RE: In defense of frustrated students
PODESTA,Lesley (Lesley.PODESTA@deetya.gov.au)
Fri, 29 May 1998 12:22:51 +1000
Miriam wrote:
> While studying TCITR this year, my teacher decided to focus on the
> names
> Salinger gave to his characters. He analyzed our dear Mr. Caulfield
> thus;
> "What does Holden sound like? GOLDEN, of course! Salinger wanted to
> think of
> "golden" when we heard Holden's name. And why do you think he did
> this?
> Well, how is gold formed? It's formed when rocks put a lot of
> pressure on
> coal, and the coal is squeezed into gold."
Oh my god. I would not have been able to stop myself. How on earth did
you cope? Save us from ignorant English teachers. That reminded me of my
English teacher reading T.S. Eliot and getting to the line "Lonely old
men in shirt sleeves" and saying "Why didn't he write lonely old women
in shirt sleeves? Any idea?" I cringed and cringed. And that poem lost
some of its magic.
ps And did your mother read Salinger too and name you from the book?
Lesley
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