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Rhetorical Devices In Maya Angelou's Graduation

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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. The use of juxtaposition is used strategically by Angelou to show her maturation from naivety. Angelou’s views in the beginning can be seen when she juxtaposes that the Central school is superior to the Lafayette County Training school. She juxtaposes the schools by claiming that her Black school distinguished itself by “having neither lawn, nor hedges, nor tennis courts, nor climbing ivy”. Though she does not take it to heart, Marguerite knows that she does not have as many opportunities as the whites. By saying what her school doesn’t have, Marguerite is already aware that her opportunities to succeed are limited. The realization …show more content…

By alluding to how the white kids would become “Galileos and Madame Curies and Edisons and Gaugins,” rather than just saying that the white kids would become legends, Angelou shares her knowledge and proves how she is just as worthy as becoming someone great. While singing the songs of pride to the Negros, Margaret realizes that she is proud of who she is and realizes that she should not throw away the efforts of “Black, known and unknown poets” whose “auctioned pains sustained [them]”. By stating that Blacks had sacrificed their lives for her happiness, she is maturing because she is grateful for what has been done for her to be able to succeed regardless of any obstacles. The little Margaret has changed and has become a matured, angelic poet who is proud to be able to graduate into the Negro

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381 Words | 2 Pages

It begins in the perspective of her eight year old self experiencing her first loss. Angelou’s parents divorce and her move to stamps. This novel continues on to tell of Angelou's biggest troma. The book finishes after she graduates high school and gives birth to her first son.

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740 Words | 3 Pages

III. a. Maya Angelou was an avid writer, speaker, activist and teacher. As a result of the many hardships that she suffered while growing up as a poor black woman in the south she has used her own experiences as the subject matter of her written work. In doing this she effectively shows how she was able to overcome her personal obstacles. Her autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970) tells the story of her life and how she overcame and moved forward triumphantly in spite of her circumstances.

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“This is the value of the teacher, who looks at a face and says there's something behind that and I want to reach that person, I want to influence that person, I want to encourage that person, I want to enrich, I want to call out that person who is behind that face, behind that color, behind that language, behind that tradition, behind that culture. I believe you can do it. I know what was done for me” (Maya Angelou). A teacher guides the long run of the society. someone in his or her whole life learns plenty from academics, therefore it's important for academics to line an honest example for the society.

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665 Words | 3 Pages

Angelou uses achievement in the poem, saying people all have rock, rivers, and trees in their lives, and that affects people on how they make decisions and how they turn out. She says “Good morning” (Angelou 106). This idea means that people have a new day to do whatever they want, and they can achieve anything they desire. To put it another way, Cady Stanton was the complete opposite from Angelou; She was talking about rights women should have , also how men have affected that. A good quote to explain this is, “Man has made a women an irresponsible moral being” (Stanton 113).

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304 Words | 2 Pages

In “Graduation”, Maya Angelou talks about her graduation experience in her class of 1940. Her essay is mostly based on how African Americans were treated back then. Angelou states that African American schools were ruled under white power. She said that it didn’t matter whether they were smart or not the boys were sent to work and women were to take care of the home duties. Angelou states that during her graduation ceremony white man came to her school to tell them how good the white schools were doing and what new material they were getting and to congratulate the few black athletes that were going to play football.

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970 Words | 4 Pages

“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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450 Words | 2 Pages

Angelou, later on, became a writer, dancer, and poet. She went on to prove that no matter what skin color you may be, you can still go on to be successful. Throughout life, you should never judge a person because of how they look on the outside. You never know, that person could go on to be beyond than what you believed.

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1235 Words | 5 Pages

Maya Angelou has been an influential woman throughout her life; she left her mark in history and literature, and she celebrated the experience of being black in the US. The most breathtaking of all her achievements is the construction of her own personality. As she stated once, “my mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style”. Remembering her, it is important to highlight her commitment with equality; it was a fight not only for her own life, for women and for Afro-American people, but also for peace and justice all over the world.

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842 Words | 4 Pages

Growing up in the 1930s as an African American was not a walk in the park. Angelou had to

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906 Words | 4 Pages

She realizes that she must be proud of heritage and never let it go. Tan perception is told to her and this cause makes her not to be valiant. In contrast, Maya Angelou is aware of her situation from the start of the story. She observes a group of African-American men talking big; how Joe is “gone to whip that white boy” (111) and then it becomes quiet. She sees the men how they are insulting the white fighter with each other because they know that are safe.

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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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781 Words | 4 Pages

Angelou ``.despite her lack of a college education, became a professor of American studies at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “ The point is that Angelou did a lot of things in life and despite her lack of education still managed to get the chance to teach others American studies. Why this is an important quote in the essay is because she did what she wanted to do even though she did not have the best education to do it . Maya Angelou did not give up on doing it. She wanted to give others what she had learned.

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1975 Words | 8 Pages

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,

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912 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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664 Words | 3 Pages

In “Momma, the Dentist, and Me,” Maya Angelou describes Mommas’ struggle during racial segregation in a childhood memory and in a rare but glorious case is overcome. Angelou recalls when she and Momma, her grandmother, go to the dentist for a toothache severe enough that young Angelou contemplates death to feel relief from the excruciating pain. Angelou imagines her Momma’s actions in the dentist's office after being turned down heroically. Angelou demonstrates a small victory over racism with Momma’s actions as she stands valiantly against racial injustice. In order to strengthen her narrative, Angelou employs imagery, hyperbole, and tone effectively.

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