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Analyzing Maya Angelou's 'The Seduction'

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“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.” is a quote by Maya Angelou. Angelou in this quote was trying to illustrate that if something is not working one person, they have to change their perspective on how they view the information presented, and approach it with different motives. This article, “The Seduction,” by Paula Marantz Cohen ties to what Angelou is trying to convey. The article shows how a teacher changed her attitude towards teaching her students. Realizing that her method of teaching was not effective towards the students learning, she learned to open her mind to new ideas to get a better result. Cohen in this article persuades the readers that students who are not English majors …show more content…

Stating this, it shows that her experience throughout the years transformed her to realize that her way of teaching is not passing down knowledge to the students.The article demonstrates that she changed her attitude when she had children; who according to the article have different characteristics that showed her that one cannot only teach from one perspective. Understanding her mistakes, she humbles herself to the audience to show that nobody is perfect, and every day is a learning process. The article illustrates, “The ones who do are the ones I used to gripe about: those who went directly to the SparkNotes, who didn’t proofread their papers, and who gave rote responses in class.” (Cohen). By stating this, it shows that she is being honest and admits that she was not teaching everybody the same way; she only teaches those that she see as herself. Due to the honesty toward the students, it creates a bond between her and her students. Because she was honest in her teaching, it helps persuade the student to engage more in reading. It also demonstrates that she was able to understand everybody’s way of learning, which makes the students who are not English majors more engaged with the text they might see as boring more

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437 Words | 2 Pages

In the second paragraph she states, “Eventually a fortunate few will find their way into educational repair shops-adult literacy programs,such as the one where I teach basic grammar and writing.” This gives her a tremendous amount of credibility and expertise in this speech. Not only does she gain credibility by working in the education field, but she gains credibility because she works with the kids that have been failed by the education system. In the third paragraph she talks about how she found out first hand with her own son that when a teacher threatens to flunk a student they work harder and obtain the skills they need to

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1176 Words | 5 Pages

Her supporting claims are that Angelou’s writing is convoluted and nonsensical and that To Kill a Mockingbird is a book that efficiently accomplishes what educators are attempting to do with Angelou’s literature. The claims that she uses to support her main claim are claims of fact and value. It is made apparent that Prose finds Angelou’s writing convoluted and nonsensical when Prose writes, “If we want to use Angelou’s work to educate our kids, let’s invite them to parse her language, sentence by sentence; ask them precisely what it means and ask why one would bother obscuring ideas that could be expressed so much more simply and felicitously.” (Prose). This quote implies that American students could not easily analyze Angelou’s work and that her work could be written in less complex and confusing language.

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654 Words | 3 Pages

Angelou reflects on her years at school and she remembers all her academic achievements. Angelou talks about how she admired Henry Reed—who was class valedictorian. She admired how Reed was courteous and respectful to his elders and students. Two weeks prior to graduation were filled with a ton of activities. Underclassmen were prepping for the graduation while the minister preached the night before graduation.

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477 Words | 2 Pages

In addition, it clearly shows that she has an altruistic side because she tries her best in ensuring the well-being of her students by places herself in their shoes and understanding them. Also, she suggests several means of getting their attention without restricting them from using these social networks. Before attempting to do so, she opens about the need for self-actualization to achieve set goals. In addition, she says restrictions these kids are never the solution because she observed years later that teachers still face the same old problem. The belief she has in the iGeneration is perpetual and she terms them as the smart, brave, and skilled generation.

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784 Words | 4 Pages

In the beginning of the book most of the students didn’t like Ms.Gruwell and thought she shouldn’t even try teaching them anything. As the days went by the students started listening and started to respect her more. The

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643 Words | 3 Pages

In the same conversation, she also says, “Nothing can change how bright you are, whether your current teacher knows it or not. Most important, nobody can change who you are, except for you. ”(p 50). The author handled it perfectly in particular the way she presents the daughter's struggle with the English

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681 Words | 3 Pages

What are your reasons when undertaking a mission? Annie Johnson wanted a more successful life for her family and herself. Farah Ahmedi and her mother wanted to live a better life in a new location. Ernesto wants to get a good education at his new English school.

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1031 Words | 5 Pages

Ms. Gruwell then buy books for them to improve their vocabulary. Moreover, she treats her students like human. Ms. Gruwell teaches them a lot about racism. Also, she brought them to the Museum of tolerance and invites a few Holocaust survivors to share about their experiences. Ms. Gruwell cared for them; treated them like normal people, and made them feel important.

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1835 Words | 8 Pages

As a university professor, John should have an obligation to supply education to his students in the best way possible, while keeping the student-teacher boundary that exists. Carol tells John that she has trouble understanding his book in which he questions the purpose of education. In an attempt to help Carol, he tells her that people thought that he was stupid as a child. John believes that he can reach Carol on a more personal level by sharing his views and experiences. He hopes that he can create a better relationship with her; in turn, he believes this will further her education.

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1062 Words | 5 Pages

Marguerite Annie Johnson, known as Maya Angelou was born on April 4th, 1928. She was a renowned American author, actress, singer, poet and dancer. Angelou has published three books of essays, seven autobiographies and several books of poetry. She was credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She was a multi award winner and she got more than 50 honorary degrees.

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1280 Words | 6 Pages

By allowing the students to add something to the conversation, the instructor gave the students a myriad of opportunities to contribute to the discussion, as well as in analyzing the text. Similar to when conversations were led astray by a couple of students, the professor took assertiveness in steering the conversation back on the subject of the discussion by explaining the quotes and

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801 Words | 4 Pages

She could comprehend how that all teachers are the same. She had her students write down their personal education experience. Some of them were angry because they were passed with our being able to read or write, and the others because they did good in the class and was not a bad student. “I know one example doesn’t make a case, but at night I see a parade of students who are angry and resentful for having been passed along until they could no longer even pretend to keep up” (2).” Passing students who have not mastered the work cheats them and the employers who expect graduates to have basic skills” (2).

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1416 Words | 6 Pages

Marva worked at a public school in Chicago that did not believe in her role as a teacher, but that made Marva strive harder to make her students successful. Marva stated in her book, “As a teacher I now try to teach children how to deal with life.” (Collins, 48) Marva believed her role as a teacher was to teach students (one’s often below grade level) to be successful in life, and a way to be successful was to get a good education. She often worked with underprivileged students in the Chicagoland area, and Marva stated in her book, “Naturally my optimal goal was to get children in this class to see intrinsic value of education.”

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989 Words | 4 Pages

While analyzing Maya Angelou 's poem Phenomenal woman recognizing that she is a very strong and confident poet helps understand the meaning of the poem. Showing her confidence is one of her many aspects of this poem. The reader can infer that she really wants to show the world what makes her beautiful by expressing this in various ways. The tone of this poem is very inspiring and uplifting to allow women to read her poem and feel inspired. Angelou who is a strong confident woman who does not bother what people think about her celebrates her success in life.

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1366 Words | 6 Pages

Women now put them selves down because they do not think about their inner beauty they only listen to what other people may say about them. This poem really explains how to have confidence in your self no matter how you look. In each stanza her confidence is shown by her inner strength through symbolism, tone, and imagery. Angelou expresses how to be a confident woman through symbolism.

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