Graduation- Maya Angelou

What year did Angelou's graduation take place?

1940

Which rhetorical device does Maya Angelou use in these passages from "Graduation": "The school blazed without gaiety. The windows seemed cold and unfriendly from the lower hill." A) understatement B) juxtaposition C) metaphor D) foreshadowing

understatement

How does Angelou fulfill the reader's expectations for what a graduation includes?

1) Angelou fulfills the reader's expectations for what encompasses a graduation by including a lot of detail about what a graduation ceremony entails and the emotions that run through it. Angelou tells the reader about the matching color attire for her class (girls would be wearing a butter-yellow pique dress) and how her mother hand-made her dress for her. She mentions how her hard work led her to be one of the first to receive her diploma; this is how my graduation was as well: all of the graduates who were in the National Honor Society received their diplomas first.

In what way did Mr. Donleavy's speech "educate" the graduates?

1-When he spoke, he wasn't really supporting them to work harder, he was telling them the reality of their place in society. The only careers really fit for them were being farmers, maids, and field workers. Mr. Donleavy was basically crushing their dreams on a hopeful day for the students. He was making sure they didn't put their hopes so high because of the way society was at that time and prejudice. 2-an obviously racist white man, gives the commencement speech. Implying that the black students graduating will not go on to achieve anything greater than athletic success (academic success seems unthinkable), Donleavy effectively obliterates the hope that Angelou and her classmates have fostered in the weeks leading up to the occasion: "The man's dead words fell like bricks around the auditorium... The proud graduating class of 1940 had dropped their heads" (¶ 42).

What expectations did educators have for Angelou and her classmates? In what ways were these expectations different from the expectations Angelou and her fellow students had?

Angelou fills the readers expectations about a graduation by describing usual graduation occurrences; such as a speaker, walking down an isle, the end of finals, and a speaker. She differs from standard expectations by describing such as the lack of students going to high school and the importance placed on this achievement, the references to god and prayer made in the ceremony, and the stress laid on race.

How did Angelou's thinking change as she listened to him(Mr Donleavy)?

She was exposed to the cruelty of mankind. She lost her hope and confidence. He told her that blacks would never have the same big opportunities compared to whites. Her dreams were crushed.

What is the importance of Angelou's last three paragraphs?

Standing Proud When it seemed like everyone lost hope, they actually found appreciation for something else. They took pride in their ethnicity instead of taking pride in just their graduation. They stood up together as a community instead of giving into Mr. Donleavy's speech.

Compare the importance of literature in "Graduation" and in Gloria Anzaldua's "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" (p. 33).

The importance of literature in both the "Graduation" and "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" is epic in scale. It is a way to keep alive one's heritage and culture as well as to teach the historical value of one's worth as a people.

How do the achievements for the graduation speaker praises recent graduates from the narrator's school differ from the narrator's hopes for herself and her classmates?

The speaker of the graduation ceremony had hopes for the graduates to become athletes or some lesser occupation, while Ms. Angelou's hopes for her and her classmates were to become much more successful than she already perceived herself and them to be. Even though she was only twelve years old and graduating eighth grade she felt that by having that diploma she would be able to become a teacher.

How does she surprise the reader's with the details we don't expect? 3. What happens when the speaker gives his speech? How does she feel when he is done?

When Angelou states that Donleavy has said that the white students were destines to be athletes and the black boys (not even girls) were only destined to be athletes, she truly surprised me by reminiscing on the fact Background image of page 1

How do the points brought up by the graduation speaker affect Angelou?

Mr. Donleavy's speech changed her thinking. She was exposed to the cruelty of mankind. She lost her hope and confidence. He told her that blacks would never have the same big opportunities compared to whites. Her dreams were crushed.