Forged by Pain
United States approached the eightieth-year anniversary of the abolition of slavery, however the social oppression of African American citizens steadily increased. Angelou's Graduation Day is a narrative driven piece about the author’s own experience when graduating from the eighth grade in 1940. The narrative not only highlights the importance of the narrator's graduation but also the expectations of Angelou’s community due to their persecution and separation. An individual’s dignity is forged by separation, persecution, and their perserverance through such events.
The magnitude of graduation accentuates the separation of the African American community. Because of the sociocultural differences, graduation was monumental in their community, as Angelou later states “Oh, it was important, all right. White folks would …show more content…
Society’s persecution lives in Donleavy’s shock at the abnormality of negro graduation. Angelou illustrated the shock: “Donleavy looked at the audience once (on reflection, I’m sure he wanted to reassure himself that we were really there), adjusted his glasses and began to read from a sheaf of papers” (Angelou, 2014, p. 185). He later unintentionally highlights their ranking on the scale of social hierarchy by bragging about their school producing amazing athletes. This causes the young Angelou to realize her community’s position in society and leads to a rage in her heart. She begins to lament about the contrast between the white and African American schools: “the white kids had the chance to become Madame Curies and Edisons, and our boys would try to be Jesse Owenses” (Angelou, 2014, p. 186). The contrast between the white school’s possibly to produce scholars and the Negro school’s limitation to generating only athletes causes Angelou to curse humanity for allowing this persecution to
United States approached the eightieth-year anniversary of the abolition of slavery, however the social oppression of African American citizens steadily increased. Angelou's Graduation Day is a narrative driven piece about the author’s own experience when graduating from the eighth grade in 1940. The narrative not only highlights the importance of the narrator's graduation but also the expectations of Angelou’s community due to their persecution and separation. An individual’s dignity is forged by separation, persecution, and their perserverance through such events.
The magnitude of graduation accentuates the separation of the African American community. Because of the sociocultural differences, graduation was monumental in their community, as Angelou later states “Oh, it was important, all right. White folks would …show more content…
Society’s persecution lives in Donleavy’s shock at the abnormality of negro graduation. Angelou illustrated the shock: “Donleavy looked at the audience once (on reflection, I’m sure he wanted to reassure himself that we were really there), adjusted his glasses and began to read from a sheaf of papers” (Angelou, 2014, p. 185). He later unintentionally highlights their ranking on the scale of social hierarchy by bragging about their school producing amazing athletes. This causes the young Angelou to realize her community’s position in society and leads to a rage in her heart. She begins to lament about the contrast between the white and African American schools: “the white kids had the chance to become Madame Curies and Edisons, and our boys would try to be Jesse Owenses” (Angelou, 2014, p. 186). The contrast between the white school’s possibly to produce scholars and the Negro school’s limitation to generating only athletes causes Angelou to curse humanity for allowing this persecution to