57 pages • 1 hour read
Jeffrey Zaslow, Randy PauschThe Last Lecture
Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 2008A 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
Section 2, Chapters 8-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Section 2: “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”
Section 2, Chapters 8-11 Summary
When Pausch was young, he had a strong connection to the World Book Encyclopedia, which was his go-to place for finding the answers to his questions. Consequently, another dream Pausch had as a kid was writing something for the World Book Encyclopedia. As he pored over the volumes his parents owned, he wondered who wrote the thousands of different entries. Fortunately, in his future, he was able to write an entry for virtual reality.
Pausch also had a great fondness for Star Trek and was especially enamored with Captain Kirk. Even though Pausch couldn’t fly on the Starship Enterprise, William Shatner did visit his virtual reality lab. To Pausch, Captain Kirk’s character had “the distilled essence of the dynamic manager, a guy who knew how to delegate, had the passion to inspire” (44). As a child Pausch wanted to be Captain Kirk; as an adult Pausch continued to admire Kirk because of his leadership skills. A line from one of the Star Trek films that Shatner wrote on an autographed photo helped frame Pausch’s approach to life: “I don’t believe in the no-win scenario” (45).
The section ends with Pausch sharing memories of visiting Disney World as a kid. He describes his determination to win stuffed animals from the game kiosks in the park as well as his deep desire to work there, designing amusement rides and so on.
