Erving Polster was born in Brooklyn, NY, and moved to Los Angeles at age 16, where he attended Fairfax High School. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was discharged as a Captain in 1945. After graduation, Erving attended UCLA where he earned his B.A
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in 1959. He then attended Swarthmore College to earn his Ph.D. in American Literature in 1963 under the mentorship of noted literary critic Kenneth Burke, who would become a lifelong friend and mentor of Erving's.
At Swarthmore, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and received his M.A. in English Literature in 1966, followed by his Ph.D. in English Literature in 1970 for his dissertation entitled "The Role of Symbolism in the Short Stories of William Faulkner." His dissertation was later published as "William Faulkner: The Short Stories."