Maya Angelou's Graduation
In the short story ‘Graduation”…Maya Angelou, a famous American author and poet, tells the story of her graduation. In this story she tells paints three very vivid parts of that memorable day, the morning when she woke up, the actual ceremony, and the celebration afterwards. In this essay I am going to compare her memory with memories of my own graduation day. The sounds feeling and emotions that arouse during one of her most memorable moments in her life. On the morning of her graduation, Maya was welcomed by a couple of surprises. She expressed her joy by the excitement she felt within and from the gifts she received from her family. He had to save for some moths to buy her a collection of Edgar Allen Poe stories. Her mother made her a delightful Sunday breakfast on Friday and when she opened her eyes from the prayer, she had a new watch on her plate. On the morning of my own graduation, I was startled by my dad yelling …Boy Wake your ASS up before I come in there and put some whoop on your behind!!. I wanted to tell him that he’s grammatically incorrect because she using the term whoop as a noun when he clearly meant to you it as a verb…nevertheless, you get the point. So I didn’t press my luck.
During the actual ceremony Maya Angelo listened to a couple of speakers, one on whom spoke about the predetermined success of the other, mainly the guys, and who would go on to do what. The girls weren’t even spoken about. These words weighed heavy on her and she felt appalled. Who gave anyone one the right to decide who their heroes should be and where they would or wouldn’t go in life? Its’ very obvious that Maya Angelo’s graduation wasn’t very pleasant to the ears, more of a downer I would say. This was a very different day and time. Now speakers speak about the graduation class in whole. Men and women, white and black are held more equally and there aren’t just “white” heroes given attention to.
The celebration that followed the actual ceremony never took place.
During the actual ceremony Maya Angelo listened to a couple of speakers, one on whom spoke about the predetermined success of the other, mainly the guys, and who would go on to do what. The girls weren’t even spoken about. These words weighed heavy on her and she felt appalled. Who gave anyone one the right to decide who their heroes should be and where they would or wouldn’t go in life? Its’ very obvious that Maya Angelo’s graduation wasn’t very pleasant to the ears, more of a downer I would say. This was a very different day and time. Now speakers speak about the graduation class in whole. Men and women, white and black are held more equally and there aren’t just “white” heroes given attention to.
The celebration that followed the actual ceremony never took place.