≫ [PDF] The Education of Hyman Kaplan Prion Humour Classics Leo Rosten 9781853753824 Books

The Education of Hyman Kaplan Prion Humour Classics Leo Rosten 9781853753824 Books

Download As PDF : The Education of Hyman Kaplan Prion Humour Classics Leo Rosten 9781853753824 Books

The Education of Hyman Kaplan Prion Humour Classics Leo Rosten 9781853753824 Books

Like Eyewitness Books? This is another nice entry in their series for younger readers. What is a castle? The book describes it thus: "A castle was the fortified private residence of a lord." The lord could be a king or a baron or some lesser noble. It was designed as both a residence AND a stronghold. The book begins by noting that such structures have had a long history (one ancestor goes back to Mycenae in about 1250 B.C.).

The volume moves on to consider the first castles (appearing in the 9th and 10th centuries A.D.). There is discussion of different approaches to building a castle--such as the use of concentric rings to harden the castle against attack. There are also discussions of different styles in castles--from the Loire region in France to Spanish castles, to German castles (take a trip along the Rhine River, and you will see numerous examples) to Japan. There is discussion of how those who wanted to capture a castle would strategize and how castles were structured to defend against such attacks.

The volume considers the different functions of a castle--from defense to kitchens and eating to entertainment.

The volume concludes with a discussion of the decline of castles.

All in all, a useful volume in the Eyewitness Books portfolio. Young readers, many of whom are enchanted by castles, are likely to find this a fun read--and a source of knowledge.


Tags : The Education of Hyman Kaplan (Prion Humour Classics) [Leo Rosten] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <DIV>The humorous adventures of Hyman Kaplan, the irrepressible student at the american Night Preparatory School for Adults,Leo Rosten,The Education of Hyman Kaplan (Prion Humour Classics),Gardners Books,1853753823,Humour,Modern fiction,Fiction

The Education of Hyman Kaplan Prion Humour Classics Leo Rosten 9781853753824 Books Reviews

Rosten (the author's real name) was a bona fide genius. He portrays the plight of immigrants with humor and empathy. If you descend from immigrants who struggled to "become American", then this brilliant collection of sketches is part of your patrimony. Read it! Share it with your kids!
These stories set in Mr. Parkhill's classroom at the American Night Preparatory School for Adults ("English -- Americanization -- Civics -- Preparation for Naturalization") are wonderfully humorous and warm. They reflect a generous humanity and a keen ear for language in author Leo Rosten (1908-1997), who first wrote the stories for The New Yorker using the pen name Leonard Q. Ross.

When Rosten wrote the stories in the 1930s, the debate that had roiled American society over the high levels of immigration at the beginning of the century had ended with passage of the restrictive Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924. Readers of The New Yorker could well remember the rancor and the stereotyping of the debate.

Rosten countered the prejudice against immigrants by portraying Mr. Parkhill's students, drawn from several national and ethnic groups, as earnest learners eager to know about and join American society by first learning the English language.

When people from different cultures meet, there are bound to be some collisions. A dark side take on those meetings is the ethnic joke. The bright side is this book, finding humor in the encounters that all can smile at.

I read The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N as a teenager in the early 1960s. Though I do not recall negative attitudes about immigration in my family, school, or suburban New Jersey neighborhood in that decade, the book surely shaped my attitudes and feelings about immigrants and immigration in a positive way. Hyman Kaplan taught me immigrants make America a better and richer society.

Each time I look through the book now, I worry whether Rosten crossed any of our modern "PC" redlines that would cause it to be crossed off reading lists. The book's humor ("comic dialect" is the scholar's term) depends on the rendering of accents, not much used at present. I found one use of the N-word (misspelled, in accent, not in anger) by a student character. On the whole, however, the book stands up well.

I give copies of this book to friends who are ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers. Leo Rosten's own nights as an ESL teacher, while he was working on his Ph.D., gave him the inspiration for the stories.

The shape of our nation's immigration policy is certainly a licit issue for debate and disagreement. Current immigration has some different countours than in the 1930s. Some voices, however, get carried away and tip over into negative stereotyping. They should take a break, have a cup of coffee, read this book, and meet Mr. Kaplan.

-30-
I love Leo Ross and it is probably my fault, but I thought this would be a novel, chronicling the life of a Jewish immigrant. Instead, the book is one long look at Hyman Kaplan in a night class for foreigners, and how he doesn't understand english words... for example teacher asks what does VAST mean and Kaplan says it is the direction "De naut, de sot, de heast, and de vast." When the teacher corrects him he then tries "Ven I'm buyink a suit I'm gattin de cawt de pents and de vast"

And on and on with mispronunciations throughout the book, which I did not bother to finish as it became tiresome.
I read this for the first time as a teen, in the 1970's. I was hesitant to go back to it, because I was thinking it might come across condescending, with so much of the humor based on English learning adults and their difficulties. I'm glad I did though. Leonard Q. Ross is a pseudonym for Leo Rosten, who understood learning English from both sides, being the son of immigrants, and there is no condescension, nothing but respect for any of the characters in the book. And the character of Hyman Kaplan is captivating. He is Cyrano de Bergerac in a suit and a bow tie. I would definitely recommend reading this book.
Like Eyewitness Books? This is another nice entry in their series for younger readers. What is a castle? The book describes it thus "A castle was the fortified private residence of a lord." The lord could be a king or a baron or some lesser noble. It was designed as both a residence AND a stronghold. The book begins by noting that such structures have had a long history (one ancestor goes back to Mycenae in about 1250 B.C.).

The volume moves on to consider the first castles (appearing in the 9th and 10th centuries A.D.). There is discussion of different approaches to building a castle--such as the use of concentric rings to harden the castle against attack. There are also discussions of different styles in castles--from the Loire region in France to Spanish castles, to German castles (take a trip along the Rhine River, and you will see numerous examples) to Japan. There is discussion of how those who wanted to capture a castle would strategize and how castles were structured to defend against such attacks.

The volume considers the different functions of a castle--from defense to kitchens and eating to entertainment.

The volume concludes with a discussion of the decline of castles.

All in all, a useful volume in the Eyewitness Books portfolio. Young readers, many of whom are enchanted by castles, are likely to find this a fun read--and a source of knowledge.