Approaching the end of the book, chapter thirty-three is about Bailey leaving the house. Angelou notices that she and Bailey have both grown up since she left the house, but Bailey seems to have grown more than her. I could not relate to Angelou’s experience with watching her brother leave the house because my family life has been mostly uneventful. I did find it odd that Bailey thought it was his time to leave the house at sixteen years old. I am seventeen years old now and I would not dream of leaving the house to go out on my own in the world.
During the period of discrimination and the civil rights movement persistence was key. By resisting to all the discrimination the African Americans showed a sense of rebellion which helped the civil rights movement to advance. In “Letter From Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr, Mlk defends his stand in the civil rights movement due to clergymen doubting his actions. In “Graduation” by Maya Angelou, Angelou shows differences between races and presents how her graduation was different due to the time period. “A Homemade Education” by Malcolm X shows how he expanded his knowledge while he was in jail by reading and using his time wisely.
The milieu of education has a history of creating hurdles. Education, if it were a live being, would be on life support having last rights preformed on it. Its past should have been a track record leading us into the future, not for man. A very brief look at two Essays from 1940 to present will show how the only thing we can count on in getting an education, will be ourselves. The Blair Reader 8th Edition gives us two essay’s that will establish evidence to show mans' in contempt for creating problems for education.
Maya Angelou’s Graduation deals with the social concept of a rite of passage. A rite of passage refers to an important event in someone’s life, In this short story; childhood to adulthood. Angelou excellently frames this piece through her use of a joyful tone and childlike perspective. Angelou also deals with racial issues of the time through subtle and blatant symbolism.
“Today, Michelle and I join millions around the world in remembering one of the brightest lights of our time – a brilliant writer, a fierce friend, and a truly phenomenal woman.” (Online - White House). This memorial statement, by Barack Obama in 2014, encompasses how many felt towards Maya Angelou, one of the most influential writers and voices of her generation. Over the course of her lifetime, Maya Angelou was awarded over 50 honorary degrees and received the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Angelou’s personal admiration and self-love that is reflected in her poetic works, specifically, “Phenomenal Woman,” is credited to the overcoming of her traumatic childhood and her work in activism.
Many essays have different meanings, symbols, or lessons that one can take from reading them. Lessons are teachings in which you take on your everyday life that you've learned in the past or from experience. You can learn lessons like; don't judge a person because of where they come from, what they look like, or for who they are. While reading an essay, you can encounter a lesson you might take on in your everyday life. "Don't judge a book by its cover" is a life lesson we've heard of once in our lives.
Maya Angelou was a strong African-American women who made an influential impact on the Civil Rights Movement, in bother her actions, and her literature. Her life experiences and courage helped others, and made her work influential. During Maya’s early life, she experienced many hardships that shaped her into the person many remember her as. Born on April 4, 1928, she only lived in St. Louis, MO for three years before her parents got divorced, and Maya, along with her mother and brother, moved in with her grandparents in Arkansas. At the age of eight, raped by her mother’s boyfriend, Maya learned the power that words possess.
Angelou’s eighth grade graduation takes place in the racially segregated town of Stamps, Arkansas. Maya Angelou was a kind hearted girl, who’s nervousness and excitement had her feeling many different emotions leading to her big day. “I had taken to smiling more often, and my jaws hurt from the unaccustomed activity.” As Angelou is showered with gifts from friends, family, and complete strangers, she feels hopeful and optimistic about her graduation.
In the essay “Graduation”, by Maya Angelou, starts off by talking about what kids in various grades are feeling at the end of their school year in the early 1940s but focuses mostly on a young Maya Angelou. The students are described as being happy and sad. This essay is about a young girl graduating and her opinions on how different races are treated and thought about. Other topics that are discussed are about how in each grade, those students are happy about becoming older and getting higher up on the social chain. For example the middle schoolers are excited about becoming high schoolers and how underclassmen are excited about being the head of the food chain and their high school, and finally how the seniors are are looking forward to traveling to different exoctic places.
In the essay “Graduation”, by Maya Angelou, starts off by talking about what kids in various grades are feeling at the end of their school year in the early 1940s but focuses mostly on a young Maya Angelou. The students are described as being happy and sad. This essay is about a young girl graduating and her opinions on how different races are treated and thought about. Other topics that are discussed are about how in each grade, those students are happy about becoming older and getting higher up on the social chain. For example the middle schoolers are excited about becoming high schoolers and how underclassmen are excited about being the head of the food chain and their high school, and finally how the seniors are are looking forward to traveling to different exoctic places.
Maya Angelou worked as a professor at Wake Forest University, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, from 1991 to 2014. As an African American women, one whose life was full of racial discrimination and gender inequality, she had plenty of experience and wisdom to share with her students. During her time working at the university, she taught a variety of humanities courses such as “World Poetry in Dramatic Performance,” “Race, Politics and Literature,” “African Culture and Impact on U.S.,” and “Race in the Southern Experience” (Wake Forest University,
The action that a person makes is going to give them a reputation and view of themself for everyone to see. The saying, actions speak louder than words, is a powerful statement. In the text, Graduation, Maya Angelou is describing her 8th grade graduation. She is different from all the other kids in the sense that she had less opportunities because of her race,
Graduation- Rhetorical Devices Maya Angelou’s “Graduation” essay shares the epitome of racial pride in the 1940’s. Written from the point of view of Marguerite Johnson, a younger Maya Angelou, she describes the anxiety and preparation of her graduation from junior high into the proud Negro race. Angelou traces her maturation throughout the day by using her ever-changing use of juxtaposition, irony, and historical allusions.
In Maya Angelou’s “Graduation” she spoke about a fictional character named Marguerite Johnson and her eighth-grade graduation. Marguerite was always kinda of lost and selfish at times, and never look at how others seen things. But as the story goes on Marguerite starts to find herself and understand others. “Graduation” isn’t just about how Marguerite pass on to the next grade but how she has grown from a lost girl to a young intelligence woman. In this story the reader is going to follower her on this surprising journey.
Who is Maya Angelou? Maya Angelou was primarily a very versatile and talented person. This woman of African American origin wrote and published seven autobiographies that were very popular and highly-evaluated in the US. However, she is well-known not only for being an author but also for being an actress, poet, dancer, and screenwriter. And of course we must not forget activism in the field of civil rights conducted by Maya.
