Abstract A book report on Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes". Author Frank McCourt's present-tense narrative gives a glimpse of his trouble-ridden childhood years and through a first person perspective he weaves a real-life yarn of poverty, destitution, the abuses of alcoholism and the torment and anguish associated with it.
Abstract This paper examines the role of the British in Frank McCourt's popular autobiography "Angela's Ashes". While the British are often blamed for the conditions in Ireland, the series of tragedies that occur in "Angela's Ashes" can be attributed more to the decisions of the McCourt family and to the prejudice of the Irish than any other source.
Abstract One of the major themes in T.S. Eliot's poem, "Ash Wednesday," is the concept of turning. This theme operates on many levels. The paper shows how Eliot uses the word "turning" to create an extended metaphor that takes on layers of meaning as the poem progresses, such as turning toward, away, around; cycles of time; spring/rebirth/Christ rising on Easter morning; physical/spiritual/moral regeneration; the cyclical nature of human mortality; and finally, the completion of the journey from the spiritual waste land of hopelessness to the spring of repentance and redemption. The paper examines "Ash Wednesday" to show how the turning theme functions in the poem and how it demonstrates the personal and professional metamorphosis and regeneration of the author.
From the Paper "One of the major themes in T.S. Eliot's poem "Ash Wednesday is the concept of turning. This theme operates on many levels. Eliot uses the word "turning" to create an extended metaphor that takes on layers of meaning as the poem progresses such as turning toward, away, around, cycles of time, spring/rebirth/Christ rising on Easter morning, physical/spiritual/moral regeneration, the cyclical nature of human mortality, and finally, the completion of the journey from the spiritual waste land of hopelessness to the spring of repentance and redemption. An examination of "Ash Wednesday" shows how the turning theme functions in the poem and how it demonstrates the personal and professional metamorphosis and regeneration of the author."
Abstract The paper provides a personal reaction to Claribel Alegria and Darwin Flakoll's "Ashes of Izalco," which describes the social, economic and political injustices evident in El Salvador's state sponsored massacre.
From the Paper ""Ashes of Izalco" by Claribel Alegria and her husband Darwin Flakoll recounts the state sponsored massacre of over indigenous peoples during the early 's in what was known as La Mantanza. The Slaughter: Seen from the perspective of Carmen Rojas, the daughter of wealthy parents, Frank, an American ex-patriot and Paul, a symbol of American democracy the story brings to light the social economic and political injustice of El Salvador."
Abstract The paper discusses how A. S. Byatt, in the novel "Possession", succeeds brilliantly in the monumental technical achievement of creating a deeply layered romance in which two twentieth century literary scholars, Roland Michell and Maud Bailey, become themselves romantically involved as they investigate a startling connection between the two Victorian poets of whom they have made specialized study. The author shows that Byatt's feat is an especially remarkable tour de force as she invents and adroitly interlaces the poetic works of both Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte into her narrative. This essay presents a critical analysis of Ash's poem "Swammerdam" as it reveals it's intricate intra textual roles in the novel.
From the Paper "Byatt introduces the word "possessed" (225) as Swammerdam considers his obsession with insects. From the title of the book it is obvious the Byatt herself is possessed with the ways in which humans throughout history become possessed by one thing or another. Scholars are possessed by long dead poets, men and women are romantically possessed by one another, mentally and physically and Swammerdam and Ash are possessed by obsessions to study "forms of life" (225). As Swammerdam "crucified" "frail dark wings," for his own knowledge and "amusement," the reader sees the analogy to Ash's poetic crucifixions of his poetic characterizations and even feels a foreboding knowledge of Christabel's fate as she will succumb to the pins and microscope of Ash's possession."
Abstract In this paper the author looks at the main character, Frank McCourt's personal experiences as a young boy living in Ireland in poverty stricken conditions. The author analyzes the concerns this character had as a child growing up in these conditions.
From the Paper "Frank the child suffered a great deal, but eventually he escaped, returning to America and seeing the sight of the Statue of Liberty as it ought to be seen in the immigrant narrative, coming nearer to him, rather than farther away. As his memoir makes clear, the man suffered much to earn this privilege. One of the reasons the child Frank was so resilient was certainly his sense of humor. This sense of humor, first evidenced with the resilience of a child's incomprehension of the world, developed into a bleak, black Irish sense of humor about mortality, about drink, about sexuality, and about the lack of omnipresent knowledge in the head's of both of his parents. Although this hard-won humor was not the result of an easy life, it does make for a satisfying, heartbreaking, and ultimately rewarding memoir."
Tags: poor, food, suffer, freedom, family, escapetragic, sick, die
Abstract This paper explores the extraordinary talent and popularity of golfer Tiger Woods. The paper provides a biography of Woods and his father's guidance throughout his entire life. It discusses other great African-American sports stars who broke ground with the "country club" sports, like tennis player Arthur Ash. The paper describes how great talent can break cultural boundaries like no other political vehicle.
From the Paper "Golf has long been a maligned sport in American popular culture, most famously by Mark Twain as a nice long walk spoiled by a small white ball. Although it is a popular game in terms of people who participate in it, it is hardly what one might call a "cool" game like basketball. Basketball is a sport whose cache and celebrities may be considered to have kept the brand of Nike alive and well for decades.
Nor is golf a venerated game like baseball (as witnessed in the success of such spiritually conscientious films as "Field of Dreams" and ?The Natural,? in contrast to ?Caddyshack.?) Golf is not a culturally significant sport as football has been in the American psyche, with the focus the Super Bowl has had as a national event and pastime. Golf has not been the center of controversy for the violence or the practices of golfers in the national media. Golf has long been thought of as the game of the "leisure village" set, or overfed and overpaid white, male executives. On a symbolic level, nothing could be less cool or more reactionary than golf, so the thinking went.
That is, until Tiger Woods came upon the scene. Tiger Woods has given the game of gold a "coolness" that was lacking. "Until the last few years with Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour spiking ratings, the ratings haven"t been relevant to golf,? commissioner Tim Finchem said last week in defending declining ratings on the Senior Tour. Now, Woods often helps golf draw a larger TV audience than the NBA. (Ferguson MSNBC.Com) "
Abstract This paper presents an analysis of the book "Angela's Ashes". It is the memoir of Frank McCourt, from his birth in Brooklyn through his impoverished childhood in Ireland. It examines the meaning behind the book's title, namely the woman whose name it bears, McCourt's mother, and the influence she had on his growth and development.
From the Paper "Angela's Ashes had hit the best seller's lists. With this fame to his credit McCourt makes it plain for us to see that the memoirs are larger than life because they depict life below poverty line in a manner never done before. None of the cynicism of the writers who had touched upon this subject is to be seen in this particular work. Perhaps because the writer himself had grown mature to look back on life humorously or a better reason could be that he owed some amount of the truth to his mother, who had engrained a set of values in his children despite difficult circumstances. Therefore nothing is blown out of proportion."
A look at how the use of humor and poetry transforms an otherwise miserable childhood in "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt and "The Liars? Club" by Mary Karr.
894 words (approx. 3.6 pages), 2 sources, 2002, $ 31.95
Abstract The paper discusses two memoirs of childhood, "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt, set in Ireland, and "The Liar's Club" by Mary Karr about a girl's childhood in East Texas. The paper shows how these two memoirs share many common elements-- poetry, savage humor, great emotional pain, bad weather, the wonder of books, the joys and terrors of sex, and ultimately, the redemptive power of love. Above all, it shows that it is the humor that renders the unbearable both readable and even inspiring.
From the Paper "Liars? Club opens with a singularity rather than a mythic overview: ?My sharpest memory is of a single instant surrounded by dark.? That frozen instant only unfolds over time?"it took three decades"to unfreeze??so that we realize that seven-year-old Mary, nicknamed Pokey, has been raped by a neighbor and at that moment is being examined by the family doctor. And yet the details of this girl's upbringing in a swampy Texas town (which, like Ireland, is beset with hurricanes and bad weather), with a drinking, lying, fabulating, mad, loving family also takes on a quality of the mythic, and achieves its power through humor and poetry."
A comparative analysis of the autobiographical accounts of "The Education of Henry Adams" by Henry Adams, "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt, and "The Liars' Club" by Mary Karr.
Abstract This paper reviews "The Education of Henry Adams", "Angela's Ashes" and "The Liars' Club", distinct works that all offer powerful glimpses into the personal journeys of their interesting and engaging authors. It discusses how they all differ in the type of narration that they employ, as well as in the scope of their content and how all three books focus on the empowering effect of early education and the role of the family in personal development. Different use of the first- and third-person narratives combined with the choice of memoir or autobiography impact the novels? abilities to impact the audience.
From the Paper "In contrast, Henry Adam's use of the autobiographical format in his novel allows him a much more omniscient and reflective point of view. Adams can more easily compare his childhood experiences to experiences and events in his adult life, allowing him to editorialize and draw conclusions across his lifespan. However, the autobiographical format results in a much more emotionally distant tale than either McCourt's or Karr's novel. As such, while the autobiographical format allows for a more reflective point of view, it necessarily limits the vividness of childhood experiences and recollections when seen through the eyes of the adult Henry Adams."
Tags: family, childhood, experiences, recollections, first, third, person
Abstract This paper looks at how the relationship between the main character, Frank, and his father, Malachy, proves to be one of the influential and significant relationships portrayed by the novel, yet it is not a father-son relationship in the traditional sense. Malachy is destitute, he is an alcoholic, and he is the main reason why the family struggles, both in America and Ireland, yet he earns Frank's trust and loyalty. It shows how the novel goes to show that there are intrinsic ties between the father and son, that no matter how ?far-stretched,? cannot be broken.
From the Paper "Frank's story, essentially an account of his childhood, is written in the first person, present tense. He chronicles his childhood, focussing on the struggles of the family. Through these struggles, the environment, and his family, we see Frank's character development. He seems to repel all the negatives around him, and focus his energy at succeeding and rising above the poverty line.
Naturally, Frank's character development is primarily due to the influence of his parents. Frank's parents are not bad people, but they do very little to help his, and his siblings? situation. His mother, Angela, tries to raise them as a "normal" family, but struggles to provide for them. Her troubles are primarily due to disregard of her husband, Malachy."
Abstract This paper uses the ideas of Arthur Ashe and Theodore Reik to dissect the idea of fate in a racial and cultural context. To what extent is one's fate determined by one's racial or cultural or religious membership? The paper concludes that fate is not wholly up to the individual, but that regardless of cultural or racial dynamics, the individual must struggle against barriers to his or her motives.
Abstract This paper reviews the novel, "Possession" by A.S. Byatt, which revolves around two contemporary scholars, Maud Bailey and Roland Mitchell, who are each immersed in the study of one of two Victorian poets and who happen to discover evidence of a previously unimagined relationship between their subjects, Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel La Motte. In particular, it analyzes how the title works very well for the book, since the word "possession" appears in the book many times and has multiple meanings; it relates to the characters and the main plot of the novel.
From the Paper "The two scholars discover that Randolph Henry Ash, assumed to be a devoted and faithful husband, and Christabel La Motte, a lesser-known "fairy poetess" and chaste spinster secretly had an extramarital romance. They discover their poems; their journal entries and letters of other interested parties. The whole rediscovery of a long-forgotten romance begins when Roland Mitchell, finds two rough drafts of a love letter written by Randolph Ash, an acclaimed literary figure known to be married man, to an unknown woman. He finds these letters in Randolph Henry Ash's copy of Vico. Roland soon finds a vague link between Ash's letters and a 19th century reclusive poetess named Christabel La Motte. To find out more about Motte, he enlists the help of Maud Bailey who is a La Motte scholar. Initially, Maud is reluctant to get involved in Roland's investigation, as she doesn't believe there was any romantic connection between the two poets. But she finally agrees."
Abstract This paper focuses on the use of location as a metaphor in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, "The Great Gatsby". The writer points out that the first metaphor used involves West Egg and East Egg, which are used to show the distance between the two main characters, Gatsby and Daisy. The writer then looks at the location of the valley of ashes as a metaphor for desolation and loneliness. The paper concludes that the metaphors are used to represent either the qualities of the characters or the themes of the novel.
From the Paper "The first metaphor occurs with West Egg and East Egg, two egg-shaped islands lying opposite each other and separated by a bay. West Egg is the island where Gatsby lives and also the less fashionable of the two islands. While West Egg is less fashionable, it is also the more real of the two islands. This includes that it is the island where the narrator Nick lives in a small rented bungalow. West Egg still has its share of mansions but there is also a sense of reality to the place. In contrast, East Egg is all mansions, with the sense of elite making it the least real of the two islands."
Tags: west, east, egg, ashes, valley, daisy, location, metaphor
Abstract This paper summarizes and compares the memoirs of Frank McCourt and Maxine Hong Kingston. The paper looks at how each of the authors expresses him/herself and the motivation for writing their stories.
From the Paper "In their memoirs, The Woman Warrior and Angela's Ashes, Maxine Hong Kingston and Frank McCourt, respectively, present unique and complete views of worlds that widely diverge from the sort of lifestyles and experiences that are enjoyed by the average citizens of the United States of America. Part of the most simple reason for this is their "outsider" statues. As an immigrant, in Frank McCourt's case, and as the child of immigrant parents, in Maxine Hong Kingston's case, both memoirs are narratives of lives marked by travel, travail, and cultural differences that have an enormous and massive impact upon their authors? lives."
