She assigned a "term paper," and mine featured Joseph Addison's Sir Roger de Coverley papers. The topic is emblazoned in my memory, but I had to research Addison for this post since my memory of the content was sketchy. Sir Roger is a fictional "country gentleman," and perhaps, in the dark recesses of my mind, Roger influenced my future Brad Frame character?
Our term paper had a due date, and more than once Miss Cresswell would peer out at us over the top of her glasses and say, "Woe be unto you if you do not have your paper in on time." (She never defined the consequences, leaving that to our imaginations. I pictured the guillotine, since we'd read A Tale of Two Cities earlier in the semester.)
I'd worked on the paper, but on the day before it was due I got sick. With "woe be unto you" echoing in my brain, I stretched out on the living room sofa, feeling miserable, but finished writing my paper.
What endures from her class is the concept of "universal truth." As a seventeen-year-old I couldn't comprehend its application, but in the same way that "woe be unto you" stayed with me, the notion of universal truth began to make sense when I had a few more years under my belt and especially when I began writing. When readers can identify with the people and situations that populate our books, they have broader appeal. I'm glad to finally have a chance to thank Miss Abigail Cresswell for teaching me that lesson.
Did you have a teacher or mentor that had a strong influence on your life? Join in the conversation with a comment below.
So many of my teachers left an indelible impression. Perhaps it was because I enjoyed school and was open to their guidance, or perhaps it was because I was a knucklehead and needed their guidance. Thinking back my sixth grade teacher had the greatest impact. After striking out during a baseball game and handling it by throwing the bat to the backstop, she pulled me aside. Not to chastise me for throwing the bat, but to tell me about the upcoming grade report. Seems I had turned the corner from being a B-C student to a straight A student. She said I was smart. No one other than my parents ever had said that to me. From then on through college I worked hard to remain the smart kid. It's cool to be smart.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that story, Jeff. I like that mantra, "It's cool to be smart."
DeleteI have to say, my Creative Writing teacher during my freshman year in college was the biggest inspiration on me. I liked his class so much that I took another one with him the following semester. He is also published, and we stay in touch on Facebook to this day. He still lives in Radford, VA. I didn't realize how big an impact he really had, until I decided to drop out of the Sales and Marketing business and become a writer. That's when it all came flooding back to me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Wade. Teachers do have an impact, many in ways that we don't fully appreciate until years later.
DeleteI had quite a few teachers that impacted my life. One of them was Mrs. Tobias, who fostered my love for reading. She believed her students (and her son too!) read at least 30 minutes a day. She awakened my passion for literature, and it hasn't gone out since.
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