Rosemond Tuve on teaching

“Stay[ed] up till 2:15 writing a page each to my grad sem. 2 nights ago, anent their plans for papers (they’re as infantile about being able to find themselves something they want to Find Out, as a bunch of seniors)—and havent caught up sleep since then . . . . trying to learn to do as the men do, teach w. left hand and leave myself some leisure.  Not succeeding as yet; take it as seriously as if at C[onnecticut] C[ollege], far more seriously I took Shak[espeare] than the students did.”

Tuve, quoted in Rosemond Tuve: A Life of the Mind, by Margaret Carpenter Evans (Portsmouth, NH, 2004), pp. 156, 158.

Rosemond Tuve on My Own Work

“I’ve just worked like hell this year.  The extra course is just one too much, added to all the others as before; yet it’s been so much fun (the Spenser to Milton one I mean particularly) that I wouldn’t have not had it for anything.  But it has chopped off all my extra curricular activities such as letters & Serving Tea to Friends, & riding about viewing country.  To a great extent, anyhow.  Shall probably catch up sometime.  I try stoutly to refuse giving up on some non-utilitarian reading at least . . . . Also try to have one 3 hour session per week on what they call My Own Work—now almost indistinguishable from my advanced-course work, so that it’s a naughty shame that I can’t get to more of it—from the teaching point of view.  But nevertheless, a good life.”

Tuve, quoted in Rosemond Tuve: A Life of the Mind, by Margaret Carpenter Evans (Portsmouth, NH, 2004), p. 93.

Rosemond Tuve on LIVING (aka pickle dishes)

“We weren’t the Beat Generation, we were the Liberated one. . . . we were determined to escape from a lot of LIVING, or something that now goes under that name.  WE scorned apartments.  We didn’t see any great lure in finding some place we could COOK in, or worry abt. curtains.  We were entranc[ed] at being deliv[er]ed from the Deadly Social Round our fr[iends] that weren’t in coll[ege] seemed to be squirrel caging ar[oun]d in—We found us a ‘Room’ . . . and we got us a Boarding-house, and then we lit out for where all our friends were, The Library.  By Friends I meant both Living & Dead.  We didn’t make as much difference between these two categories as students do now.  We even sometimes gave up an engagement w. a Boring Living ONE (either sex) to keep one w. a Bright Dead ONE. . . . As I say, we weren’t the Beat Generation.  We hadn’t learned about Anxiety.”

Tuve, quoted in Rosemond Tuve: A Life of the Mind, by Margaret Carpenter Evans (Portsmouth, NH, 2004), pp. 45-6.