botkin was born on february 7, 1901, in east boston, massachusetts, to lithuanian jewish immigrants. he attended the english high school of boston and then studied at harvard university, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1920 with a b.a. in english. he earned his m.a. in english at columbia university a year later in 1921, and his ph.d. from the university of nebraska-lincoln in 1931, where he studied under louise pound and william duncan strong.