Power Of Names
The Power Of Names In the novel I know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou makes a statement about the power of names to show that names can go a long way. Names are very powerful. We feel good when someone calls us by our name. We are hurt when someone calls us an unkind name, or even when someone calls us by the wrong name or forgets our name. Sometimes a nickname means more to us than our given name, especially if it’s given to us by someone we love deeply. In this novel, names were used and said in many different ways. For example. The poewhite trash called mamma by her first name “Annie” (32) instead of calling her Mrs. Henderson.To me, thats quite disrespectful. Just imagine yourself walking out of a store, or walking down the street, and you see one of your friends children. And they just call you by your first name. Would you accept that? If it were me, i wouldn't. How would you
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feel if somebody changed your name because it was either too long, or they just didn't like it? That's exactly what Mrs.Cullinan did to marguerite & Hallelujah. (42) Mrs. Cullinan didn't like their names, so she changed Marguerites to Mary. And changed Hallelujahs to Glory. People mispronounce my name all the time, but that doesn't give them the right to change it. I know we all have that one family member that we’re really close to.
That one family member that you tell all your secrets to. We all do. And in this novel, Maya and Bailey did too. They referred to their grandma as their momma (6). That is a good connection with their grandma because that means both Maya, and Bailey look up to their grandma as their mother. If i was the grandma in this situation. I would feel respected, because momma is a powerful name to be called. And me as a grandmother being called momma, is a huge sign of respect. A name can mean a lot to somebody. A name can either brighten somebodys day, or make somebodys day worse. I bet if you were standing outside of a store in the parking lot, and you called the first ten women you see beautiful. Your results would be a whole lot better rather than calling the first ten women you saw ugly. You can change a person's whole day less than 10 seconds, just by the name that you call them. It's all up to you. Would you rather make somebodys day? Or would you rather ruin
it?
feel if somebody changed your name because it was either too long, or they just didn't like it? That's exactly what Mrs.Cullinan did to marguerite & Hallelujah. (42) Mrs. Cullinan didn't like their names, so she changed Marguerites to Mary. And changed Hallelujahs to Glory. People mispronounce my name all the time, but that doesn't give them the right to change it. I know we all have that one family member that we’re really close to.
That one family member that you tell all your secrets to. We all do. And in this novel, Maya and Bailey did too. They referred to their grandma as their momma (6). That is a good connection with their grandma because that means both Maya, and Bailey look up to their grandma as their mother. If i was the grandma in this situation. I would feel respected, because momma is a powerful name to be called. And me as a grandmother being called momma, is a huge sign of respect. A name can mean a lot to somebody. A name can either brighten somebodys day, or make somebodys day worse. I bet if you were standing outside of a store in the parking lot, and you called the first ten women you see beautiful. Your results would be a whole lot better rather than calling the first ten women you saw ugly. You can change a person's whole day less than 10 seconds, just by the name that you call them. It's all up to you. Would you rather make somebodys day? Or would you rather ruin
it?