Graduation by Maya Angelou Close Reading Questions

“Graduation” by Maya Angelou – Close Reading Questions

In your groups, respond to the following questions in your notebooks. Refer to the text and support your points with direct evidence from the essay.

1. How would you describe the mood in the beginning of the essay? Cite words and phrases that help develop this mood.

1. Angelou uses language beautifully. Examine each of the following examples and note stylistic or literary elements and their effect.

a)“graduation epidemic” (p.20)

b)“the future rode heavily on their shoulders (p.21)

c)“Years of withdrawal were pushed aside, as hanging ropes of parasitic moss.” (p.23)

d)“Sunlight was itself young, and the day had none of the insistence maturity would bring it in a few hours.” (p.24)

e)“With that his voice nearly faded, thin, away. Like a river diminishing to a stream and then to a trickle.” (p.27)

f)“But Amens and Yes, sir’s began to fall around the room like rain through a ragged umbrella.” (p.27)

g)“The man’s dead words fell like bricks around the auditorium and too many settled in my belly.” (p.28)

h)“A pyramid of flesh with the white folks on the bottom, as the broad base, then the Indians with their silly tomahawks and teepees and wigwams and treaties, the Negroes with their mops and recipes and cotton sacks and spirituals sticking out of their mouths.” (p.29)

i)“The ugliness was palpable.” (p.29)

1. According to Angelou, how were the graduates viewed by the other members of their community?

1. How does she describe the school, as contrasted to the White school? Find examples of descriptive imagery. (p.21)

1. How does Angelou use imagery to describe the feelings she experienced in the days prior to the graduation?

1. On the morning of the graduation, where do you see foreshadowing of something unpleasant to come?

1. What disturbs the “smooth-running machine” at the beginning of the ceremony? What might this suggest? (p.26)

1. What is disappointing about Mr. Donleavy’s speech? Give specifics.

1. The narrator’s tone changes dramatically during the ceremony. Explain and give evidence from the text.

1. What does she mean when she writes, “Donleavy had exposed us”? (p.28)

1. How does the narrator react to Henry Reed’s speech and why?

1. Explain the power and impact of the Negro National Anthem.