| Frank McCourt writes about his experiences as a High School teacher over the space of 30 years as well as one very humbling year teaching at a Community College. He also writes about his failed attempts at obtaining a Ph.D., a degree he had hoped to receive in order to ascend to the ranks of college professors instead of trying to find creative ways to motivate largely disinterested and hormonally challenged High School students day in, day out, year in, year out.
Instead, he finds, in failure, and the return to the High School classroom, this time to the prestigious New York City Stuyvesant High School, and becomes one of the most popular teachers, with long waiting lists for entry to his classes. He finds it all very puzzling and thinks that perhaps he might be seen as being too easy, and so he starts actually trying to challenge his students, something at first they rebel against. As he works his skills in the classroom, he begins to find the emerging writer in himself. | ||
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Plot & Themes job/profession: Ethnic/Relig. of subject (inside) Gender/Class story? - immigrant story Job/profession/poverty story Yes Ethnic/regional/gender Yes Subject of Biography Gender - Male Profession/status: Ethnicity - White Nationality - Irish Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 6 () United States Yes The US: - Northeast City? Yes City: - New York Century: - 1960's-1970's Writing Style Book makes you feel? - encouraged - like laughing How much dialogue in bio? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life? - 0-25% of book |
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