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Up The Down Staircase (novel)
''Up the Down Staircase'' is a novel written by Bel Kaufman, published in 1964, which spent 64 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list, ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. In 1967 it was released as a film starring Sandy Dennis, Patrick Bedford, Ruth White (actress), Ruth White, Jean Stapleton and Eileen Heckart. Plot Sylvia Barrett, an idealistic English teacher at an inner city high school, hopes to nurture her students' interest in classic literature (especially Geoffrey Chaucer, Chaucer and writing). She quickly becomes discouraged during her first year of teaching, frustrated by bureaucracy, the indifference of her students, and the incompetence of many of her colleagues. The title of the book is taken from a memo telling her why a student was being punished: he had gone "up the down staircase". She decides to leave the public school (government-funded) system to work in a smaller private setting. She changes her mind, though, when she realizes that she has, inde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bel Kaufman
Bella Kaufman (May 10, 1911 – July 25, 2014) was an American teacher and author, well known for writing the bestselling 1964 novel ''Up the Down Staircase.'' Early life Bella's father, Michael Kaufman (Mikhail Y. Koyfman) and her mother, Lala (Lyalya) Kaufman (née Rabinowitz) were both from Russia and married in 1909. Bella Kaufman was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1911, where her father was studying medicine. The family subsequently returned to Russia where her father completed his studies. Her father eventually became a physician, and her mother, the second-oldest daughter of famed Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem, later established herself as a writer under the name Lala Kaufman.Ellenson, Ruth Andrew (undated)''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia'' Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved March 29, 2022. Bel was the older of two children. Her brother Sherwin, born nine years later, was a New York City physician. Bel's native language was Russian, and she was raised ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
