Independent+Novel+Study

Focus Assignment Plot Summary:

Frank McCourt is born as a first child into a poor Irish family. Due to lack of funds, they move from America to Ireland, where his mother's family lives. Their mother's family provides shelter and food temporarily, while the father tries to find a job. Unfortunately, they only become poorer; the father rarely find a job, and when he does, he spends all the money on alcohol, leaving none for the family. Frank's siblings die from starvation or sickness, and Frank suffers through multiple diseases of his own; typhoid, conjunctivitis, and more. His school provides him with little education and regularly beats children for asking questions; the only chance he has at a better education, secondary school, is lost when they reject him because he is poor. Frank and his family are forced to live on welfare payments; sometimes, when they are still short on money, begging for food and waiting for restaurants to close so they can get the leftover food. They are eventually evicted from their house and are forced to move in with a very distant relative, who sexually abuses his mother and treats the children poorly. He anticipates moving to America when he is older, where living conditions and jobs are much better. Once he is old enough to get a job, he starts to save enough money to move to America, albeit slowly due to the need to provide for the rest of his family. The novel ends with him, nineteen years of age, leaving on a boat, heading to America, leaving his family, and his miserable childhood, behind.

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Plot Summary:

The first main event in the novel is the birth of the protagonist's sister. This event brings the spirits of the family up, but when she dies a few months later, the mood is back to normal. Another event in the story that brings down the morale of the family is the fact that the father cannot get a job. It is not long until more children are born, however, and very shortly afterwards twins are born. After the twins are born, the family decides to move to Ireland, but find themselves extremely poor there and have to live with the mother's family. During this time, one of the twins die. After the death of the twin, the father finally gets a job, and the family moves into a new house.

Questions: > //I chose this novel for the English novel study because I had already began reading it; in fact, I was already 29% finished. Since I prefer to only read one book at a time, choosing a new novel for my novel study would result in me not being able to read Anglea's Ashes until I was finished the novel study. This is obviously not an optimal solution, so I got permission from the English professor to use my current novel (Angela's Ashes) as my novel study book instead.I started reading Angela's Ashes because my mother recommended it to me. I do not know why she did; since her recommendations are consistantly good, I did not bother to question her methods for choosing a book for me to read.//
 * Why did you select this novel?

>> //The protagonist tells the story (his childhood) from his point of view.// >> //Yes, the perspective does effect the way the story is told. Told from the mother or father's point of view, for example, may cause the reader to think that the protagonist's childhood was not that bad.// >> //The novel is set in multiple places on Earth, including multiple locations in the United States and Ireland. The time period is not specified in the novel, but at the beginning of the book, the Prohibition ends, so we know the beginning of the novel is set near 1933.// >> //The setting is very important because the protagonist's miserable childhood (which is the focus of the book) may have been very different if he lived in a different time period or city.// 10/10
 * Who is telling the story?
 * How does this person’s perspective effect the way the story is told?
 * What is the setting of the novel?
 * Is the setting important or could the novel be happening anywhere? Why?

ENTRY 2 Locations 1867 to 2193.

The protagonist prepares for his First Communion. At church, he is taught how to receive Holy Communion, which goes rather smoothly. After church, he reads a book with another boy, Mikey Molloy, but unfortunately Mikey Molloy reads an inappropriate story from the book. The protagonist is worried that he will have to confess this at his First Confession, and the priest will kick him out and embarrass him in front of his colleagues.

First Confession day arrives, and the protagonist tells a priest about the story. Instead of being mad, the priest is amused and the First Confession goes smoothly. The next day is First Communion day, and the protagonist dresses nicely and goes to the church. Unfortunately, during First Communion, the wafer gets stuck on the top of his mouth and it is hard for him to eat it; however, in the end it is a success. He then goes home, eats a large breakfast, and then vomits the entire breakfast outside. After cleanup of the vomit, it is too late for him to perform The Collection (a religious event in which he receives money), and he is disappointed because he no longer will be able to attend a film at the cinema. Luckily, his friend, Mikey Molloy, helps him by pretending to have a seizure so that the protagonist can sneak into the cinema while the ticket man is distracted.

> The book is fairly fast paced; the book moves on to other subjects before you bore of any one topic. Although the book is fast paced, it still manages to describe situations in detail and immerse you in the story. > One plot twist in the pages I read was when the main character did not get to make The Collection. The protagonist had been anticipating The Collection for a long period of time, and it was surprising that he was denied the opportunity to perform it. > A new character introduced in this section of the book is Mikey Molloy, another child who is slightly older then the protagonist. Later in the story, he helps the protagonist with many problems, including creating a diversion so that the protagonist can sneak into a movie theatre without paying.
 * How does the author get you to read on or hold your interest?
 * What plot twists or unexpected events happen as the novel goes on?
 * Describe any new characters that are introduced? What is their purpose?

10/10

ENTRY 3 Locations 2193 -2400

A man moves into the protagonist's grandmother's house, and the protagonist is charged with bringing him meals weekly, in exchange for sixpence. The protagonist, who is used to little food, cannot help himself but eat the dinner. This results in punishment, including "a clout on the head," and he is no longer allowed to bring dinner.

The protagonist's parents must get their teeth removed due to damage from smoking. After the operation, they receive fake teeth, and the children, including the protagonist, cannot help but try them out. Unfortunately the protagonist's little brother gets the teeth stuck in his mouth, and he gets them removed at the hospital.

The protagonist is forced to start dancing lessons by his mother. He is worried about the reaction he will get from his peers at school.

Questions: 10/10 ENTRY 4 (FINAL ENTRY)
 * What new things are added to the original problem as the novel progresses?
 * Two new (substantial) characters have been added in this segment; Bill Galvin, a resident at the protagonist's grandmother's house, and Mrs. O'Connor, the dance teacher. A new setting is added; the dance school.
 * What plot twists or unexpected events happen as the novel goes on?
 * It is unexpected that the parents have to get their teeth removed. Although the reader is aware the parents smoke from the beginning of the novel, it is not at all indicated that they are such heavy smokers that they have already damaged their teeth beyond repair at a fairly young age.
 * Is the language in the novel difficult or easy? GIve examples and explain.
 * The language in the novel is fairly easy. For example, the most complicated language in this segment includes:
 * "wandering around Limerick with hooligans"
 * "Mam says, We'll have to take him to the hospital, and Dad says he'll take him."

Locations 2400 - 6380

The protagonist is now ten. It is very close to another religious event, the Confirmation. As with the First Communion, the protagoinst will receive lots of money on this day, if all goes well. Him and one of his friends from school make a deal with an older child. They will give him a shilling each from their collection, and he will let them climb up the rainspout behind his house and watch the older child's sisters wash naked. This plan, however, is spoilt when the protagonist's friend mistakenly knocks down the rainspout due to him moving too much while masturbating. The protagonist's friend has to go to the hospital due to an injury sustained while falling, and the protagonist is taken home by his mother.

The day of the Confirmation has finally arrived, but the protagonist is too sick to participate. He misses out on all the money (as he did with the First Communion) and the doctor diagnoses him with typhoid fever. The protagonist is taken to live at a hospital, and almost dies. He does not, however, and returns to his house after a few months.

A new war starts in England, and the protagonist's father gets a job there because they pay much better. The family is excited about the amount of money they will shortly be receiving, but unfortunately the protagonist's father drinks all the money and never sends any back.

The protagonist's mother gets sick, and is diagnosed with pneumonia. She must go to the hospital and the children have to live with their aunt. Shortly afterwards, their father returns from England and they move back into their old house. The mother soon recovers and returns to the protagonist's house.

The protagonist's father decides to go to England for work again. This time, he does send back money the first week, but he starts to drink it all after that.

The protagonist is now twelve. Him and his family are evicted from their house because they cannot pay rent, so they move to the protagonist's mother's cousin's house.

The protagonist is now thirteen. He moves out of his mother's cousin's house because the cousin likes to beat him, and moves into his dead grandmother's house with his uncle.

The protagonist is now fourteen. He gets a job as a telegraph boy, so he can save money to go to America. The rest of the family moves into the dead grandmother's house with him.

The protagonist has to deliver a special telegram. It is special because the tip is normally higher at this house than normal. The other telegram boys warn him that the resident of this house, Theresa, likes to hit on the young telegram boys., and that she has the consumption and he should not have any relations with her. When he gets there, however, he does not listen to their advice and he gets lured inside. He ends up having sexual relations with Theresa multiple times, due to him delivering many telegrams to her house. Theresa eventually dies from the consumption.

The protagonist continues with his job, saving money to go to America. He feels very guilty, however, because he thinks he sent Theresa to Hell. Since they committed a sinful act, and she could not go to confession before she died, she will have to go to Hell, and it is the protagonist's fault. He feels he must to to Confession and confess, but cannot build up the courage.

The protagonist is now sixteen. He visits a priest and confesses almost every sin he as ever committed. This makes him feel better.

The protagonist gets a new job delivering newspapers and magazines, and quits his telegram-delivering job. His first day goes fairly well, but there is an emergency when a newspaper is circulated with an article on birth control. All employees, including the protagonist, are ordered to go to every store, rip out the page with the offending article, and burn them. The protagonist and a couple of his colleagues decide to keep some of the pages and sell them the next day. He makes lots of money from this endeavor, which he saves to move to America.

The protagonist is now eighteen. He has finally saved up enough money to go to America, so he does.

10/10
 * Is the novel believable?
 * Yes, because it is a true story. It is no question whether it is believable or not.
 * Why would you (or why wouldn't you) recommend this novel to a friend?
 * I would recommend this novel because I feel it accurately reflects the conditions poor Irish citizens had to live in at the time this novel was set in. It is interesting to see how people would cope with such horrible living conditions.
 * What were the major things that helped to resolve the plot?
 * The major item that resolved the plot was the protagonist moving to America. The whole novel built up to him escaping his vile childhood town.