Analysis Of 'The StreetAndAngela's Ashes'

Angela's Ashes is a memoir about the life of the author, Frank McCourt, who talks about his struggles in poverty and his perseverance to overcome it, throughout the memoir there is a major theme that perseverance leads to the achievement of your goals. This theme is expressed throughout the book in three major ways through characters, setting, and events, and it teaches us a strong less about overcoming difficulties such as poverty. For example, in paragraph three after we learn that the narrator's family is starving, and she must provide for them she says "We can get no more credit at O'Connell's shop." she then continues to say "Still, I'll have to try Kathleen O'Connell once more." (McCourt, 3). From this quote we can see that the narrator is not willing to just give up and let her family starve. Instead she perseveres and goes out to go get food for her family, which is her goal. Furthermore, in paragraph 5 McCourt expresses this theme very effectively using an event from the text when the narrator says, “The van driver is inside the shop having tea and a bun with Kathleen and it’s no trouble for me to help myself to a loaf of bread.” (McCourt, 5). This quote shows us how the narrator steals to help support her starving family, from this we can infer that she perseveres and keeps stealing to help feed her family which is her goal, so we can see that she persevered and reached her goal. Lastly, McCourt uses setting to portray this theme in paragraph four when the narrator says, “You can look in people’s windows and

"The Causes of Poverty." Looking at History. N.p., 6 May 2008. Web. 20 Aug. 2015.). One third of the family’s income was spent on alcohol, putting more strain on household finances (John, Richard, Br. "The Causes of Poverty." Looking at History. N.p., 6 May 2008. Web. 20 Aug. 2015.). Francie’s father was a weak man who drinks away much of the money he made a waiter (Smith, Betty. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, a Novel. New York: Harper, 1947. Print.). To make up for his incompetence, Francie’s mother work as a janitor in their apartment building in exchange for rent and cleans some of their neighbors apartments for money (Smith, Betty. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, a Novel. New York: Harper, 1947. Print.). Francie and her younger brother help out by selling pieces of metal to junkies in their neighborhood (Smith, Betty. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, a Novel. New York: Harper, 1947.

We have all seen the poor or homeless people on the streets. They look cold and lonely. We don't really think about what their life is really about. But have you ever realized that most of them had a good life before they became poor or homeless. The book Almost Home by Joan Bauer goes over this, that the people who are less fortunate are still people and that they had a good life too. This and many other good lessons are gone over in this book.

I was reading Bill McClellan's column. He was always telling stories of people who have endured and persevered. His column gave me hope. In Perils of Pauline, he shared the story of a woman who is on the brink. Women on the brink of poverty stories have become popular since the Shriver Report. In "Perils of Pauline", McClellan talks about how being poor created complex situations that are difficult to explain. Living in poverty does make things complex. The systems that are put in place to help are not easily accessible.

In “The Street”, the main character, Lutie Johnson, is faced with many struggles in her daily life. Ann Petry portrays the idea that in hard times, you should continue to

My father pulled heavy carts for pennies. My mother sold jugs of water from the public fountain, charcoal, and grilled peanuts to get us something to eat” (166). Grace’s mother and father work hard to provide for her. Raising Grace is their primary goal, and later in their lives, they take it a step further and move to America to provide better opportunities for Grace. Having a child in Haiti forces Grace’s parents to view Haiti differently than before. Rather than just surviving and making ends meet they also have to address that they are going to raise a child in the poor conditions around them. This motivates her parents to work harder and eventually move to provide better opportunities for their children. “Night Women” is another story that shows how family is an important motivator. The narrator of this story resorts to prostitution to provide for her son.

Never before have I seen such bleak poverty define a community. I see oppression in one man’s eyes, desperation in another’s. As I observe these emotions, I feel an anguish more powerful than anything I’ve ever experienced. I look around the slum for something to distract myself from this sorrow. My eyes settle on an ornate rug hanging outside a specialty market.

Most of our classmates had families that struggled with poverty. As students were presenting everyone started noticing that we all had families that were poor. One example was Perla’s mother. When Perla’s mother was 15 and she was a high schooler, she had

The overwhelming poverty that Sylvia (Toni Cade Bambara, "The Lesson" p.543) and Abner (William Faulkner, "Barn Burning" p.250) experience dooms them both to a life of self-destruction. Though from different worlds, Sylvia and Abner both experience hate, confusion, and anger because of their lowly positions in life. Instead of trying to better themselves, they choose to vent their dissatisfactions on others, and ignore the cause of the discriminations they face.

People can be harsh to pass judgment around on poverty. This essay is filled with heartbroken details of a family of four that is living in poverty. Jo Goodwin Parker tells the truth of what ones life entails to another. Here I am, dirty, smelly, and with no “proper” underwear on with the stench of my rotting teeth near me (383). Obviously this family is too poor to see a dentist one would think. This poor family has so little of the basic needs, but seems to make ends meet with just seventy-eight dollars to the best of their ability. Food is a much-needed necessity to feed her children and herself. The rent she pays is twenty dollars; the remaining money is what she has to make ends meet with food. She exclaims that poverty is being

In this novel, we learn how the family remarkably survives, with their adventurous mindset, resilience and hope; we go into the other side of the society that is not usually discussed. Likewise, Jeannette Walls and her siblings “…figure out how to sink or swim” (66). Unlike ordinary families, the Walls' parents do not pamper their children until they are adults, they want their children to be self-sufficient and primed to tackle any challenge life throws at them. In addition, the Walls’ motives are relatable to all those people in poverty, parents want their children to live a better life than they previously did and surpass boundaries that inhibit them from

The topic of poverty courses through political rhetoric as a hot button economic issue. However, very few who speak on the dilemma analyze the humanity of the issue. Yes, poverty is an economic problem, but its effects are not solely fiscal. For many it is easy to ignore the emotional aspect of the issue- desperately low annual incomes posted in a report on poverty fail to invoke the same empathy as personal stories about those afflicted. In his book, Evicted, Matthew Desmond purports that poverty and eviction dehumanize those who are affected. Desmond supports this claim by describing a lack of agency within impoverished localities, and by placing an emphasis on the value of material goods over humanity.

The theme of resistance in Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes is shown thorugh a boy preventing his family's demise, through begging, stealing, and his brief discomfort, in the winter of Ireland. McCourt problem solves when he states, "Still, I'll have to try Kathleen O'Connell once more"(3). With the boy's mother sick and his siblings hungry due the familys' state of poverty, the boy is trying to figure out who to go to for help. This quote shows the boy's determination to take care of his mother, and feed his brothers, despite the lack of people willing to help, including direct family. The boy is attempting to prevent the misfortunes by deciding to taking action. A related event takes place when the same boy sticks the bread under his jersey with O'Connell's stolen lemonade and made a "promise to tell everything in confession"(McCourt 5). The boy is stealing food and lemonade to feed his hungry brothers and quench his sick mother's thirst rather than ask and be denied provisions. By stealing these needed resources

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.” I plan to compare the essays “Homeless on Campus” by Eleanor J. Bader and “Defying the Odds: Victor Cruz” by Bill Pennington. The essay “Homeless on Campus” conveys the message that anything can be done through hard work even when the odds are against you. The essays are about a 20 year old college student Aesha who went from living with her parents and her boyfriend until she and her child moved out to protect to her child from his abusive father. She lived in housing units and on the streets while being a single mother and raising a child and shows that any obstacles can be overcome with dedication. The story of Victor Cruz is quite different and has a different obstacle to overcome. Victor Cruz grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, growing up in a harsh neighborhood with gangs, drugs, and murder everywhere. The essays “Homeless on Campus” and Defying the Odds: Victor Cruz” are similar and different as they use connotative diction, pathos, and experience to convey the message of overcoming struggle.

Poverty affects nearly half of the worlds population, which is more than four billion people. It takes a lot of perseverance to live in a life of poverty because people don't have much to survive on and they can't give up. Once they give up, their life will not get better and they will have nothing to hold on to. Many people in the world are living in a life of poverty and know what it is like to have nearly nothing. Many authors including Frank McCourt and Ann Petry, use this to develop their stories and attract readers by giving them something to relate to. Two excerpts from "Angela's Ashes" and "The Street" written by Frank McCourt and Ann Petry provide two insights of life in poverty and how it requires perseverance through their characters, events, and setting.