That good old fashioned exes stench oh angst

You are told your smartphone is smarter than you. The above title is what your speech-to-text interpreted as “existential angst.” You begin to believe that you are smarter than your smartphone. You are told you cannot leave the house nor inhabit public places. Your driver’s license is going to expire on Friday, your birthday, but the governor has closed the BMV and told the police not to ticket you for expired anything. You begin to keenly wonder if there are any truly valid expiration dates besides those stamped on milk. Due to a milk shortage, the news media tells you to freeze milk to lengthen this date. If you cannot believe the black-and-white truth of milk expiration, then what can you believe? What is necessary? What is true? What is black and white? School is closed, and the government has said that kids will learn plenty from being in the woods and from reading books. For once you agree with the government. You cannot get your hair cut, or your body tattooed. You enjoy both of these things but recognize that they are not imperative to human survival. The only things imperative to human survival are food and drink and procreation, which you enjoy more than haircuts and tattoos. However, you acknowledge that a good haircut and cool tattoos may help with procreation. 

During the quarantine, you read a clever book written in the second person that influences your prose. You also spend time looking at opinions online. You acknowledge that Siddhartha Gautama warned against cleverness and opinions, and you wonder what is left to enjoy on the Internet. You remember that the Buddha also said wisdom cannot be imparted, so you are wondering about the futility of typing anything, which leads to depressing thoughts such as, “is typing just an anal-retentive death spasm?” And the classic, “if you cannot think of anything that truly matters, then what truly matters?” 

So you ask, deeply, truly, sincerely. What truly matters, my dears? What is permanent? What endures?

What?

Angela's Ashes Revisited

10 years ago I posted about Angela's Ashes. It remains one of my most visited posts with nearly 5,000 views. I'm not sure if it's an Internet glitch or if I wrote something interesting. Regardless, the post expressed a deep love for the book, but also curisosity as to why it spoke to me so deeply. Since then I spit in a tube and discovered that I am 21% Irish/Scottish and 76% Northwestern European, which I interpret as... Irish-ish. So, I suppose I'm roughly 97% Irish-ish. Being adopted this has always been a big question mark for me. I've also, perhaps through a sense of alienation, thought people that take too much pride in their ethnic heritage are kind of silly. Now that I can point a finger at it, I guess I appreciate a sense of ethnic pride more than I ever have in my life. I still feel a very strong connection to Frank McCourt's story as I am reading the book with a small group of seniors this year and have really enjoyed revisiting it. I have updated the web-quest for the book, which I use now as discussion points, really. I am debating whether or not it's necessary to provide links to students for some questions, and I am interested in continuing to encourage them to draw their own connections. If you teach the book, or just happen to love the book, I hope this finds ye well.


Angela’s Ashes Web Quest 

25 PTS

Instructions: This Web Quest is to be done independently. You will be given two

class periods to complete it. You are not to talk while in the computer lab. If you

have any questions ask Mr. Skarl. You are to stay only on the links connected

directly to this project. Any student doing otherwise will be given a score of zero for

this project.

All answers must be written in complete sentences. Answer the questions

completely.

Using Link 1 identify the following places on your blank map of Ireland(included):

Limerick, Northern Ireland, River Shannon, Dublin, and Lough Neagh.

Link 2

Answer the following questions about the Irish flag

1. In the Irish flag, what color is placed nearest the flagpole?

________________________

2. What color represents the native people of Ireland? ________________________

3. What color represents the British who settled in Northern Ireland in the 1700's?

____________________________

4. What does the color in the middle of the flag represent?

__________________________

5. When was this flag first used? _____________________________

Link 3

Visit the Limerick of Angela’s Ashes and tour the streets Frank grew up on. What is your

impression?

Link 4

What is the IRA? What is the Old IRA?

What was the Easter Rising of 1916?

Was it a success or not? Why was it important?

Links 5 & 6

Frank’s father is always singing Kevin Barry and Roddy McCorley songs.

Who was Kevin Barry? Give two sentences. Listen to the song.

Links 7 & 8

Who was Roddy McCorley? Give two sentences. Listen to the song.

Why do you think Malachy sings about these two?

Link 9

Frank and his father Malachy go to appeal that Malachy “did his bit for Ireland” but there

is no written record of his service. “This is the new Ireland, son little men with little bits

of paper.” Consider the following story about IRA documents newly discovered after

100+ years.

Do you think Malachy McCourt was one who “did his bit” or do you think he’s trying to

leech off the government pension? Justify your answer.

Link 10

The Black and Tans were an important aspect of Post-War Ireland. What function did

they serve?

Malachy also tells Frank Cuchulain stories. Watch the clip at Link 11 and name

something interesting you learned?

Link 12

Malachy hangs a portrait of Pope Leo XIII and claiming he was a great friend to the

working man. Read about the principle of subsidiarity as outlined by Pope Leo XIII.

Summarize the principle of subsidiarity in a sentence or two. Do you think it was a good

idea. Why or why not?

Link 13

Frank is named after St Francis of Assisi. St. Francis was the patron saint of what? Do

you think this fits Frank’s personality? Why or why not? Give specific evidence.

Find your own links

Discover connections between the song "Zombie" by the Cranberries and Ireland. Focus on the lyrics. How does this relate to Angela's Ashes?

Find your own links

Discover connections between Cranberries lead singer, Dolores O'Riordan, and Angela's Ashes.

Angela’s Ashes Web-Quest Links

Link 1 Map

https://www.joycesireland.com/pics-map/

Link 2 Irish Flag

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/europe/ireland/flag.shtml

Link 3 Tour of McCourt’s Limerick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfjn7_l8Zo0

Link 4 IRA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Republican_Army

Link 5 Kevin Barry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Barry

Link 6 Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ4INuSYr28&feature=emb_title

Link 7 Roddy McCorley

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roddy_McCorley

Link 8 Music

http://www.ireland-information.com/irishmusic/roddymccorley.shtml

https://www.riseupandsing.org/songs/kevin-barry

Link 9 IRA Documents

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48646318

http://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/military-service-pensions-c

ollection-1916-1923

Link 10 Black and Tans

https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ireland-1845-to-1922/the-black-and-tans/

Link 11 Cu Cuhulain

Cu Chulain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnVHLAH7MYI

Link 12 Catholic Social Teaching

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidiarity#Catholic_social_teaching

Link 13 St. Francis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi