McCourt Response

I have never read Angela's Ashes nor have I seen the movie, but if the movie is anything as grand as the book I would buy it on the spot. I have never been so moved by so many varying emotions from a memoir as I was by this one. Frank (Francis) McCourt is a genius in my opinion (as well as I'm sure countless others) and I feel grateful to have learned a lot from him, by just reading his work.
I too, as many in my class already know this, grew up well below the poverty level, but have always approached my writing of that time period as the adult I am now. I thought it was so incredibly smart of McCourt to use his childhood voice. It made seeing everything he was seeing so much more poignant because children are innocent and so are there voices. You automatically trust the narrator, not because it is a memoir, but because it is a little boy telling you. Yes, little children do tend to exaggerate the truth sometimes, but McCourt didn't stretch anything. He writing was raw and beautiful.
McCourt describing character's through a child's perspective only enhanced my reading experience and laugh/cry out loud. Quite embarrassing when you are in the presence of others.
I also enjoyed being able to really see the characters through their accents that he portrayed with how he wrote the dialect. I don't think I had ever thought to write dialogue that way, but now that I have seen in done is such a phenomenal way I would love to try it out in my own writing. Giving the characters literally there own voice added immensely to the image of the characters in my head. It seems as though he didn't really give that much description in way of physical traits and yet I could tell you exactly how they looked.
I listened to McCourt read (ironically on the panel with him was Maya Angelou) and it made me laugh even harder listening to his voice telling his story. I believe that authors should be able to read their work because it's theirs. Their performance, as it were, should make me either go and buy the book or go reread the it. One could learn a lot by listening to him read his work. Even though he was much older when he read his work, he still had the child like persona and enthusiasm while reading the book. It was a great thing to behold.

One of My Childhood Experiences.

I grabbed the snake by it's head.
"Look mommy."
"Leslie, put the snake down and back away from it."
She screamed as she started sprinting in my direction.
"But he's my friend."
"Leslie just do as I say please. No arguing."
I put the my new friend down.
"We'll play tomorrow when mommy is not watching."
Just then a shovel was smashing my friends body into the grass.
"No" I screamed and began sobbing instantly.
"Why would you do that."
"That was a rattle snake Leslie."
"So." I exclaimed hysterically.
"Leslie, that snake could have killed you."
"But he wouldn't have. We were friends and you killed him."
"Leslie I'm sorry, but one day you'll understand."


So, I thought that this would be extremely easy, but writing in present tense as a child, at least for me, was extremely difficult. I think that writing was some of the worst writing that I have ever done. I remember this memory as if it was yesterday and yet trying to write about it seemed so foreign to me. I am deeply embarrassed by this writing sample, but am choosing to keep it up as to give an example of what NOT to do when writing. I hope that this helps many people.