文档介绍：ENGLISH
FOR
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Excuse Notes
Unit One
Excuses, Excuses
Background Information
Text Analysis
Translating Activities
Grammar Activities
Background Information
Frank McCourt was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Irish immigrant parents. Unable to find work in the depths of the Depression, the McCourts returned to Ireland, where they sunk deeper into the poverty McCourt describes so movingly in his memoir, Angela's Ashes.
About the author
Background Information
McCourt’s father, an alcoholic, was often without work. He drank up what little money he earned and eventually abandoned the family altogether. Three of the seven children died of diseases aggravated by malnutrition and the squalor of their surroundings.
Frank McCourt himself nearly died of typhoid fever when he was ten. Despite the horrors of McCourt's childhood, he told his story with humor, brilliant description, and passion for his family, even for the shiftless father who instilled in him a love of language and storytelling.
After quitting school at 13, Frank McCourt alternated between odd jobs and petty crime in an effort to feed himself, his mother, and four surviving brothers and sisters. At 19, he returned to the United States and worked at odd jobs until he was drafted into the United States Army at the onset of the Korean War. McCourt spent the war stationed in Germany and on his return to civilian life was able to pursue a college education on the . Bill.
Background Information
Although he had never attended high school, he was able to persuade the admissions office of New York University to accept him as a student. Although his childhood interest in language and storytelling were fed by creative writing classes and his own constant reading, he did not feel ready to pursue as career as a professional writer. On graduation, he went to work for the New York City Public School system, where he taught for the next 27 years.
After years of teaching creative writing to young