{"id":153524,"date":"2025-11-13T11:46:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T17:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=153524"},"modified":"2025-11-13T11:46:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T17:46:40","slug":"the-view-from-the-balcony-a-teacher-for-the-ages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/the-view-from-the-balcony-a-teacher-for-the-ages\/","title":{"rendered":"The View From The Balcony: “A Teacher for the Ages”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Teachers matter. I had the good fortune of having the most demanding teacher one could imagine for 11th and 12th grade English. Mrs. Corinne Guild, who I mentioned in a previous column, was both an anomaly and an enigma. She spent September through May in Jackson, Mississippi. When the school year ended, Mrs. Guild would load up her car and drive to Nova Scotia, where she stayed until the beginning of the next school year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Guild had a reputation for being tough on her students. I knew that largely because she had taught English and Latin to all three of my siblings (Rodney, Hilda, & Nancy). She was disappointed that I didn\u2019t take Latin, so much so that one day during a writing time in Senior English she turned her thoughtful gaze from the school yard to me. (My desk was directly in front of hers.) She stared with scrutiny and great intensity, with the temple tip of her glasses at her bottom teeth, and asked, \u201cWeeks. Why didn\u2019t you take Latin? Rodney took Latin. Hilda took Latin. Nancy took Latin. Why didn\u2019t you take Latin?\u201d I gave the greatest comeback I\u2019ve ever had. \u201cMrs. Guild, I didn\u2019t take Latin because Rodney took Latin, Hilda took Latin, and Nancy took Latin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Guild made us memorize, memorize, memorize. We memorized Shakespeare. We memorized Chaucer. We memorized Wordsworth and numerous others. I was good at it and I relished the challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My classmates and I revolutionized Madison-Ridgeland High School\u2019s image of Mrs. Guild. Before us many had perceived as callous and aloof. But some of us picked up on something else that drew us to her. After out-of-town football games a group of us would often drop by her house on Quinn Street in the Belhaven district of Jackson. The first time was a total surprise to her, made obvious by the quizzical look on her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Chaucer from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, this picture shows Chaucer riding on horse and pointing something by left hand, vintage line drawing or engraving illustration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Guild invited us in and we sat around chatting and telling stories. We even teased her a bit. Mrs. Guild was known to take a sip every now and then and we discovered her stash while looking for water glasses. We dropped thinly-veiled comments about it which seemed to tickle her. She laughed. She laughed a lot! When I told my brother about our visits he was aghast. \u201cMrs. Guild? Y\u2019all just go to her house and joke around?\u201d Yep. Yes we do. I have often wondered what Mrs. Guild thought about it all. I\u2019d like to believe that the little girl inside her was delighted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Guild gave me a love for oxymorons, redundancy, paradoxes, malapropisms, spoonerisms, puns, and other word play\u2014a love I share with my good friend, Leon, a very inciteful man. I also notice gross spelling errors like the 16-wheeler trailer just off Highway 6 at West Jackson. For years a slogan painted on it said, \u201cGet the Goverment out of the UN.\u201d It\u2019s painted over now. Mrs. Guild also liked to point out our Deep South pronunciations. Once a student called a dog a \u201cdawg\u201d. Mrs. Guild spat off \u201cI took my dawg to see a frawg on a lawg in the fawg.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Guild turned me into an intolerant grammarian. Misplaced modifiers drive me up the wall, or make me burst out with laughter. Saying \u201cless\u201d rather than \u201cfewer\u201d or vice versa annoys me. It bothers me to no end to hear people say \u201cI feel\u201d when they speak of their thoughts instead of \u201cI think.\u201d Fast food restaurants often sell drinks in medium and large sizes. You can\u2019t have medium and large without small. But don\u2019t point that out. I did that once. The cashier said, \u201cWe have medium and large.\u201d I ordered a small. They put my drink in a kiddie cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Guild was a one of a kind teacher who made a difference for me and hundreds of others. We found a wonderful side of her that few knew, which made her dear to us. Teachers, keep your standards high and let some of your personality show. You can do it. Mrs. Guild proved that to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, let us quote a bit of Chaucer, if you can.
Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote,
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich lic\u00f3ur
Of which vert\u00fa engendred is the flour\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u2026and that\u2019s The View from The Balcony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Weeks is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Certified Shamanic Life Coach, an ordained minister, singer-songwriter, actor, writer, and a former triathlete. He may be reached at: randallsweeks@gmail.com.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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