Note:  Your seminar grade will be determined by the quantity of your responses (how many questions you answer and how many other students you respond to) and the quality (how well you demonstrate an understanding of the ideas you're responding to, how detailed your responses are, how coherent and in-depth they are, etc.)

Directions:
1.  Read Angela's Ashes, chapters 8-19

2. Answer two questions from the list with a 3-5 paragraph mini-essay for each. Include quotes and specific references to the text to back up your responses.

Extra Credit Opportunity: Answer an additional question from the list below, and respond to two other students in the discussion topic of your choice.

1.  Story-telling: Analyze the role of storytelling in the book.  Who tells stories, and for what purpose?  What role do stories play in Frank's life?  What does McCourt seem to be suggesting about the importance of storytelling in everyday life?

2. Poverty: How does living in poverty affect the McCourts, as a family and as individuals? Do individual family members view their poverty differently? How about Frank himself - how does he feel about being so poor?  How does it affect the way he views the world?

3. In Retrospect: In the end, how do you think McCourt feels about his childhood? As a writer looking back, do you think he is proud, bitter, affectionate?  How would you describe his feelings about his past as the book ends?  Is that feeling consistent with what came before, or does his attitude shift throughout the book?

4. Malachy McCourt: How does Frank, as a child, feel about his father? How do his feelings change throughout the book? What conclusions does he reach about his father as he observes and remembers him over the years?

5. Ireland and America: How does McCourt portray his homeland, Ireland, its people and the specific county where he grew up, Limerick? Contrast this portrayal with the one he paints of America. How does America compare with Ireland in McCourt's estimation?

3. Save your work as a .doc, .docx, or .rtf document and submit your response to the Assignment Chamber by Monday, 4/21

4. Post your responses to the appropriate forum by midnight on Monday, 4/21

5. Read all the other students' posts throughout the week.

6. Respond to at least two other student's posts in the forum/s of your choice (more is better) .  You will have until midnight, Monday, 4/28 to read and respond to the other students' ideas in the website.