NEXT UP! 3 38 Frank McCourt (1930–2009) was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Irish immigrant parents. He lived in Ireland from the age of four, and returned to New York when he was nineteen. After earning a master’s degree from Brooklyn College, he started teaching high-school English. McCourt published his first novel, Angela’s Ashes, after retiring from teaching. His novel is a memoir of his childhood in Ireland, and was an instant worldwide success. His third book, Teacher Man, is a memoir of his experiences as a high-school teacher in one of the most deprived areas in New York City. Teacher Man […] Mikey Dolan handed me a note from his mother explaining his absence the day before: Dear Mr. McCort, Mikey’s grandmother who is my mother eighty years of age fell down the stairs from too much coffee and I kept Mikey at home to take care of her and his baby sister so I could go to my job at the coffee shop in the ferry terminal. Please excuse Mikey and he’ll do his best in the future as he likes your class. Sincerely yours, Imelda Dolan. P.S. His grandmother is OK. When Mikey handed me the note, so blatantly forged under my nose, I said nothing. I had seen him writing it at his desk with his left hand to disguise his own handwriting, which, because of his years in Catholic primary schools, was the best in the class. The nuns didn’t care whether you went to heaven or hell or married a Protestant as long as your handwriting was clear and handsome and if you were weak in that department they’d bend your thumbs back till you screamed for mercy and promised a calligraphy that would open the doors of heaven. Also, if you wrote with the left hand, it was clear proof you were born with a Satanic streak and it was the business of the sisters to bend your Before reading The narrator, Frank McCourt, writes about his experiences as a high-school teacher. Consider: What sort of things do you expect to read about? A memoir is a written collection of events and moments that have taken place in a person’s life, told by that person. absence – fjarvera blatantly – bersýnilega to forge – að falsa to disguise – fela mercy – miskunn calligraphy – skrautskrift a Satanic streak – djöfullegt einkenni
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjIxNzc=