Maya Angelou Graduation Summary

Cody Fullerton
Karen Clausen-Brown
English 121
9 March 2018
Maya Angelou and Mah’Ria Pruitt-Martin: Black Students’ Similarity Throughout Time In “Graduation” by Maya Angelou, it shows Angelou’s experiences as a black student in the 1940s. In “The Problem We All Live With” by This American Life, Mah’Ria Pruitt-Martin’s experiences as a black during the 2000s was very similar to Angelou’s experiences. Angelou went to Lafayette Country Training School, which was the black school. Pruitt-Martin went to Normandy, which was the worst district in the area. She was trying to transfer to a better school. Both Maya Angelou and Mah’Ria Pruitt-Martin had bad high school experiences because their schools had little resources for education and people didn’t

Angelou was talking about her achievements and said, “my work alone had awarded me a top place and I was going to be one of the first called in the graduation ceremonies” (Angelou 48). Being one of the first called up shows that she was one of the top performing students. She also said that she got “no absences, no tardinesses, and [that her] academic work was among the best of the year” (49). She is saying that her work was some the best. This shows her level of intelligence was high. Not only is she one of the smartest, but she also showed dedication to her education. Like Angelou, Pruitt-Martin also showed that she was intelligent. As Nikole Hannah Jones described, Pruitt-Martin “[was] a star student” (“The Problem”). This means that Pruitt-Martin was a high achieving, intelligent student. In the past, because of what kind of a student she was, “[Pruitt-Martin] was invited to a special breakfast. It was to celebrate kids who made the honor roll” (“The Problem”). This special event shows that Pruitt-Martin got very good grades and displays her level of intelligence. Angelou and Pruitt-Martin were intelligent students which broke the stereotypes that doubted their