Breakthrough : essays and vignettes in honor of John A. Rassias

384 Pages·2007·21.008 MB·English

by  Yoken, Melvin B., Rassias, John

Breakthrough
PETER LANG
New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern
Frankfurt am Main (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford
Breakthrough

Essays and Vignettes
in Honor
of John A. Rassias

Edited by
Mel B. Yoken

PETER LANG
New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern
Frankfurt am Main (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Breakthrough: essays and vignettes in honor of John A. Rassias /
edited by Mel B. Yoken.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Languages, Modern—Study and teaching. 2. Rassias, John.
I. Rassias, John. II. Yoken, Melvin B.
PB35.B67 407.1—dc22 2006101470
ISBN 978-0-8204-8190-6

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek.
Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data is available
on the Internet at http://dnb.ddb.de/.

Cover design by Joni Holst

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council of Library Resources.

© 2007 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006
www.peterlang.com

All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.

Printed in Germany
To Cindy, Andrew, David, and Jon,
my dearest family,
who make life worth living

To John and Mary Rassias,
dearest friends,
who make this book possible

and

In memory of my beloved mother,
Sylvia S. Yoken (1910-2005)
and
my beloved father,
Albert B. Yoken (1900-1976)

Contents

Preface..........................................................................................................xiii
Foreword......................................................................................................xix
André Maman Letters..................................................................................xxi
Letter to Helene Rassias...............................................................................xxv
Chronology...............................................................................................xxvii
Interview with John Rassias........................................................................xliii
Proust Questionnaire....................................................................................xcv
The Legacy of Our Moat Mentality
by John A. Rassias......................................................................................xcix
The Goal
by John A. Rassias.......................................................................................ciii

Part One: Essays

1. The Importance of a National Professional Association for French
by Jayne Abrate.........................................................................................3
2. Quietude: The Narrative of Sarah Bernhardt and Bill the Bum
by Adam Braver......................................................................................11
3. “Émeutes” and “Manifestations,” A Review of French Vocabulary
by Michelle Cheyne.................................................................................15
4. Lo Li Yen, “Founder of New Methods”
by Raymond Cormier..............................................................................19
5. John Rassias and the Language Learning Community
by Nancy Cronan....................................................................................23
6. The Life and Times of Señorita Dell
by Laura L. Dell......................................................................................25
7. Back to School, 2006
by S. Pascale Vergereau-Dewey.............................................................37
8. “…To be Human,” A Perspective on Human Dynamics
with John Rassias
by Alan Farrell........................................................................................41
9. Language, Culture, and the Rassias Method
by Patricia C. Foley................................................................................47
10. Impact of Online Reading Activities on Student Performance
by Christine Gaudry-Hudson..................................................................51
11. From Study Abroad to the Rassias Method
by Joel Goldfield.....................................................................................57
viii Contents

12. Mirar: A Short Essay on the Unfolding Miracle of Words
by Ruth Housman....................................................................................63
13. John Rassias: A Legend among Foreign Language Educators
by Nancy Milner Kelly............................................................................69
14. Becoming a Teacher of Jewish Studies
by Sharon Leder......................................................................................73
15. “Outcomes”
by Robert Lindsey...................................................................................79
16. An American Heroine in the French Resistance,
The Story of Virginia d’Albert Lake
By Judy Litoff..........................................................................................81
17. A Salute to John Rassias and the Rassias Method
by John W. Oller, Jr................................................................................89
18. Villon Unsung: The Unfinished Edition of
Nicolas Lenglet du Fresnoy
by Robert D. Peckham............................................................................97
19. “For Monolingual Americans”
by Robert D. Peckham..........................................................................103
20. Kinetic Memory in Learning Shakespeare
by Alan Powers.....................................................................................105
21. A Few Things I Learned from John Rassias
by Rebecca Randall...............................................................................109
22. Two Wrong Ways to Say Things in English
by Peter D. Sandler..............................................................................113
23. The Radical Idealism of John A. Rassias
by Keith L. Walker...............................................................................117
24. We Need the Rassias Method for Living in the Mother Country
by Richard J.Ward...............................................................................121
25. In Honor of Rassias: What Literature and Language Mean to Me
by Robert Waxler.................................................................................125
26. Children of the Sun: A Pathway to Rimbaud
by Marc Widershien............................................................................131
27. Teaching Foreign Languages
In Honor of My Dear Friend, John Rassias
by Cynthia Yoken.................................................................................135
28. The Write Stuff
by Mel Yoken........................................................................................139
Contents ix

Part Two: Vignettes

29. “Never Iron”
by Birkett Becker..................................................................................143
30. The Greek God Zeus and John Rassias
by Peter Bien........................................................................................145
31. John Rassias: Passionate Teacher of the French Language
by Davida Brautman.............................................................................147
32. My Friendship with John Rassias
by Norman Brown.................................................................................149
33. John Rassias—The Maestro
by Pam Bujese.......................................................................................153
34. “Think of an Ambulance”
by Bill Burgess......................................................................................157
35. The Aura of John Rassias
by Susan Carnochan.............................................................................161
36. John Rassias: Breaking Down Barriers
by Robert Cavanagh (Copa).................................................................163
37. Playing Horsy
by Amy Cammann Cholnoky.................................................................167
38. Through the Years with John Rassias
by Warren F. Cooke..............................................................................169
39. How Meeting John Rassias Changed My Life
by Jacqueline de La Chappelle Skubly..................................................171
40. Possibility of Possibility
by Christopher C. Gates........................................................................175
41. John Rassias, an Innovating Pioneer
by Mary Gegerias.................................................................................177
42. John Rassias and the Adult Learner
by Sol Gittleman....................................................................................179
43. “John Rassias: Lightening Bolt in My Life”
by Deborah J. Hahn..............................................................................181
44. A Tribute to “Sir John”
by Anna Cathcart Harvey.....................................................................185
45. Recollections
by William K. Hooper...........................................................................187