Hopes, Dreams, and Reality
Graduation by Maya Angelou is an essay about discrimination. The beginning of this essay reminded me of my own high school graduation. How scared but excited I was to be taking the next step up in my life. I felt like the story paralleled my experiences at the beginning, but at the end I had a totally different outlook on this piece of writing. As I got further into the essay, I felt that there was nothing about Angelou's life that I had ever experienced or could relate to. Many people in my graduating class have moved on to college but Angelou explains that only a small percent of her class would be continuing on to college. Angelou speaks of how blacks were not given an equal chance and how they would never see the side the white people were exposed to.
"Graduation" begins on a sunny summer day at the end of June.
The story begins by introducing the preparations for graduation. It describes the hard work, anticipation, and excitement that goes into this event, . This event brings people of all ages together to celebrate an important event. Angelou states, "graduating classes themselves were the nobility. Like travelers with exotic destinations on their mind". Graduation is an unforgettable day that turns children into adults, it's the commencement of twelve long years of accomplishment. After graduation, you are set free into the real world to find your identity. I myself feel "like a traveler with an exotic destination on my mind." I feel like there is something out there for me that I haven't discovered yet, and through my hard work and searching I will one day find the exotic destination that I've been searching for my whole life.
Angelou explains how on your graduation...