“Typhoid Fever” By Frank McCourt

Missouri Communication Arts Grade-level, course-level expectations R1E: Develop vocabulary through text. Use antonyms. R1E: Develop vocabulary through text. Use antonyms.

Missouri Communication Arts Grade-level, course-level expectations R1H: Apply post-reading skills to comprehend and interpret text questions to clarify, reflect, analyze, draw conclusions, summarize, and paraphrase. Draw conclusions. R1H: Apply post-reading skills to comprehend and interpret text questions to clarify, reflect, analyze, draw conclusions, summarize, and paraphrase. Draw conclusions.

Missouri Communication Arts Grade-level, course-level expectations R1I: Compare, contrast, analyze, and evaluate connections. Evaluate credibility. R1I: Compare, contrast, analyze, and evaluate connections. Evaluate credibility.

Missouri Communication Arts Grade-level, course-level expectations R2C: Use details from text to analyze character, plot, setting, point of view, and development of theme, evaluate proposed solutions, analyze the development of a theme across genres, evaluate the effect of author’s style and complex literary techniques. Understand usage and style. Understand the writer’s voice, diction, and tone. Analyze the writer’s voice. R2C: Use details from text to analyze character, plot, setting, point of view, and development of theme, evaluate proposed solutions, analyze the development of a theme across genres, evaluate the effect of author’s style and complex literary techniques. Understand usage and style. Understand the writer’s voice, diction, and tone. Analyze the writer’s voice.

The story is told from first-person point of view. The person who tells the story is called the narrator. A first-person narrator uses the pronoun “I” to refer to himself or herself. “Typhoid Fever”

persona In first-person narratives, the author may adopt an identity--or persona. This persona allows the author to present the setting through a distinct character’s eyes. Since this story is autobiographical, the persona and the author are the same person--but McCourt takes on the persona of himself as a child to tell the story. “Typhoid Fever”

First-person narrators can only tell what they themselves know--their own feelings, thoughts, experiences, and their observations about other characters. “Typhoid Fever”

First-person narrators can’t see into the mind of another character or know what is happening in faraway places. “Typhoid Fever”

Characterization Frank McCourt uses dialogue to reveal the personalities of different characters. Watch for this as you read. “Typhoid Fever”

Authors imagine the setting and then use details to help the reader see it. The details the narrator points out can help to establish tone and character. People usually notice things that are important to them or that reflect their moods or attitudes. “Typhoid Fever”

Remember that “Typhoid Fever” is a memoir. It is the story of a period in the author’s life. It takes place in a hospital in Ireland around 1941, when the author was ten years old and recovering from a dangerous disease called typhoid fever. “Typhoid Fever”

In these “fever hospitals,” patients were kept isolated from one another. How do you think young patients felt about being isolated from each other? What do you think you might have done to pass the time? “Typhoid Fever”

What is voice in literature? Just as people have different speaking voices, writers have different writing voices. A writer’s personality and attitude toward the subject can often be discovered by analyzing voice. “Typhoid Fever”

What is voice in literature? Pay attention to Frank McCourt’s distinctive voice as you read. Think about these questions: What does his choice of words (diction) say about his attitude? Are his sentences simple or complex? What seems to be his attitude (tone) toward the characters? “Typhoid Fever”

What is voice in literature? Frank McCourt has said that his Irish childhood was enlivened by the oral sharing of stories, poetry, and songs. As a result, his writing possesses distinct qualities of speech. In this piece, his use of a child’s voice allows him to tell his story freely and honestly, without imposing direct judgment on the people who were part of his distant but often painful past. “Typhoid Fever”

What is voice in literature? Stream of consciousness is a technique developed by modern writers to convey the flow of a character’s inner experiences, including the flood of impressions, thoughts, feelings, and memories that cycle continuously through a person’s mind. “Typhoid Fever”

What is voice in literature? Stream-of-consciousness narratives often embrace experimental techniques, distinguishing them from straightforward narratives. “Typhoid Fever”

Stream of consciousness For example, this memoir does not contain traditional punctuation such as quotation marks. It moves simply from each character’s dialogue to the narrator’s thoughts and back again. This lack of quotation marks helps emphasize the narrator’s inner world: Without them, dialogue and impressions seem to flow directly from the narrator’s mind. “Typhoid Fever”

Fact vs. Opinion “Typhoid Fever” In what sources can you verify facts? In what sources can you verify opinions?

Pre-reading vocabulary apparatus The organs of the body that work together to perform a particular function

Pre-reading vocabulary relapse A falling or slipping back into a former state

Pre-reading vocabulary dilapidated Falling to pieces

Pre-reading vocabulary interrogation A formal questioning

Pre-reading vocabulary exalted High in rank, honor, power, or quality

Pre-reading vocabulary decrepit Broken down by old age

Pre-reading vocabulary prestigious Having a high reputation or great influence

Pre-reading vocabulary conviction A firm belief

Pre-reading vocabulary torrent A violent forceful rush

Pre-reading vocabulary potent Powerful or convincing

Pre-reading vocabulary induced Persuaded; led on

Pre-reading vocabulary clamoring Crying out; asking

“Typhoid Fever” Concept Quiz Can you define the following terms? Can you define the following terms? Can you identify them in a piece of literature? Can you identify them in a piece of literature? Can you analyze them in a piece of literature? Can you analyze them in a piece of literature?

“Typhoid Fever” Concept Quiz: Define, identify, analyze Voice

“Typhoid Fever” Concept Quiz: Define, identify, analyze Characterization

“Typhoid Fever” Concept Quiz: Define, identify, analyze Antonym

“Typhoid Fever” Concept Quiz: Define, identify, analyze Synonym

“Typhoid Fever” Concept Quiz: Define, identify, analyze Diction

“Typhoid Fever” Concept Quiz: Define, identify, analyze Tone

“Typhoid Fever” Concept Quiz: Define, identify, analyze Comic relief

“Typhoid Fever” Concept Quiz: Define, identify, analyze Memoir