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Maya Angelou Graduation

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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. However the majority of the essays talks about Maya Angelou’s feelings on her graduation day. The thesis in this essay is …show more content…

Angelou talks about the White and Black schools and how some families can afford certain thing when others cannot. She writes about how some parents have already ordered or received new clothes, shoes, and books. While some mom are just getting started on making their childrens clothes by hand. It is also written that a large percentage of the Black population in the high schools will not graduate. The next part of this essay then transfers over to a girl talking about her experiences. She talks about her friends, mom, dad, and some of her favorite memories throughout her life. She talks about herself and her friend Louise and how they were both graduating soon and how she was very blessed to be graduating. She explained that she never had to be scolded to do her work and she never had to be reminded to do something. Another thing she was very excited about was her graduation dress, how it fitted her perfectly and how she looked like a sunbeam in

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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.

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Since the 1940’s, times have really changed but we can still draw many similarities as well as many differences between our experiences today and their experience then. For example, In the excerpt “Graduation”, from Maya Angelou’s autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing, similarities and difference can be found between Angelou’s graduation and my high school graduation. Maya Angelou’s and my experience with graduation are similar regarding family involvement and nervousness. However, our experiences were very different in the ways others treated the graduating class and the feelings leading up to graduation and the feelings after graduation. Maya Angelou’s family was very involved in her graduation.

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“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.

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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.

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Graduation article by Maya Angelou was written in her young adult life. Angelou was an intelligent African American girl that went to a school in Arkansas and graduated class in the 1940’s; even though, at the time Whites and African Americans were segregated; Angelou had good grades and rarely missed school. As Angelou walked into the ceremony she noticed everyone looked very nice, as they had “hair brushed back, legs oiled, new dresses, and pressed pleats, fresh pocket handkerchiefs and little handbags…” ( Pg 80 Line 28 ). The students were sitting down as she noticed something was wrong, as if “something unrehearsed, unplanned, was going to happen…”

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Well known poet and teacher, Maya Angelou, in her interview with the Oprah Masterclass series, describes her life and much of what she has learned along the way to help overcome her biggest challenges. Maya’s purpose is to help anyone and everyone get the most out of life and use simple logic to defeat the biggest problems we’re confronted with in our everyday lives. She harnesses a love conquers all attitude and a positive tone so that viewers may be empowered to look inside themselves for strength and understanding, as though she is presenting us with the key to unlock true joy and fulfillment. Maya begins the video interview reflecting about how well each decade of life has been for her. First, she mentions initially how good her sixties were.

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