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Bel Kaufman

 

 
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Bel Kaufman
 
 
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Bel Kaufman (born May 10, 1911) is a Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
n-American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 professor and author. Born in Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, raised in Odesa (Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
, then a part of Russia), Bella published her first poem "Spring" in Odesa magazine "Little bells". Bella immigrated to the USA, and changed her name to Bel when writing articles for the "Esquire" magazine. Bel Kaufman is best known for her 1965
1965 in literature

The year 1965 in literature involved some significant events and new books....
 best-seller, Up the Down Staircase
Up the Down Staircase

Up the Down Staircase is a humorous novel written by Bel Kaufman, and published in 1965....
. The semi-autobiographical novel is about an idealistic young honors college graduate who becomes an English teacher in a New York City high school, hoping to share her love of classic literature (especially Chaucer) and writing with her students.






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Quotations


A teacher is frequently the only adult in the pupil's environment who treats him with respect.

Part VI, ch. 29 (Samuel Bester)

Being a female, she spurns him on.

Part VI, ch. 30 (Rusty O'Brien)

I don't allow anyone to talk to me like that.So you're lucky — you're a teacher.

Part I, ch. 1 (Sylvia Barrett and Joe Ferone)

I had used my sense of humor; I had called it proportion, perspective. But perspective is distance.

Part X, ch. 51 (Sylvia Barrett)

In Memory of Those Who Died Waiting for the Bell.

Part III, ch. 15 (caption of a drawing)

Mythology is studied in the school system because most of us come from it.

Part III, ch. 19 (unnamed student)





Encyclopedia


Bel Kaufman (born May 10, 1911) is a Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
n-American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 professor and author. Born in Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, raised in Odesa (Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
, then a part of Russia), Bella published her first poem "Spring" in Odesa magazine "Little bells". Bella immigrated to the USA, and changed her name to Bel when writing articles for the "Esquire" magazine. Bel Kaufman is best known for her 1965
1965 in literature

The year 1965 in literature involved some significant events and new books....
 best-seller, Up the Down Staircase
Up the Down Staircase

Up the Down Staircase is a humorous novel written by Bel Kaufman, and published in 1965....
. The semi-autobiographical novel is about an idealistic young honors college graduate who becomes an English teacher in a New York City high school, hoping to share her love of classic literature (especially Chaucer) and writing with her students. However, her idealism is quickly snuffed out by the gritty realities of her colleagues and students who populate the novel's fictional inner-city high school.

Though she has written few fictional novels since Up the Down Staircase, she has continued as a teacher and lecturer.

Kaufman is the granddaughter of famed Yiddish writer Sholom Aleichem
Sholom Aleichem

Sholem Aleichem was the pen name of Sholem Naumovich Rabinovich, the popular humorist and Imperial Russia Jewish author of Yiddish literature, including novels, short stories, and Play ....
. She is an honorary chairman of the Yiddish studies faculty at Columbia University
Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York , is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights, Manhattan neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City....
.

Selected bibliography

  • Up the Down Staircase (1965)
  • Love, etc. (1979)