Question Number: 1
Page Number: 64
Said By: Frank McCourt
Quote:
"I see the college students in the subway and I dream that someday I'll be like them, carrying my books, listening to professors, graduating with a cap and gown, going to a job where I'll wear a suit and tie and carry a briefcase, go home on the train every night, kiss the wife, eat my dinner, play with the kids, read a book, go to sleep so I'll be refreshed for the next morning."

I think quote this relates to Question 1 because it is his version of an idealistic life in America. This is most likely what Frank McCourt had in mind when coming here. What he described was something of an American dream, then. Today, the American ream may be slightly different, but I'm sure there are some similarities, a common goal. To Frank McCourt, who born into a lower class family in Ireland, this middle class, average American lifestyle was a fantasy, a dream that he hoped to realize.

I feel that what Frank McCourt describes as an idealistic fantasy life, seems very average to me. That is just because I was raised in America. I think that this is a very stereotypical way of looking at the US. I think is what was used be though of a typical life in America. The reason Frank McCourt thought this way is because he was raised without having much anything, to him this seemed like having everything.

Question 1: Do you feel this is a clichéd version of the average life of an American male? If so, do you think it is an idealistic lifestyle?


Question Number :4
Page Number: 21
Said By: Catholic Priest
Quote:
"They'll think you just got off Ellis Island."

I think this quote is related to the question because it shows how he was discriminated against in America. He was not at all used to American customs when he first arrived, or as some people would say (The Catholic Priest), “just got off Ellis Island“, or “just got off the boat”. A few people throughout the book ridicule him for his ignorance or American lifestyle and norms.

I can relate to his situation. When I went to Chula Vista to play several club soccer teams, all the other teams were mostly Mexican. I and my soccer team were the few who spoke English. All the others teams laughed at us because we couldn’t speak Spanish for our lives. We heard them call us names, but we couldn’t understand most of it. It feels so rude when someone insults you in another language. It is like they think we are stupid. So in the sense that I/we stuck out and were discriminated against, I can relate to Frank McCourt.

Question 2: Have you ever been discriminated against? If so, how did you feel?