Language as a Tool in Maya Angelou's "graduation" Essay

“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.

Metaphor: “Sometimes I hate the calculator instinct in me, the part of me that constantly weighs benefits and risks” (303). The author compares himself to a calculator that changes its plans every time something new happens, like a new part to an equation.

“Civilize Them with a Stick” by Mary Crow Dog and “Graduation” by Maya Angelou are each experts of autobiographies written about their own personal experience in school during the 1960s. Each author presents a specific argument that adds to their effectiveness as a rhetor. Crow Dog gives the argument that “racism breeds racism in reverse” (79); when we do not look at people as people, it gives us an excuse to treat them badly. The author explains that they are like animals and savages; the Indians being the animals, and the nuns and priests being the savages. Her argument is effective because it still applies in society today. The rhetor’s essay is kairotic because racism has always been a pressing issue and when Crow Dog went to St. Francis Mission School, it was during the time of the Civil Rights Movement. She was treated poorly there, and began to

This act of persistence is evident through this quotation “she neither marched up to the stage like a conquering Amazon, nor did she look in the audience for Baily’s nod of approval.” This quotation depicts how even after being belittled by her White oppressors, she stood up for the black community, for her own education, and for the ideals of equality and freedom. Furthermore, her not looking at Baily for reassurance demonstrates her independence and her coming of age, an independence that is transgressive in the eyes of society, she is now able to affirm her own choices. Even though, in the beginning of the essay, she is shown to have an aversion to her own skin color as she has internalized all a lot of hatred that she faces, in this quotation it is clear that now she marches for herself and her whole community. Moreover, even though she is only sixteen, her enduring and unyielding battle against racial injustice and educational inequality is a testament to her indefatigable spirit. This is evident in this quotation “We were on top again. As always, again…. I was a proud member of the wonderful, beautiful Negro race.” This quotation demonstrates persistence as Angelou goes on to appreciate her race and realizes that they could be on top even after being continuously discouraged because of her skin color. She now referred to herself as a part of the wonderful, beautiful race, coming to terms with her own

Prejudice, discrimination, or opposition against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s race is superior is called racism. In stories “Finishing School” by Maya Angelou and “What’s in a Name?” by Henry Louis Gates Jr. racism is revealed by the main characters who showed similarities and differences within the time. Racism is portrayed in “Finishing School” and “What’s in a Name?” through the setting, circumstances, and characters reactions.

She is then threatened and told not to tell an adult if she wants to save her brother’s life. This leads to a long period of time where she refuses to speak to anyone. She writes of this time, "There was an army of adults, whose motives and movements I just couldn't understand and who made no effort to understand mine" (Angelou 72). This may be one of the loneliest periods in Angelou's life, but in some ways, it made her stronger and more able to survive in the white's world, even though it was a terrible ordeal.

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

“You have tried to destroy me and although I perish daily I shall not be moved,” (Angelou, 2014), says Maya Angelou in her Commencement speech to the 1992 Spelman College graduates. Poet and award-winning author, Maya Angelou, is most well known for her poetry, essay collection, and memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Angelou happened to be the first black female cable car conductor who later started a career in theatre and music (Maya Angelou: Poet and Historian, n.d.). Once her acting and musical career began to take off, Angelou began touring with productions and released her first album Miss Calypso (Maya Angelou Fast Facts, 2017). Later, Angelou earned a Tony Award nomination for her role in the play Look Away and an Emmy Award nomination for the work she performed in the television mini-series Roots (Maya Angelou: Poet, Civil Rights Activist, Author, Activist, 2017). Angelou was also the first African American woman to have her screenplay produced (Maya Angelou: Poet, Civil Rights Activist, Author, Activist, 2017). Out of the number of poetry collections Angelou published, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die happened to be her most famous collection that was also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize (Maya Angelou: Poet, Civil Rights Activist, Author, Activist, 2017). The focus of this paper is to critique Angelou’s credibility, sincerity, and appeal to her whole audience in her delivery during the Spelman Commencement Address in 1992.

During the time period Angelou lived in racial discrimination was prominent. She was turned away from jobs and multiple opportunities because employers didn’t like what they saw at surface level. She faced many hardships that began at a young age and spanned to her later years, which inspired some of her best known work along with her autobiography ¨I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” In her autobiography she shares about the time she spent with a woman known as “Mrs. Flowers”, a woman who coaxed Angelou out

The lack of colloquial language in Angelou’s speech as a child shows her conflicting emotions because of the racist propaganda in her life.

This seminar paper will look at a poem written by Maya Angelou, Still I rise, 1978. An analysis of this poem will be provided, exploring the meaning of the poem and the language used to present a certain image to the audience.

“The children in Stamps trembled visibly with anticipation. Some adults were excited too, but to be certain the whole young population had come down with graduation epidemic.” Maya was so excited that Friday morning she stated: “I hoped the memory of that morning would never leave me.” Her parents closed their store the day of the graduation with a

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.

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

Maya Angelou has faced many difficulties in life including sexual harassment, racism and inequality. Maya Angelou is a great poet because her inscription is very motivating and influential upon many people in the present era. I feel that this poem comes under the topic of “Gender & Sexuality” which is a very common problem nowadays. In this commentary, I will be talking about how the language in this poem is gender biased, my own opinion on the poem, and how Maya Angelou promotes equality and motivates women to stand back up again after every fall they have in