Graduation Maya Angelou uses background information to manipulate the reader’s emotions. She does this first by telling the story in chronological order. Once the order is established, the reader starts to understand where Angelou is coming from. The other way that she manipulates emotions is by slowly changing the tone throughout the novel. When these factors are put together, they are meant to create sympathy from the reader. A sense of sadness that the black community faced during the 1940’s. To illustrate the hardships that black people faced during the early 20th century, Angelou wanted to speak from experience about her 8th grade graduation. Now to most, graduations are taken for advantage. They are little more than a blip on a person’s radar. But to Angelou, it was everything. She wrote about it chronologically just to express how important it was. She does this …show more content…
Angelou states how the whole school came down with a “graduation epidemic”. She then goes on and talks about all the possibilities that await her after this. Other classmates feel the same way such as Henry Reed. He was first in class and would deliver a speech at graduation. It wasn’t until the graduation ceremony that the entire tone completely turned around. When the two white men went up on the stage and the one started talking, the entire audience became quiet. The racist remarks sank like a brick with everyone, especially Angelou. When she heard that she will never amount to anything, her entire world started to fell apart. The essay started to become joyful. Henry reed began to sing the Black National Anthem and suddenly she began to feel proud to be black again. Angelou mentions the tone a lot in the story because she wanted the reader to realize that she finally understand what it meant to be black. That no matter how many times you are put down, you will always triumph with a better spirit than
“Graduation Day” illustrates Maya Angelou’s experience on her graduation day. All of Angelou’s feelings, reasoning, and thoughts of her graduation day are depicted between the pages of her short story. Her text covers multiple different aspects of a segregated community’s lifestyle and explains their decisions on coping with their limitations. The power of words impacts the community in several ways during Angelou’s story. Because words impact and shape people, they influence individuals into themselves.
Even though both Hurston and Hughes grew up around the same time period, they had very different ideals regarding their experience as African American’s as well as a different voice used within their works to convey their ideals. Hurston in her 1928 essay “How it Feels to be Colored Me” describes her childhood and coming of age with a delightful zest that cannot be contained. Although the essay does contain some dark moments such as when she describes her experience with her friend at the jazz club and the sudden realization of the racial difference between her and the other patrons, for the most part the work exudes her keen sense of dignity despite the popular opinion of the masses during that period. Lines in her essay such as “But I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes…I do not belong to the sobbing school of Negrohood who hold that nature somehow has given them a lowdown dirty deal and whose feelings are all hurt about it” (Abcarian, Klotz, and Cohen 812) beautifully express her sense of self dignity and refusal to give in to the negative energies surrounding her race. Despite the many hardships that the color of her skin caused her she was proud and determined to never let that stand in her way of
Racial bias and discrimination have historically constricted African Americans from living free and prosperous lives. Especially, in America’s Progressive Era when “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” happened to be published. This groundbreaking essay, written by Zora Neale Hurston, provided African Americans with a unique approach to defying racial discrimination. Namely, Hurston’s unique defense from societal discrimination is in her steadfast optimism towards the limitations of being African American. Therefore, Hurston’s essay achieved more than bringing hope to African Americans it also provided a solution in this period of bitter adversity. This is what distinguishes Nora’s essay from other literary works because it focuses on modeling a beneficial mindset rather than listing the hardships that black people are subjected to. Zora Neale Hurston is an influential role model for African Americans, she argues that racial discrimination and unjust biases can be overcome by having pride and optimism in the progression of one’s race.
After she stops speaking, Angelou and her brother are sent back to Stamps. Here, she begins to see the solace that many blacks feel in their resignation and acceptance of prejudice and racism. She writes, "They showed me a contentment based on the belief that nothing more was coming to them, although a great deal more was due. Their decision to be satisfied with life's inequities was a lesson for me" (Angelou 86). Angelou learned this lesson, but never quite became satisfied with life's inequities; thankfully, she retained some of her rage regarding inequalities between white and black, which give great depth and emotion to her writing and her life.
Throughout life we go through many stepping stones, Maya Angelou's autobiographical essay "Graduation", was about more than just moving on to another grade. The unexpected events that occurred during the ceremony enabled her to graduate from the views of a child to the more experienced and sometimes disenchanting views of an adult. Upon reading the story there is an initial feeling of excitement and hope which was quickly tarnished with the awareness of human prejudices. The author vividly illustrates many mood changes she undergoes throughout the story.
Racial segregation was very dominant in the United States in the mid nineteen hundreds. This is the time that Maya Angelou was graduating from the eighth grade in Stamps Arkansas. The theme of racial segregation is well shown by the how different the schools of the African-Americans was compared to that of whites in the essay “Graduation” by Maya Angelou. In the essay the Angelou points out that Lafayette County Training School didn’t have a lawn, hedges, tennis court, climbing ivy as well as a fence the thing the white high school had. In every stage of life, graduation marks the advancement to the next different phase of life and is usually acknowledged by some ceremonies relating to the growth
Angelou’s encounter with her brother speaks volumes to the character he has. Not only did his words encourage, but his actions did as well. Her brother’s calming demeanor helped unite his family in such an important and crucial time in Angelou’s life. Angelou’s mother then helped her by comforting her physically and emotionally. Angelou explains her mother’s compassion, “…if Momma hadn’t reached for my hand I would have drifted back to Bailey and Uncle Willie, and possibly beyond. She made a few slow jokes about my feet getting cold, and tugged me along to the now-strange building” (Angelou, 2014, p. 184). Angelou’s mother assures her that she can do this and encourages her to keep going. These moments with her family positively changed her. Although the actions did encourage Angelou, the words made a larger impact. The demeanor and eloquence in which Angelou’s mother and brother spoke kept her calm and united her with the rest of her family. This validates that words from family members have an enormous effect on people.
The separation of the African American displays the importance of graduation day. Angelou was only graduating from the eighth grade, but because of the sociocultural differences, graduation proved momentous in their community. Angelou later states “Oh, it was important, all right. White folks would attend the ceremony, and two or three would speak of God and home, and the Southern way of life” (Angelou, 2014, p. 181). The school making a minute event into a grand celebration conveys much about the state of the position African Americans were subjected to. Angelou displays this later when she describes the scene of small children presented in a play about buttercups and daisies and bunny rabbits and older girls preparing snacks and beverages. Normal society does not make such an event of Middle School
While the Angelou is sitting listening to his speech, she starts to give up and get down on herself, "It was awful to be Negro and have no control over my life" (839). Angelou felt she and her classmates were being told what their destinies held; they were to be maids, farmers, maybe athletes, but never anything more. She even starting giving up on the human race as a whole, "As a species, we were an abomination" (839). She wasn't focusing
Angelou feels different in the short story of "Champion of the World" because she is a young African American girl in a white society fighting racism and segregation. In this short story, a white male is beating down an African American male in a boxing match for the title. This translates to the racial aspects of the white society between the African American and racism in the 1930's and 40's. For instance the girl feels that if Joe was to lose the boxing match that African Americans would be put back in slavery and be beyond help. Angelou writes with a certain rhythm and has a
The thoughts and/or opinions of others often have to be overlooked or else they’ll ruin every happy moment that is to come. In Maya Angelou's story, Graduation, she discusses her eighth-grade graduation. Maya describes how she feels after listening to someone else opinion on her and the rest of African Americans of her graduating class at that time. This person's opinion had a huge impact on Maya herself, and the crowd. No one ever wants to feel wretched on the most memorable day of their life but this is exactly what took place on the day of Maya’s graduation.
The author also reflected upon the tradition of graduation. The giving of gifts for those children moving from one grade to the next and for those who were at the top of their class this became even more important. "In the store she was the person of the moment" (835) and customers lavished her with nickels and sometimes even dimes. She could also feel the love from her family. They were treating her like royalty.
Her black racial identity was also reduced to nothing. “Hadn’t he heard the whitefolks? We couldn’t be…” (Language Acts, pp 11, paragraph 52). Thus the black community of Stamps, Arkansas and the black communities outside of Stamps, Arkansas, were reduced to nothing. Yet Henry Reed, the valedictorian of Maya’s graduating class of 1940, used the power of language to reconstruct not only Angelou’s identity, but also the black American’s identity. He changed his original valedictorian speech into singing the “Negro National Anthem” (“, pp 11, paragraph 56) which brought strength and acknowledgement toward the black American struggle. “We were on top again. As always, again. We survived.” (“, pp 12, paragraph 63) shows Angelou’s and the community’s resilience, and how words can not only deconstruct, but also reconstruct the individual, the community, and people’s racial identity. I think the primary audience is anyone who is going through some form of rejection, some form of their identity deconstructed. The author is successful in this by using pathos, the audience becomes
In this article, Angelou talks about her eight-grade graduation experience. Angelou mainly focused about the unfair treatment of African Americans during that time because they were not values on their educational intelligence. Also, the white people were in charge of the African
Another key technique applied by Angelou is similes. “But still, like dust, I’ll rise”, the reader pictures the rising cloud of dust in their mind. Her use of similes helps strengthen the meaning behind the words, leading to a deeper connection to the reader. The reference to slavery in the third line gives you a clear picture in your mind of the oppressors hating on Maya Angelou for who she is. In “The Story of an Hour” imagery is used to show the thoughts of Mrs Mallard as she thinks of the future freedom without her husband, “A long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely”. She is looking forward to the future because she no longer has to worry about anything else and all of her pressures in the form of Mr Mallard.