Unit 5
Text „One stair up“ The excerpt under analysis is taken from the book „Up the down staircase“, which was published in 1965 and was written by Bel Kaufman. Bel Kaufman was an American writer, who worked as a teacher of the English language and literature in a New York high school for 15 years. This book tells readers about the experience of a young high school teacher and what is peculiar about the novel is that it includes some autobiographical episodes. The subject matter of the excerpt is impressions of the job of a young school teacher Sylvia Barrett, who is disappointed with the system of education and who faces with the indifference of her students, and the incompetence of many of her colleagues. Sylvia writes to her friend about all the difficulties she has and how she gets over the obstacles. She managed to describe colorfully all the sides of his extremely hard work. The plot is developed on the basis of conflict between man and society: a young teacher stands up against the established order, she is against the way many teachers work at school and foster children. The organization of the contents is straight-narrative presentation, because the events are given in their chronological order. As for the type of narration, the description of school life and the conditions into the public high school system, the advice given by professors of how to teach “not the subject but the whole child” and the descriptions of teachers and the school authorities, Sylvia’s feelings are interwoven with an account of events, some dialogs and interior monologues. The story is highly emotional and occasionally ironical first person narration, which is typical for a letter, by Sylvia Barrett. Author tells us about her nothing, because she wants to say that Sylvia is an ordinary teacher. Author uses indirect method of characterization, and we can learn