Q2 Outside Reading # 5

School back in Frank's time was much more difficult. I'm not talking about the actual subjects but about how it was run. They were taught by priests and the priests resorted to violence to control the boys. "... Mr. Benson heard him and took him out to the hallway and knocked him around till he howled" (McCourt 121). Also, there was a hierarchy within the boys. Those who had less were beaten up by the boys who were more fortunate. "Now if I hear of one boy in this class jerring and sneering at McCourt or his brother over their shoes the stick will come out" (McCourt 106). The McCourts couldn't afford new shoes so their father tied pieces of tire to the bottom of their shoes.
The priests have very different styles of teaching than the teachers today. The priests make the boys repeat everything they same back to them to make sure they're listening. "What have we dont, boys? Bared our necks to the Protestant ax, sir. And? Mounted the scaffold singing, sir. As if? Embarking on a picnic, sir" (McCourt 122). The boys also have to show respect to their teacher by calling him sir, which is not done today. The teachers also have very low tolerance levels. "You're not here to be asknig questions... if I find any boy in this class asking questions I won't be responsible for what happens" (McCourt 118). Today students are suppose to ask questions but in Frank's time that could lead to punishment. That may be because of the different time periods but also because we're in a different country.

Q2 Outside Reading # 4

Once again, tragedy hits the McCourts. Both of Frankie's younger brothers, Oliver and Eugene, die. This hurts the McCourts in many ways. Obviously they are mourning the loss of two of their children/brothers. Also this means that they receive less money from the dole. It's true they have less mouths to feed but they still can't survive on what little money they have left over after paying rent. Living in the apartement when her twins died is haunting Angela. "She sees Eugene morning, noon and night. She sees him climbing the bed to look ou at the street for Oliver and sometimes she sees Oliver outside and Eugene inside, the two of them chatting away" (McCourt 91). Because Angela feels haunted by her sons she forces her family to move.
The move hurts the family a lot. First of all they are further away from Frankie's and Malachy's school. They have to walk a longer distance in the terrible weather which gets them sick. Another problem is that this new home costs more than the last one. They are still living on the charity money because Malachy (the father) can't find and keep a steady job. Another, less eminent problem, is that the toilet, which is by the whole lane which consists of seven houses, is located right outside the McCourts house. "These houses were built in the time of Queen Victoria herself and if this lavatory was ever cleaned it must have been done by someone in the middle of the night when no one was lookin'" (McCourt 92). To make matters even worse, the house leaks and they have to live in the upper room for the duration of winter, Malachy is still drinking away whatever money he can make, and Angela gives birth to another baby boy named Michael.

Q2 Outside Reading #3

Would life have been better for the McCourts, especially the young boys, had they stayed in America? I think life would have been all around if they had stayed where they were. Life in Ireland was even harder than their lives back in America, which were already pretty crappy. "That's less than four dollars in American money and how are we supposed to live on that?" (McCourt 63). In Ireland, Malachy was able to gets dole, only nineteen shillings. After they pay rent they will have practically no money left for coal, food and clothing. At least in America they had formed bonds with the grocers and were able to get food if they promised to pay them back. In Ireland that won't work.

 The Irish grew up very differently than Americans. The boys are introduces to bad habits. "She plants the brown stuff in our nostrils and we sneeze so hard the women stop crying and laugh..." (McCourt 64). The Irish women were giving these innocent little boys snuff. In America that would have been looked down upon, but here Angela says nothing about it because that's just how life is. Even though life was hard in America, living in Ireland the McCourt boys were shown new habits and the extreme poverty that the world contains. 

OTW #2

In the movie, there are three groupings of how people view a traitor vs. a whistle blower. One group is the Priest and Edy. They believe that if you know something that's going on that is illegal, then you should inform the authorities. This doesn't make you a traitor in their eyes, it's just doing the right thing. The second grouping is Terry and all the working people. They are the ones who want to tell on the mob, but are afraid for their lives. They don't really consider it being a traitor, but they know that's how the mob would take it and they don't want to anger the mob. The last group is obviously the mob. They think that telling the authorities automatically makes you a traitor. Their stance is that if you have info you better keep your mouth shut.

I believe that if someone, anyone not just the people I care about, are going to be harmed in anyway, then you should tell someone. It shouldn't matter what others think, it's what you think. Also, if your telling just for revenge, or to get someone in trouble, then it's tattle tale. If what the person is doing isn't harming anyone, but you know it would be looked down upon and you tell anyways, then I would consider that person a tattle tale.

AMS Question

Obviously Joe Keller thought the needs of his family took precedent over the needs of the society. Keller sent out faulty parts which ended up being put into planes and killing 21 pilots in the war. "For you, a business for you!"(Miller 70). Keller's reasoning for sending out the parts and killing those people was to make a future for his son. He thought that as long as he provided for his family and continued the business for his son, it didn't matter. In some ways, Chris put the needs of society before the needs of family. Although he worked at the factory, he wouldn't put his name on it. "Because sometimes I think you're... ashamed of the money"(Miller 38). Deep inside him, Chris knew what his father had done. He didn't want to be associated with that because he didn't believe what his father had done was right. 

I believe that family is very important. They are you support system and help you in your times of need. But, there is a limit to when you should support what they do. What Joe Keller did was wrong. His intentions, making a better life for his son, were good, but his actions were wrong. I would never kill people to save my family if there were other options. Keller didn't have to send out the parts, and although he believed he would lose everything he worked for, he could start over somewhere else instead of killing innocent people. But, when you believe that the society is wrong and it's not harming anyone, I would side with my family if I believed they were right.

Q2 Outside Reading #2

The beginning really goes into detail on Frank's life.He and his brothers spend most of their days at the park across the street. His mother is always taking care of Margaret, his little sister, and doesn't have time for him and his brothers. They go to the park to play and are yelled at if they come back before she tells them. We also see another side of Frank; he beats up his neighbor, Freddie. Before this I always thought of him as a scrawny, pathetic little boy but here he is beating up kids. Another tragedy hits them and Margaret dies. Margaret had brought many good changes to the family- Malachy had stopped drinking and the family got along better. Once she died, Malachy was gone for days drinking and Angela lost it mentally. She spent her days laying in bed not talking. Angela's cousins come and help her out and end up shipping her off to Ireland with her family.

The family arrives in Ireland with practically nothing and no money. They go to Malachy's parents house in Northern Ireland and spent the night, but his parents don't want them staying. Then they travel to Dublin to see if Malachy can collect his money he's owed for having served in teh army. They won't give him the money and so they are stranded. Finally they make it to Angela's mother's house. It's very crowded there and her mom makes it clear they aren't very welcomed.

Outside Reading Post #1

I am reading the book Angela's Ashes. It's a memoir of Frank McCourt, a little Irish boy that grew up in poverty. His life was a constant struggle. Frank's life was harder than it would have been had his parents not been forced into their marriage. The McCourt's grew up in a poor neighborhood. Because his father was a drunk, his siblings and he suffered. His father, Malachy, was never able to hold a job. Angela questions, "Are you coming home so that we can have a bit of supper or will it be  midnight  with no money in your pocket...?" (McCourt 26). When Malachy knocked Angela up, he was not prepared to be a father or husband. He was constantly drunk and knew he wouldn't be able to support his family. Angela's cousins forced him to marry her when she could have done better. She could have married someone else who held a steady job and would bring his wages home. Malachy spent all his wages in the pubs and as a consequence his family never had enough food to eat or even clothes to wear. 

He also suffers because his mother is weak. She's not physically weak, but emotionally. Angela grew up poor in Limerick, Ireland, and traveled to America in hopes of a better life. Angela's cousins chides, "That's what you get for being such a fool" (McCourt 19). Angela hooked up with Malachy right after arriving in New York. She let the excitement of being in a new city, being around new people, and being free from her old life, influence her to do something rash. She ended up paying for it dearly and it affected her children too.  Angela resented being tied down to a drunk and having five children on top of it. She was never really a caring, loving mother that young children need. Had Frank grown up with a mother that truly cared for him, he would not have been so self-conscience. Both his parents made poor ethical choices; he drank himself stupid and she was too weak to say no.