57 pages • 1 hour read
Jeffrey Zaslow, Randy PauschA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Summary
Section 1, Chapters 1-3
Section 2, Chapters 4-5
Section 2, Chapters 6-7
Section 2, Chapters 8-11
Section 3, Chapters 12-15
Section 3, Chapters 16-19
Section 3, Chapters 20-22
Section 4, Chapters 23-24
Section 4, Chapters 25-27
Section 5, Chapters 28-31
Section 5, Chapters 32-34
Section 5, Chapters 35-37
Section 5, Chapters 38-40
Section 5, Chapters 41-45
Section 5, Chapters 46-50
Section 5, Chapters 51-55
Section 5, Chapters 56-58
Section 6, Chapters 59-61
Key Figures
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Pausch begins this section with a short anecdote about being charged twice at the grocery store. Rather than contesting the charge with the store’s manager, he walked out, happier “to have fifteen minutes than sixteen dollars” (108). Since he has been given a death sentence with his cancer diagnosis, he has been made “very aware that time is finite” (108). But even before his terminal diagnosis, he made a point of managing his time well. He even provides a helpful list of advice:
He ends the chapter by reminding us that “time is all we have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think” (111).
Chapter 24 introduces some of Pausch’s teaching philosophy: He believes “educators best serve students by helping them be more self-reflective” (112). In other words, we all must learn to judge ourselves accurately. Pausch has even come up “with mechanical ways to get people to listen to feedback” (112), especially since his students are often assigned to work in groups.