Graduation By Maya Angelou Analysis

The milieu of education has a history of creating hurdles. Education, if it were a live being, would be on life support having last rights preformed on it. Its past should have been a track record leading us into the future, not for man. A very brief look at two Essays from 1940 to present will show how the only thing we can count on in getting an education, will be ourselves. The Blair Reader 8th Edition gives us two essay’s that will establish evidence to show mans' in contempt for creating problems for education.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you” says Maya Angelou. Born April 4th, 1928 to Vivian Baxter Johnson and Bailey Johnson. Her parents split up when she was very young, and her older brother, bailey were sent to live with their fathers mother Anne Anderson in stamps, Arkansas. Who owned a general store. Although her grandmother helped her develop pride and self confidence, Angelou was devastated when she was raped at the age of eight by her mother's boyfriend while on a visit to St. Louis .

Words might not cut a person’s skin or break his bones, but with all certainty they are not harmless. They can cause immediate pain or bring instant joy; they trigger emotional responses faster than any other senses can. At the beginning of “Graduation Day,” Maya Angelou sounds similar to any other graduate: anxious, excited, and ready to move on to the next step in her life. However, a speech by Edward Donleavy, a white man, unintentionally pointed out the people of the Negro race did not have the same opportunities as the white people.

Marguerite attended a school where she was one of three African American students , At 14 Maya attended California Labor School through a scholarship where she studied drama and dance . The summer when Maya was 15 years old she went to San Diego, California to visit her father. Her father had a girlfriend Dolores Stockland and from the time they met Maya and Dolores didn’t get along . Maya and Dolores ended up having a physical altercation ,, Maya was cut on the hand and she was immediately put out.

Maya Angelou is not just another name. Maya Angelou is my notable, and she made a colossal impact on the world and its people, past and present, who inhabit it. Maya did the impossible. She fought through the rough times and made the most out of her life. I chose her because I read some of her quotes and was intrigued.

A poet by Maya Angelou “ You are the sum total of everything you've ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot- it's all there. Family influence each of us.” Family has influenced me in many ways especially on how I see the world. Family informs the way one views others and the world. For example in the text called An Indian Father's Plea by Robert Lake had stated that “ he is not culturally “disadvantaged” but he is culturally “different”.. but because he has been taught by our traditional people.”

During the period of discrimination and the civil rights movement persistence was key. By resisting to all the discrimination the African Americans showed a sense of rebellion which helped the civil rights movement to advance. In “Letter From Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr, Mlk defends his stand in the civil rights movement due to clergymen doubting his actions. In “Graduation” by Maya Angelou, Angelou shows differences between races and presents how her graduation was different due to the time period. “A Homemade Education” by Malcolm X shows how he expanded his knowledge while he was in jail by reading and using his time wisely.

It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength. Maya Angelou This quote embodies the essence of my students. They are from diverse backgrounds, however, each possesses beauty and strength that I hope to nurture as their teacher. Over 99% of my students are African American or Hispanic, and over 95% receive free or reduced lunch. They also live in the poorest congressional district in the United States.

Change. It only comes to those who work for it. And even then, it is not so simple. There are specific people, like gems, hidden in the population waiting for their moment to sparkle and aid those who have the greatest need for it. Bibliographies and various sources can tell us about their childhood: what they liked to do, what they were like, and how they grew up.

An inspirational autobiography by a woman that succeed in life and was forced to pass by many obstacles at an early age. Maya Angelou was a victim of a tough childhood being introduced to impediments such as: Prejudice and subjugation. But from these experiences she was able to change in personality and become a self-reliant woman who fights for her right in a community where people discriminate just because of skin color. Already at a young age Maya suffers from many different traumas that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Maya Angelou certainly has experience when it comes to giving others a second chance and her statement is proof of the knowledge she possesses from these events. It is often excessively simple to accept the cards that are dealt and become bitter with the reading thereof. A second chances are not always a gift received, sometimes it is a price demanded. The forgiveness that a person awards to his fellow man is often the fee for a joyful heart and a peaceful soul. But is it not worth it in the end?

Teachers, parents, my peers, I welcome you, this fine morning. In addition, I want to congratulate all of my peers because today we graduate and move on to high school. Additionally I want to say that It’s an honor for me to deliver this speech for all of you, on a day that we will all remember, especially me. Not to mention, that today is a joyful day, and just like Joseph B. Wirthlin said ¨ Some memories are unforgetable, remaining ever vivid, and heartwarming¨ and if you did not realize it yet, this memory is under that category.

Maya Angelou’s life experiences is not just a history to be written but it is the sources of positivity and a portrayal of life from lifeless which conveys valuable meaning to the women all over the world and of any generation, especially to the black women. Maya Angelou’s autobiographical fiction and poems has deep rooted positive aspects shows a life of a women from how a young black girl dwelt in an dominant American society, her struggles of revelation on self to the nation have attained such an identity first as a black woman, then as an artist and as a writer. Her writings are not merely a piece of literary work to the literature of American Nation but it is a guideline of life that inspires, motivates, instructs and regulates every woman

In places all around the world there are people going through tough times. Whether they are being bullied or it is another situation entirely. These little things will stick with them for the rest of their lives. There was a poet named Maya Angelou who wrought a poem about this topic. Maya’s truthful poem said ‘’ I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you said, but people will never forget the wat you made them fell.’’

The beauty of the literary criticism is that as a reader, you a free to choose from a variety of approaches to analyzing the literary work, consequently, the reader can expand, go beyond and understand many details about the work and the author. It also permits the reader to enhance his or her critical thinking besides giving special skills to consider the different approaches. As Casano, (n.d.) mentions: “literary criticism provides some general guidelines to help us analyze, deconstruct, interpret and evaluate”. The biographical approach focuses on the events that round the author’s life, the author childhood, studies, life experiences, family facts and any type of information related to his or her lifetime.