Graduation By Maya Angelou Summary
In “Graduation,” Maya Angelou, an African American writer, traces her maturation during her eighth grade graduation by conveying her feelings and emotions, through the persona of Marguerite Johnson. Not only is she graduating from eighth grade, but she is also graduating from naiveté and moving onto maturity. With an expressive voice, Angelou includes imagery, through the use of similes and colors, as well as juxtaposition in her narrative essay to illustrate the racial inequality between the Negroes and the whites. Throughout her narrative, Angelou demonstrates her emotional transition between hopefulness and disappointment through the use of similes. To this end, she thinks of the graduation class “like travelers with exotic destinations,”
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First, she begins her essay with descriptions of the white and black schools. The black school had “neither lawn, nor hedges, nor tennis courts, nor climbing ivy,” which implies the white school had all of those that were listed, while the black school didn’t have any of those. To further emphasize the privileges of the white students, she commented that white were to become “Galileos and Madame Curies and Edisons and Gauguins,” whereas the blacks were, if anything, to be “Jesse Owenses and Joe Louises.” She bitterly realizes that the white students had an unfair advantage to become the greatest, most famous people, whereas the blacks only had a slight chance of becoming athletes. By directly contrasting the advantages and privileges the whites had with those of the blacks, Maya Angelou attempts to show the unjust segregation and racism in the world. All in all, Maya Angelou’s effort to convey her emotions as she realizes the unjust manner in which the Negroes are treated is intensified with the use of rhetorical devices within her essay. The similes and specified colors adds attention to her changing feelings, as her juxtaposition further proves the inequality between the two races. With all the devices combined in her narrative, Angelou is able to effectively raise awareness of the injustice between the colored and the
First, she begins her essay with descriptions of the white and black schools. The black school had “neither lawn, nor hedges, nor tennis courts, nor climbing ivy,” which implies the white school had all of those that were listed, while the black school didn’t have any of those. To further emphasize the privileges of the white students, she commented that white were to become “Galileos and Madame Curies and Edisons and Gauguins,” whereas the blacks were, if anything, to be “Jesse Owenses and Joe Louises.” She bitterly realizes that the white students had an unfair advantage to become the greatest, most famous people, whereas the blacks only had a slight chance of becoming athletes. By directly contrasting the advantages and privileges the whites had with those of the blacks, Maya Angelou attempts to show the unjust segregation and racism in the world. All in all, Maya Angelou’s effort to convey her emotions as she realizes the unjust manner in which the Negroes are treated is intensified with the use of rhetorical devices within her essay. The similes and specified colors adds attention to her changing feelings, as her juxtaposition further proves the inequality between the two races. With all the devices combined in her narrative, Angelou is able to effectively raise awareness of the injustice between the colored and the