Poverty, family dysfunction, and childhood survival in Angela's Ashes

ANGELA'S ASHES

The Container: I have two ideas about the container. One would be a book, that is hollowed out to hold the items. Frank McCourt always loved books, and it is what made him the man he is now, a writer, a teacher, and a legend. The other would be some kind of container that held alcohol. McCourt always had a sense of humor, even about the most awful things that happened in his life. I think he would see the humor (even if it is black) in a time capsule left in a bottle or a can of booze, because he was not above laughing at himself.

Item 1: Timeline http://www.angelasashes.com/chronicles/timeline-nonflash.html

Printout of the web page (above), that shows the timeline.

Angela's Ashes" takes place from 1930 through 1940 in Limerick, Ireland. The novel follows the lives of Frank McCourt and his brothers. They are very poor, and their father is an alcoholic, who is not home very much. They don't know a lot, except about not having enough to eat, and their mother cries a lot, but there was a lot going on in the world around them. This timeline shows what was happening while they were growing up, and how their lives were changed later on, because of what happened in the world (like World War II).

Item 2: Cigar (Winston Churchill)

Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of England during World War II. He became the Prime Minister in 1940, right after the war had started. Winston Churchill was very famous for many things, like helping England stay strong, and last through the Nazi bombings. He was a big man, and he made a lot of famous speeches, he even invented the name "Iron Curtain." He was a hero to the English, and the Irish too, at least for a while. He also smoked a lot of cigars, and he was very famous for it. He didn't know smoking wasn't good for you back then.

Item 4: Piece of bread

Frank and his brothers and sisters were always hungry. Their father was an alcoholic, and drank up most of the money he ever made, and his mother only had the money she could get on welfare or "assistance." They were happy when they had a loaf of bread. It is hard to think about now, when we have so much to eat, but it was how they lived then. They did not think they were different, they thought everyone live like that, or almost everyone. A piece of bread was like money to them, and they would have been happy to have it.

Item 5: A piece of chalk

Frank McCourt was not like many of the children that grew up poor in Ireland. He managed to save enough money to sail on a ship to America, and he made a new life for himself. He was smart, and when he came to America he went to school, and learned more - he learned all he could. He became a high school teacher, and he taught kids about his life, and about good writing and reading. He would have used a piece of chalk in his new life. He might have wanted a piece of chalk in his old life, but he would not have been able to afford it