Letters for the Living: Teaching Writing in a Violent Age (Refiguring English Studies) [Paperback]

Michael Blitz (Author), C. Mark Hurlbert (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0814128033 | ISBN-13: 978-0814128039 | Publication Date: May 1998

In Letters for the Living: Teaching Writing in a Violence Age, Michael Blitz and C. Mark Hurlbert examine issues of violence in the lives of their college students and present possibilities for teaching composition as an act of peace-making. Through a variety of writings, the authors illustrate their students' experiences on the city streets of New York and in the small mining and steel towns of western Pennsylvania. In one section, the authors report on a semester-long project in which their classes were linked as they researched and wrote about their own neighborhoods and the neighborhoods of their interstate partners. These two groups of students taught each other about the places in which they live and the ways in which they live there, and, in many cases, what each learned about the other was shocking. Blitz and Hurlbert, who frequently correspond via e-mail, also share with the reader letters in which they reflect upon their work as teachers, in an effort to understand the personal and cultural implications of what students write and say. Often disturbing, always honest, Letters for the Living offers a fascinating look into the lives and writings of real students and real teachers struggling to make meaning of these violent times. --- from book's back cover

Product Details

• Paperback: 181 pages
• Publisher: Natl Council of Teachers (May 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814128033
• ISBN-13: 978-0814128039
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,316,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Something happened., March 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Letters for the Living: Teaching Writing in a Violent Age (Refiguring English Studies) (Paperback)

Something happened to me when I read Letters for the Living. I'm not sure what it is. I have been an adjunct, a tenure-track assistant professor, a high school teacher, and most recently a counselor in a division for troubled youths. After reading this book by Blitz and Hurlbert, I feel as though I understand my career(s) for the first time. I am doing what I can to make peace. I teach for peace. Letters for the Living is so moving, I wish it were available in every bookstore. I want to tell everyone to read this book, to appreciate the kind of friendships, experiences, and heartbreaking violence--and peace, yes--that fill the book with real power to make a difference in the lives of readers. Wonderful wonderful wonderful.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book everyone should read, September 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Letters for the Living: Teaching Writing in a Violent Age (Refiguring English Studies) (Paperback)

Too few academic books can hold an audience of non-academics. Blitz and Hurlbert have written a book that not only holds us, but rivets our attention from the first page to the last. The stories their students tell of violence combined with the stories--letters--Blitz and Hurlbert exchange throughtout the book, make for a narrative experience every bit as gripping as a fine novel. Parents of college students, fellow teachers, and students themselves should read this book. Somehow, we are all in this story, and Blitz and Hurlbert do a remarkable job in making us examine ourselves as makers of the society where violence has forced its way into everyday life.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars how about a sixth star?, July 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Letters for the Living: Teaching Writing in a Violent Age (Refiguring English Studies) (Paperback)

My friend at Brown University sent me a copy of Blitz and Hurlbert's book. I let it sit around for a month or two. My son, an 11th grader, saw it sitting on the living room couch and was reading around in it. He told me it was a "weird" book. I understood this to mean that he liked it. Then I read it. It is a peculiar and interesting book. No. It is a fascinating, honest and compelling book. It is also an upsetting book. These two authors are so direct in their exchanges with one another, and their students are so vividly PRESENT in their own excerpted writings, I found myself almost flinching as I read. It's not a big book. I read it in one sitting, in about 2 hours and a half. But--and here's the crux of my review--I will read it again. I will reread sections of it many times. My friends will read this book. And yes, my son plans to finish it, too.