Easter Rising
By Michael Patrick MacDonald
Comments -
1."You need to get on with your life," he said, leaning back and folding his hands on his crossed leg. I wasn't even thinking about Davey or feeling bad about him that day.
2. " I don't know," I snapped back. "I just felt like it." Which was the truth. "i guess I was bored. "Who knows? Who cares?" I said, standing now just wanting to get out of there.
3. When I came out of the bathroom, everyone in my family burst into laughter. "Who f***** up your head?" Kevin asked, like he was ready to give my barber a beating.
4. "You think you're King Shit," Kevin told our supervisor one year, "just because you live up the Point."
5."Mother of Christ!" Ma yelled when she walked in on me covering my windows with cloth. She asked me if I was having a nervous breakdown.
Questions -
1. Although the mother was educated in psychology, why didn't she seek treatment for her children, especially Michael who was showing obvious signs of depression?
2. Why were these children as well as other children growing up in the projects allowed to do whatever they wanted too, such as Michael cutting his hair and going out to clubs at 13 and 14 years of age, and his sister drinking and doing drugs?
3. Why didn't Boston Latin recognize that this family was in trouble and get them or at least Michael help?
4. Why was Michael's brother Frankie so ashamed of him and why did he continue to allow his friends to beat up people like Michael?
Vocabulary -
1. anarchist - page 33 a person who promotes disorder or excites revolt against any established rule, law, or custom.
2. blasphemy - page24 A contemptuous or profane act, utterance, or writing concerning God or a sacred entity.
3. recitation - page 24 a reciting or repeating of something from memory, esp. formally or publicly.
Literary Terms -
1. Simile - Usually a huge jock or thug who didn't know any of the clubgoers stood in front of the entrance lokking like a brick wall.
2. Simile - She hit the back of her shoe like it was a ketchup bottle.
1. Outline -
After the tragic death of his mentally ill brother Davey, Michael and his family seemed to all seperate into their own worlds. Michael began to rebel against everything that up until now had been a comfort to him. His family, his friends and the projects all began to be a burden to him. His escape was to go to a new extreme, with a new goth-like appearance and a liking for dark music and odd friends. No-one from Southie, including his family could understand or accept what Michael now felt was his new life. For Michael, Southie was no longer his hometown.