Think of a favorite teacher you had. What aspect of his or her teaching style did you find most effective? Compare it to McCourt’s style as described in the book. How was it the same? How was it different?

McCourt writes in the Prologue of the importance of persevering. Describe a time you persevered and kept trying to achieve something in the face of failure. What did you learn from the experience? How did it change your perception of yourself?

Chapters 2-4 consist of flashbacks of things that occurred before McCourt started teaching. Why do you think he wrote so much about his early life, especially his childhood, which was covered at length in Angela’s Ashes? Explain what purpose each of the narratives prior to 1958—his childhood in Ireland, his immigration to America, his college years at NYU, and his days working on the piers—has in the book.