A critique on Teacher Man by Frank McCourt (2005)

One man’s handbook of engaging memoirs

“Here they come. And I’m not ready. How could I be? I’m a new teacher and learning on the job” (McCourt, 2005, p.13). Judging by these opening chapter lines, the reader may be bound to think Teacher Man is a book about learning and teaching. Yet, there is more to it than just enlightenment on teaching and learning dynamics. This book continues to cast light into McCourt’s (2005) teaching experiences in America. Especially withstanding is the writer’s choice of descriptive words and colloquial language which produces irony. Told in the first person, Teacher Man would best impact the reader and let them picture scenes more clearly and smoothly. Otherwise, it would be difficult to feel, smell, and see what it is being retold. Namely, the audience can visualize McCourt’s “mouth clogged with sandwich, [which] attracted the attention of the class” (p 20).

The author has chosen to divide the book in three parts and eighteen chapters all of which depict the unusual and sometimes eccentric stories of his classrooms. These experiences span three decades from public to one community college. Amidst teaching memoirs, this book is sprinkled with life crises like an unhappy marriage, firing, and an attempt to earn a doctorate. Appealing are the titles chosen for the book chapters such as Coming alive in room 2005 where McCourt (2005) seems to close a cycle and transmit a sense of fulfillment. In fact, writing excuse letters from Adam or Eve to God, reciting recipes as fine poetry, debating on Hazel and Gretel suitability for future generations best exemplifies such title choice.

McCourt (2005) appears to have selected an accurate and colloquial style so that the reader may feel sympathetic to opt for a role in his stories. Rather more significantly is the in-depth accounts of classrooms dynamics quite apart from the traditional teaching setting he was in. All in all, Teacher Man comprises an enthralling and masterly told book of memoirs. The audience may identify with that student who does not behave, with that parent who wants their children to learn fine poetry, with the teacher who is confused or with the man just the man who struggles to find a way in society, and thrives or fails in the attempt.

References

McCourt, F. (2005). Teacher Man. New York, NY: Scribner.