Graduation by Maya Angelou Critique - 1386 Words

Danielle Davis Eileen Thompson English 121 SL May 9, 2012 â€Å"Graduation† Critique â€Å"Graduation† was written by Maya Angelou in 1969. Angelou was born in Missouri, but after her parents divorced, she was sent to live with her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. While in Arkansas, Angelou attended the Lafayette County Training School. The school is the setting for her essay â€Å"Graduation.† Angelou graduated from eighth grade at Lafayette with top honors and went on to graduate from high school. After high school, Angelou wrote over thirty plays, poems, children’s books, and one of her autobiographies, â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings† (Smelstor and Bruce). â€Å"Graduation† starts with Angelou’s generalization of a high school senior’s†¦show more content†¦The themes are identity and education. The essay can be found in Angelou’s autobiography, â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.† The autobiography describes how living in the south during the Depression was a time for survival (Ball). The message of â€Å"Graduation† is the same; no matter what obstacles arise she will survive. Angelou deserves an â€Å"A† for this essay because she has strong examples of overcoming obstacles, sophisticated descriptions, and has a clear sense of purpose with strong development. Angelou’s example of overcoming adversity is the strongest at the end of the essay. â€Å"Something unrehearsed, unplanned, was going to happen, and we were going to be made to look bad† (Angelou 26). As she is sitting there as a young girl at her graduation, she can feel the unwelcoming presence of the speaker’s words and actions. Before the speaker begins his political rant of what he has brought to the white community, Angelou anticipates that the graduating class is going to be shamed. Angelou believes the speaker’s words, and starts to doubt her hopes and dreams. â€Å"The man’s dead words fell like b ricks around the auditorium and too many settled in my belly† (Angelou 28). As Henry Reed starts to sing the Negro national anthem, Angelou finally senses that the words do have meaning to her. Nearly every event that Angelou mentions in her autobiography has one of two different aims. The aim she uses in this essay is how she faces obstacles, overcomes them, andShow MoreRelatedI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings1482 Words   |  6 Pages Maya Angelou tells of her life experiences and struggles in her book â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings† that gives us insight about Maya’s life as a young black girl growing up in a time of racism. The novel discusses various forms of oppression that she had to face as well cope with them. Robert A. Gross wrote an analysis for Newsweek about the book and claimed that Angelou’s book is not only an interesting story of her own experience, but also a portrayal of a Southern black communityRead MoreMaya Angelo u : An Influential Voices Of Modern Society Essay1386 Words   |  6 PagesMaya Angelou, born Marguerite Ann Johnson on the 4th of April 1928, was born in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in Stamps, Arkansas. Maya Angelou is regarded as one of the most noteworthy, influential voices of modern society with over 50 doctorate degrees. She became a distinguished poet, educator, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, memoirist, and civil rights activist throughout her life. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, Stamps, Arkansas was the embodiment of brutality and racial discriminationRead MoreMichael Jackson Sang The Famous Line, If You Wan Na Make The World A Better Place1495 Words   |  6 Pagessomething to bring to the table? Forms of art that even attempt to evoke this message of solidarity include poetry, which in itself is a free medium that poets utilize to express their thoughts and emotions. Langston Hughes, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Maya Angelou, and Naomi Shihab Nye’s cultural experiences helped to form their respective views on empathy for others. Although they were not all born at the same time, their diverse upbringings (whether African-American or Middle-Eastern) is what made theirRead MoreLiterary Analysis of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Essay2756 Words   |  12 PagesBird Sings By Maya Angelou The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Specifically it will discuss the themes of racism and segregation, and how these strong themes are woven throughout this moving autobiography. Maya Angelou recounts the story of her early life, including the racism and segregation she experiences throughout her formative years. With wit, sincerity, and remarkable talent, Angelou portrays racism