587296307
ASIN: 1587296306
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
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Product Description
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.
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Interview with Dale Salwak May 12, 2008
In a recent interview with Samantha Bravo the author of TEACHING LIFE answers some questions about his writing of the book:
Bravo: In TEACHING LIFE: LETTERS FROM A LIFE IN LITERATURE, each letter to Kelly addresses a different aspect of education, literature and life. How did you decide which topics to address? How do you think the book's organization of these topics affects the reader?
Salwak: The topics suggested themselves to me as I moved ever deeper into the project. I knew I had to write "When a Parent Dies," for example, because the day after my father's funeral I returned to my class to discuss "Hamlet" and saw my father sitting in the back of the room. The chapter on "Marriage" suggested itself because I was struck by how many of my colleagues across the country wrestle with balancing the academics with family life. Many questions emerged over the years from discussions with my parents, both educators, as well as from my students. Overall I answer questions that many teachers (and students) ask of themselves and that I continue to ask of myself.
Bravo: Why did you choose to format the book as a series of letters?
Salwak: To avoid the risk of coming across as "preachy" or dogmatic. That's not my style. Writing letters "to" a former student was an indirect way of reaching my potential reader. Also, this format helped me to establish a warm, personal tone that is the voice I try to maintain in the classroom. I am speaking to teachers, yes, but I am also speaking to students as well as to the general public - and I don't want to alienate them.
Bravo: In the book's summary it says that "'Teaching Life" is an effort to impart lessons to the next generation
of teachers." Would you also agree that these lessons are equally benefiting to students who read this
book? What sort of insight should a student expect to gain in contrast to a teacher?
Salwak: Yes, most definitely. Letters as personal as these permit the student to slip away from present concerns, open the door, and step inside the secret life of a teacher. Happiness is a gift, not a right, and most of us as teachers have been so gifted. Perhaps some students themselves will carry from the book the thought of entering this noble and personally rewarding profession. At the very least I hope they will find here some useful suggestions for getting all they can from their educational experiences.
Bravo: You say that Kelly has become a metaphor for all your students. Could you explain this in more depth?
Salwak: Every semester my classrooms are filled with Kelly's - bright, eager-to-learn men and women who are giving me three hours a week of their most precious possession - their time. What I say "to" Kelly in the letters I say to all of my students: make the most of your allotted time, seek the best in everything you do, and keep growing. My challenge is to find a way to connect with them, to encourage them to care about the material, to think about some of the deep issues of life, and to have a good time while doing so. That's part of what keeps me coming back day after day, month after month, semester after semester. Though Kelly didn't live to realize her potential as a teacher, my experience of knowing her and thousands of students like her continues to inspire me every day.
Bravo: Thirty years after Kelly's death, why did you believe that this was the right time in your career to publish "Teaching Life?"
Salwak: There were many months, even years when I didn't know when (or even IF) I would complete the book. Coincidentally I did so while approaching my 35th year of teaching. To borrow from Samuel Johnson, I believe that into every teacher's life there comes a "time to be in earnest." This is such a time for me.
Inspired May 8, 2008
"Teaching Life: Letters from a Life in Literature" is sure to leave an indelible mark on you, whether (or especially if) you are a teacher (first-year or veteran) or simply a lover of books, literature, and learning. I doubt I will ever be as well-read as the author, or acquire such rich and varied life experiences. But reading this book has inspired me to try. Reading this book was also a way of renewing my own vows to my students: to honor and respect their time, to be an example of curiosity and knowledge, to listen and learn from them. When I finished the last page, I was eager to find a quiet place to sit and reflect on everything I'd read. I'm sure I'll continue to do so for a long, long time.
Teaching Life: a wonderful source of wisdom May 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book has an incomparable value to me that is hard to explain with words. It has provided me with very valuable insight that I certainly could not obtain from any other source. As a future teacher, it was very important to me to experience through Dr. Salwak's words all what this wonderful profession of teaching involves. Before reading the book, I certainly thought of teaching as my career goal, but now, I have come to realize that it is my vocation and my passion.
I enjoyed each and every single chapter in this book, from the interesting classroom anecdotes to the sad and reflective moment that the death of a father represents. However, I think that for people like me, whose journey into the wonderful profession of teaching has just began, the chapter about "Transition" is a must read because it explains in detail the challengeable "transition from feeling like a student to living fully as a scholar-teacher." The book also covers other important subjects for early teachers, such as the art of lecturing, reading, and, the most important (I think), how to connect with students.
I would definitely recommend this book not only to anyone in the teaching profession but to everyone who wants to learn more about life from this wonderful professor and person: Dr. Salwak. As his former student, he has changed my life in ways that I would never imagine and I am pretty sure that anyone who could have the chance of reading this book will certainly agree with me that his knowledge and wisdom are without comparison.
Teaching Life: Letters from a Life in Literature May 3, 2008
After having been a college Professor for over 16 years myself, I thought I knew all (or at least most) there is to know about my profession. Dr. Salwak's book has provided me with a tremendous amount of knowledge and inspiration. I am humbled by the realization that there is still much to be learned and very appreciative by the warmth and insightfulness with which the book is written.
This book is a masterful piece of literature that can be of tremendous inspiration for readers pursuing a number of different careers.
Letters from a Life in Literature feels like a warm cup of tea in a cold rainy day. I highly recommend it.
Teaching Life: Letters from a Life in Literature April 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
In "Teaching Life: Letters From a Life in Literature," Dr. Dale Salwak writes of what it can be like to immerse one's self into a book.
"It can be intimidating to read hundreds of pages written by a man or woman who knows more than we do about a subject he or she has studied and researched for many years."
In this 180-page piece of work-part epistolary memoir, part handbook-readers will find themselves in such a situation, as they immerse themselves into the mind of a man whose 35 years spent as a literature professor have made him a master of his profession, and whose experiences have made him a master of living.
For all readers, whether they are beginning or seasoned teachers, students or the general public, intimidation gives way to awe, as Salwak's innermost insights encourage, excite and humble.
Salwak, professor of English at Citrus College, was inspired to write "Teaching Life" in response to the sudden tragic death of one of his students. For the sake of privacy, he gives her the name Kelly for this book. In 1978, as she was on her way to Salwak's office to discuss her plans to pursue a career in teaching, Kelly died in a car accident.
"Perhaps it was the suddenness of her death, the utter loss of so much potential, the appointment we never kept which left me wondering whether 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," Salwak writes.
Five years later, Salwak realized that one way to answer the many questions that had risen from the tragedy would be to write a series of imagined letters to Kelly as if she had lived, gone on to earn her bachelor's degree, completed graduate school, become a teacher and earned tenure.
Thus, the premise of "Teaching Life" was formed.
The book consists of 16 chapters, or letters, each discussing a different aspect of education, literature and life. Each is poignant, finely articulated and detailed.
Although the letters are addressed to Kelly, readers get the sense that Salwak is speaking directly to them, which appears to have been precisely his purpose. Salwak puts each written word to great use.
In response to Salwak's great question as to whether he makes a difference in his students' lives, the answer is evident throughout the pages of "Teaching Life."
Students who have had the privilege of learning from this deeply caring instructor can profess that Salwak has indeed made, and continues to make, a great difference. For students and others who have never had the chance to know Salwak, this book offers that opportunity.
In "Teaching Life" Salwak does what he does every day of his career, where his great passion and talent lay-he teaches.
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