Graduation’s Importance in the Novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Do you know why the bird singing in the cage? Maya Angelou, who was 42 at the time and had grown up in the segregated South, wrote “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” in 1970. The purpose of the essay is to educate and clarify to the reader the significance of graduation. Angelou expresses her sentiments about growing and the emotions surrounding graduation at the moment using descriptive imagery, foreshadowing, tones, ethos, and pathos. The target audience for Angelou’s article is African Americans who lived through segregation in the 1940s, as well as anybody else who would be curious about her background.

To begin with, the article is impersonal and informational. Without disclosing her involvement, Angelou takes the time to explain the context of the present events to the audience. Angelou increases the audience’s interest and emotional participation by focusing on relatable feelings. The emotions she expresses are general ones that everyone, including herself, could experience. Excitation and pride are among the feelings covered. Later on in the essay, Angelou discusses her own feelings and how they relate to the story. She describes how she would seem to communicate her own sentiments (“I was going to be nice”). By claiming that she is one of the numerous members of the graduating class, Angelou betrays her duties.

By describing the horror she felt as a result of the inequity, Angelou also reveals her feelings. (“We were farmers, handymen, and maids. Being a Negro and having no power over my life was terrible. Being young and already being indoctrinated to listen silently to accusations made about my race with no way of defending myself was awful. Maya Angelou thought that she had no control over what would happen in her life moving forward as a result of segregation and inequity. The expectations of society have already predetermined her destiny, and as Angelou muses more deeply, her ideas get darker. The spectator may better comprehend her inner resentment at being forced into her existence by her gloomy, introspective moods and thoughts of death.

The goal, which is to convey to the audience the value of graduation and express her feelings, is discussed at the outset and throughout the essay. A little section of the text was devoted to her objective. She claims that she would be among the first to graduate because of the high regard her efforts had won her. Angelou even mentions her accomplishments of never missing a class or being late. The mere fact that Angelou works hard while in school conveys to the viewer how much it mattered to her to be able to attend and eventually graduate from school.

Additionally, Angelou makes precise word choices throughout the text. Even while some readers may be aware with the era in which the essay was written, others who aren’t could nevertheless be affected strongly by the usage of the word “Negro” in the article. The terms “Negro” and “African American” are used in quite different ways. African American is a more jovial word, while Negro brings the era into action.

Throughout the article, several more rhetorical strategies are used. One that is utilized often is imagery. The imagery’s specifics aid in expressing Angelou’s emotions. Angelou begins by talking about the color of the graduation gowns the graduates had to wear and how her mother “went off” on her own. The images and in-depth description of the clothing further emphasize how significant the graduation ceremony is to Angelou. Even the “lemony material” and the fluff on the sleeves are described in detail by her.

She waits for the day to arrive in a timely manner, which is also shown via imagery. As the days grew longer and more observable, Angelou demonstrates this. This conveys to the listener the impression that Angelou waited and kept track of the passing time. The “winning team” (the grads) may have felt confident and powerful as they gathered, since she also depicts the sky’s hue, which has now taken on these characteristics. Contradictory to the limited to nonexistent freedom of choice available to the graduating class, the visual of the colors only enhances the freedom of the “open” fields.

The valedictorian uses pathos and this in the essay to give the graduating class hope. The valedictorian’s speech inspires confidence in the graduates, making them feel as though they can take on any challenge. When words like “outrageous fortune” are inserted into the valedictorian’s speech to inspire motivation, pathos is continuously used. Henry Reed’s classmates would have believed him since he was the valedictorian during his speech to the graduates at that very time. Reed has a positive outlook. The speech’s attempt to instill faith in the graduating class has already been called into question.

Edward Donleavy delivered the prior address. He delivered a speech on the possibilities of the current graduating class, much like the valedictorian, but his audience went beyond the grads. Along with the sporting prospects that the grads may have, Donleavy discusses their potential academic opportunities. The speech drills the unwelcome realization that being an athlete or a service provider would be the highest accomplishment of the graduating class with no disrespect. He wants the audience to accept his assertions about the Nergro community since the whole speech depends on ethos to convince them to vote for him again. Donleavy’s tone is patronizing, and as a consequence, Maya Angelou, who was in the audience, may not have found the address to be particularly enjoyable on her special day.

Angelou dissects Edward Donleavy with precise language. In a detailed account, Angelou shows how all the enthusiasm and expectation she had been building up for that day had been entirely extinguished. Too many of the man’s lifeless remarks landed in my stomach (“The man’s dead words dropped like stones throughout the auditorium.

The graduates are lead in the Negro national song after Henry Reed’s address. a sad tune with plenty of melancholy. Angelou’s lost vitality had been restored by Reed, preserving her graduation day. Angelou believed it was all for naught before to Reed’s speech and the song. She felt terrible about her predicament, but thereafter, she felt triumphant and returned optimism.

Angelou’s revised love for herself and her skin tone also corresponds to a reference Reed made in his speech. Angelou succeeded in extending existential concerns to the black community. When Angelou realizes that she is in reality black and that the classic literature does not address her predicament or that of many others in segregated America, the National Negro Anthem’s opening similarly employs juxtaposition.

Another rhetorical tactic utilized in Angelou’s essay is allusion. In the article, Angelou makes use of allusion to include people like Nat Turner, George Washington, and Harriet Tubman as examples of African Americans who were successful. Prior to and during segregation, there were prejudices in society about the potential and actual roles that Black Americans might and should play. Giving the audience instances of Black Americans who were fortunate enough to be successful demonstrates to the audience that it is possible.

Foreshadowing is another rhetorical tactic utilized by Angelou in the essay. With the warning that “worse things are coming,” she compares herself to the white school. The words she chooses and the length of her sentences change with Angelou’s mood. The words were snarky and brief if things were becoming downbeat. The phrases were lengthy and detailed if she was feeling excited.

In the end, despite the challenges she faced at graduation, Maya Angelou defied societal expectations and chose to become a writer rather than follow the traditional career paths of a service worker or athlete. The purpose of Maya Angelou’s article is to convey to the reader the significance and feelings she had while graduating from high school while living under segregation. To successfully express a message, the essay makes use of ethos, pathos, descriptive language, and tones.