Name__________________________ Period_______ Date______________
“Graduation” by Maya Angelou (pp. 20-32)
Read this essay through the lens of a writer. What does Angelou do that “works?” What
does she do that you might use in your own writing?
In this excerpt from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou uses creative
ways to capture the reader’s interest. She delivers her account of her experience by using
narrative devices, such as: characterization, pacing, and figurative language. Keep these
elements in mind as you read the piece. Another thing to note is the optimistic tone of the
speaker throughout the work.
Questions on rhetoric * and style:
1. Look closely at the first 5 paragraphs of the essay. How does it serve as an introduction?
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2. As you read the piece, take careful note of Angelou’s use of figurative language. Cite
as many examples as you can find. How do they serve the speaker’s purpose?
Simile
Example with page/paragraph number
Metaphor
Example with page/paragraph number
Hyperbole Example with page/paragraph number
(and other
forms of
figurative
language)
*rhetoric- the art or science of all specialized literary uses of language in prose or verse,
including the figures of speech; the study of the effective use of language. (There are other
definitions associated with rhetoric, but they do not fit our purposes here.)
3. The tone is the attitude the speaker has toward his/her subject. Earlier, I said the tone
was optimistic. What evidence of this can you find in “Graduation?”
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Angelou makes many appeals to pathos. Pathos represents an appeal to the audience's
emotions. It is the quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature, music,
speech, or other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of pity or compassion.
Where are some elements of PATHOS that “spoke” to you? Provide examples below.
1.
"It was awful to be a Negro and have no control over my life."
p. 29, paragraph 3
In “Graduation,” Angelou makes reference to:
Gabriel Prosser, was a literate enslaved blacksmith who planned a large slave rebellion in the Richmond area in the
summer of 1800. Information regarding the revolt was leaked prior to its execution, and he and twenty-five
followers were taken captive and hanged in punishment. In reaction, Virginia and other state legislatures passed
restrictions on free blacks, as well as prohibiting the education, assembly and hiring out of slaves, to restrict their
chances to learn and to plan similar rebellions.
Nathaniel "Nat" Turner (October 2, 1800 – November 11, 1831) was an American slave who led a slave rebellion in
[2]
Virginia on August 21, 1831 that resulted in 60 white deaths and at least 100 black deaths, the largest number of
fatalities to occur in one uprising prior to the American Civil War in the southern United States. He gathered
supporters in Southampton County, Virginia. Turner was convicted, sentenced to death, and hanged. In the
aftermath, the state executed 56 blacks accused of being part of Turner's slave rebellion. Two hundred blacks were
[3]
also beaten and killed by white militias and mobs reacting with violence. Across Virginia and other southern
states, state legislators passed new laws prohibiting education of slaves and free blacks, restricting rights of
assembly and other civil rights for free blacks, and requiring white ministers to be present at black worship
services.
www.wikipedia.com