Analyzing Maya Angelou's 'In The Longman Reader'
(Google pg 1)
Angelou, Maya. “Sister Flowers.” In The Longman Reader by Judith Nadell, John
Langan, Eliza A. Comodromos. Eds
New York: PEARSON/Longman, 2007:pg. 87-93 “Sister Flowers” gives the instant expectation of sadness to the reader. Nevertheless, by the end of the second paragraph the reader is drawn into the resilient world of a child. The characters are magically real, and the reader can relate with all of them at some level. Future generations will read Maya Angelou admirable works, continuing to learn from them. Important points of the story to remember are:
Marguerite lives with the memory of her rape everyday with no one to talk to, and with no outlet, this produces a lot of anger and shame in a little girl.
Marguerite …show more content…
Transitional phrases: “Although I was upset,” “Occasionally”, “One summer afternoon,” “When I finished the cookies” “On that first day,” “I was liked,”
Close Reading: 1. The dominant impression or thesis is located in Para. 1. “Then I met, or rather got to know, the lady who threw me my first life line.”, again in Para. 11 “It would be safe to say that she made me proud to be Negro, just by being herself.”, and once more in Para. 45 “It was enough to prove that she liked me.”
2. Angelou admired Mrs. Flowers' strong character that showed tolerance and acceptance. Angelou learned to look beyond the cover of a book to find the beauty in the words; consequently, she learned to do this with people as she grew. 3. Angelou was ashamed of Momma due her lack of education. Angelou felt Mrs. Flowers deserved only the most refined company. In reality, Momma and Sister Flowers got along as if they grew up together and were best friends. This was very perplexing to young Angelou, who did not know Mrs. Flowers at the …show more content…
The breeze pushing the curtains passes the readers cheeks. The fresh, crisp smell of lemonade reaches out, and the reader can feel the sharp edges of the cookies in the mouth just like Angelou. The method of organization used in this descriptive passage is chronological.
2. The figures of speech highlight Angelou’s emotional state, explaining the statements of dominant impression or thesis statement. “Sopped around” implies that she had no inspiration to do anymore than what was necessary to get along daily in Black Stamps. In contrast, from the books that she read “...with their loyal dogs racing at a respectful distance” the ladies on the moors lived in this imaginary world, Angelou wanted to live in this world too, before being acquainted with Mrs. Flowers.
3. These imagined scoldings reveal that young Angelou wants more education and status for herself and her family. She is ashamed of her grandmothers’ illiteracy. The scoldings also show that Angelou has much to learn about a person’s contribution to a community. Momma is aware of Angelou’s discomfort during Sister Flowers visits. Sister Flowers first lesson is on tolerance for the illiterate and uneducated. She goes as far to say, that even without a formal education, people can be very
Angelou, Maya. “Sister Flowers.” In The Longman Reader by Judith Nadell, John
Langan, Eliza A. Comodromos. Eds
New York: PEARSON/Longman, 2007:pg. 87-93 “Sister Flowers” gives the instant expectation of sadness to the reader. Nevertheless, by the end of the second paragraph the reader is drawn into the resilient world of a child. The characters are magically real, and the reader can relate with all of them at some level. Future generations will read Maya Angelou admirable works, continuing to learn from them. Important points of the story to remember are:
Marguerite lives with the memory of her rape everyday with no one to talk to, and with no outlet, this produces a lot of anger and shame in a little girl.
Marguerite …show more content…
Transitional phrases: “Although I was upset,” “Occasionally”, “One summer afternoon,” “When I finished the cookies” “On that first day,” “I was liked,”
Close Reading: 1. The dominant impression or thesis is located in Para. 1. “Then I met, or rather got to know, the lady who threw me my first life line.”, again in Para. 11 “It would be safe to say that she made me proud to be Negro, just by being herself.”, and once more in Para. 45 “It was enough to prove that she liked me.”
2. Angelou admired Mrs. Flowers' strong character that showed tolerance and acceptance. Angelou learned to look beyond the cover of a book to find the beauty in the words; consequently, she learned to do this with people as she grew. 3. Angelou was ashamed of Momma due her lack of education. Angelou felt Mrs. Flowers deserved only the most refined company. In reality, Momma and Sister Flowers got along as if they grew up together and were best friends. This was very perplexing to young Angelou, who did not know Mrs. Flowers at the …show more content…
The breeze pushing the curtains passes the readers cheeks. The fresh, crisp smell of lemonade reaches out, and the reader can feel the sharp edges of the cookies in the mouth just like Angelou. The method of organization used in this descriptive passage is chronological.
2. The figures of speech highlight Angelou’s emotional state, explaining the statements of dominant impression or thesis statement. “Sopped around” implies that she had no inspiration to do anymore than what was necessary to get along daily in Black Stamps. In contrast, from the books that she read “...with their loyal dogs racing at a respectful distance” the ladies on the moors lived in this imaginary world, Angelou wanted to live in this world too, before being acquainted with Mrs. Flowers.
3. These imagined scoldings reveal that young Angelou wants more education and status for herself and her family. She is ashamed of her grandmothers’ illiteracy. The scoldings also show that Angelou has much to learn about a person’s contribution to a community. Momma is aware of Angelou’s discomfort during Sister Flowers visits. Sister Flowers first lesson is on tolerance for the illiterate and uneducated. She goes as far to say, that even without a formal education, people can be very