Graduation By Maya Angelou Research Paper

After Maya started speaking again at the age of 13, thanks to one of her teacher and as well as a family friend, Mrs. Bertha Flowers who helped her cope though that ruff time period, she had a whole new outlook on what she wanted to do with her life . “It was through literature that she found her voice again. And what a voice it was and is.” (Emilie M. Townes). By the age of 14, during World War II, Maya was living with her mother and brother in Oakland California. She attended the California Labor School where she had won a scholarship to study drama and dance at San Francisco’s Labor School. Three weeks after graduating from school at the age of 17, she gave birth to her son who was named Guy Johnson. Shortly afterwards, she dropped out of school and became the first African American female cable car conductor.

A young Maya Angelou grew up in a strict household under the rule of Grandmother Henderson, who had two rules: “Thou shall not be dirty” and “Thou shall not be impudent.” In short, Maya was to be nice and respectful toward everyone. One day a group known as the powhitetrash girls began harassing Grandmother Henderson, who had earlier on told Maya to stay inside. She was, however, the closest thing Maya had to a mother, which had Maya torn between her desire to help Grandmother Henderson and her obligation to remain indoors.

When Maya has friends over she tries to keep them sheltered from that part of her life, because she doesnt want them to know about the kind of culture she belongs to. When you look out into the world many people relate to Maya, they all want to hide the kind of culture they grew up in and the kind of lifestyle they live in. These people will hide who they are on a day to day basis because of their culture. These people try to avoid the question “whats that” or “why is that hung up and what does it mean” or they just want to avoid being bullied because of

“Those who were years removed from their own day of glorious release were anxious to help with preparations.” Children are described as trembling “with visible anticipation” and the teachers have become “respectful of the now quiet and aging seniors.” This illustrates the immense pride and unity that is induced by the graduation ceremony. Angelou also provides an elegant self-analysis of her own rank and importance within Stamps. In terms of intellectual ability, it is clear that Angelou is better achieved than the majority, for she stands at nearly the top of her class. In addition, Angelou holds great aspirations for her future; she does not let society’s low expectations keep her from excelling.

During her graduation, two speeches were given, one was from a fellow black student who directed his speech in the way of pathos in which he tried to evoke emotion and motivate all the students to be their best despite their backgrounds. The other speaker was a white man, who was an elected official and went more the way of ethos, using ethical words, which made him lose the audience. He implied that all the white kids would go on to do great things and all the black kids would go to be athletes or do some sort of social work. In Maya’s essay titled “Graduation,” Angelou mentions “The white kids were going to have a chance to become Galileos and Madame Curies and Edisons and Gauguins, and our boys (the girls weren’t even in on it) would try to be Jesse Owenses and Joe Louises” (51). From this quote I can resonate with the fact that people, including my mother thought that white kids had more of an opportunity to be great as opposed to minorities, which is why she moved me so I could be a Galileo, or a Madame Curie. Also, that shows how I might relate to Maya in the fact that even though they are two completely different times, the reality is that based on race or being colored there is a pre-placed weight on one’s shoulder to break past that. Another quote that resonated with me personally is when Angelou discusses the speech made by Henry Reed- “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” (Reed qtd. in Angelou 53). I personally think that this quote compares Maya and I’s thinking because she felt like she had no control over her life and it was determined, and at one point my mother felt like that was going to be my path, however we both chose to be the “captain of our own soul”. I could of chose to be a stereotype and be like the majority but I decided to take my life into my own hands

Growing up as an African American in a white world in the late 1800’s was incredibly ruthless. Even after slavery, blacks had a hard time trying to get work, education or civil rights. Education was a major topic in debate for blacks and whites. Education, the most important thing in life, acts as the key to a person 's future. Education leads to knowledge, and knowledge leads to power. It teaches humans how to prosper and make good decisions. With a good education, people hold the ability to achieve all types of goals, and more doors will open for them. African-Americans held every right to obtain this basic human right. White and blacks took on many different paths with education and W.E.B. Du Bois tell a short story about it all.

Around the 1960’s-1970’s blacks weren’t able to succeed and become what they wanted to, because they didn’t have access to higher education. Since they weren’t able to go to the best schools so they would’ve never really knew how smart they were. During this time since the schools weren’t integrated they weren’t teaching the same thing as they were in white

Although using African Americans was cheaper and easier to get because they auctioned them off like they were property. They didn’t even treat them like human beings. African Americans shouldn’t be treated differently just because of the color of their skin, which is something they can’t choose. And they shouldn’t be punished for being born into this world with a different color of skin. For example, if a white family has a child they will end up going to school and living a happy life. If an African American family has a child they probably not go to school and end up working on a farm for little

In the Graduation essay, Maya Angelou talks about an important transition time in many people’s life. It is about moving on to something better and more important and to use your knowledge to achieve life goals. This is what the children attending the grammar school believed as well, including Maya Angelou. This essay is persuasive because Maya Angelou uses ethos because as an African American girl, she shared the same thoughts and feelings as everyone in the auditorium when Mr. Edward Donleavy gave his speech.

It was there Maya attended the Mission High School, where she won a dance and drama scholarship to study at San Francisco’s Labor School. She attended the school momentarily, but dropped out and became the first African American female cable car conductor. Maya returned back to school only to drop out in her senior year due to a pregnancy. She actually graduated a few weeks early and gave birth shortly after to a boy, which she named Guy.

the society she lives in is trapping her and trying to keep her from reaching her full potential. Maya feels like the white society is keeping her and her people in bondage, by saying subliminal things and doing certain actions to keep them on a lower level than whites. The speech that the white man spoke did nothing but clarify the societies expectations of people of color. Maya got angry because she wants to break free from those expectations. She wants to be able to have her own aspirations and not let her future be shaped based on the society that she lives in and what they expect from her. According to Elizabeth Fox Genoese’s essay called “Emphasis on Community in Caged Bird” she says that unbreakable barriers closed black communities

At her graduation they did not play the "Negro National Anthem". Maya carries this on her shoulders and uses this to prove the others wrong, that she can learn more than they think. Both characters were determined to learn, and they did. In these stories pressure is shown as a positive and motivating factor on education.

suffered as she went through life and how she became who she was. Some interesting things I found about Maya Angelou was that besides being a writer she was also an actress, screenwriter, dancer and poet. She was also good friends with both Martin Luther King Jr. and Oprah Winfrey (biography.com). This essay will explain the things Maya Angelou did and accomplished that have changed the world today.

Angelou had been raped at a young age and she believed that her voice “killed a man.” Ever since that incident, Angelou handled the situation by stopping to speak for five years. Mrs.Flowers, her neighbor, invited her over several times and read poems to Angelou because she loved to read. Angelou heard poetry for the first time and began to enjoy it. Soon, she spoke a line from one of the poems that she memorized and she started to express emotions. She realized that people perceive words differently when they hear them out

As I read Maya Angelou’s “Graduation” I smiled, and said to myself “It takes a certain few to overcome such hardships”. The Narrative talks about a graduating class in the 1940’s where blacks and whites were separated. Maya Angelou, the main character gives the readers a sharp, clear perspective of black high school graduates at that time. The Author does an outstanding job at making the readers feel emotionally connected; by using similes, metaphors, personification. One would immediately notice while reading the narrative that there are many different stereo types. For example when Mr. Edward Donleavy gives a speech about the improvement of local schools, he mentions that there are several great athlete’s graduating from Maya’s school. Mr.