"There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away." This quote is seared into my brain because of an experience in high school. I think it was my senior year (1963-64). Miss Long, our English teacher, put this quote, from a poem we had not read in class or for assignment, on a test. We were supposed to tell what frigate meant (without the aid of the illustration). In hindsight she wasn't looking for an exact answer (although I'm sure that would have been good), she was looking for our ability to discern what the poet was trying to convey.
I remember totally freezing up. I was unaccustomed to this kind of test question. I did fairly well with facts that I could memorize and spout back. Thinking and analysis were skills that would come later. I was so incapacitated because I didn't know the "exact" answer, that I couldn't even make a good guess.
That was almost 50 years ago and it's still a vivid memory. And a lesson learned.
**********************
Parkplace Books is a wonderful independent bookstore that's a 10 minute walk from our place.
Margaret Long, 1961 London High School yearbook
No comments:
Post a Comment