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Rhetorical Devices In Maya Angelou's Graduation

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Graduation- Rhetorical Devices Maya Angelou’s “Graduation” essay shares the epitome of racial pride in the 1940’s. Written from the point of view of Marguerite Johnson, a younger Maya Angelou, she describes the anxiety and preparation of her graduation from junior high into the proud Negro race. Angelou traces her maturation throughout the day by using her ever-changing use of juxtaposition, irony, and historical allusions. The use of juxtaposition is used strategically by Angelou to show her maturation from naivety. Angelou’s views in the beginning can be seen when she juxtaposes that the Central school is superior to the Lafayette County Training school. She juxtaposes the schools by claiming that her Black school distinguished itself by “having neither lawn, nor hedges, nor tennis courts, nor climbing ivy”. Though she does not take it to heart, Marguerite knows that she does not have as many opportunities as the whites. By saying what her school doesn’t have, Marguerite is already aware that her opportunities to succeed are limited. The realization …show more content…

By alluding to how the white kids would become “Galileos and Madame Curies and Edisons and Gaugins,” rather than just saying that the white kids would become legends, Angelou shares her knowledge and proves how she is just as worthy as becoming someone great. While singing the songs of pride to the Negros, Margaret realizes that she is proud of who she is and realizes that she should not throw away the efforts of “Black, known and unknown poets” whose “auctioned pains sustained [them]”. By stating that Blacks had sacrificed their lives for her happiness, she is maturing because she is grateful for what has been done for her to be able to succeed regardless of any obstacles. The little Margaret has changed and has become a matured, angelic poet who is proud to be able to graduate into the Negro

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