Graduation by Maya Angelou and How to tame a wild tongue by Gloria Anzalduas

"Graduation" is a chapter found in Maya Angelou's autobiography, "I Know Why the Caged Bird

Sings." it focuses on Angelou's eighth-grade graduation in Stamps, Arkansas. Occurring in the

racially segregated South, Angelou describes her experience graduating from the blacks-only

grammar school and details the differences between the black and white schools. Throughout life

we face many challenges just like Maya Angelou's autobiographical essay "Graduation", was

about more than just moving on to another grade. The unforeseen events that happened during

the ceremony allowed her to graduate from the views of a child to the more experienced and

sometimes disillusioning views of an adult. Upon reading the story there is an initial feeling of

enthusiasm and confidence which was rapidly tarnished with the abrupt awareness of human

prejudices. The author vibrantly illustrates a rainbow of significant mood changes she undergoes

throughout the story. Ms. Angelou's effective strategy of comparison and contrast. By comparing

what the black schools don't have, such as 'lawn, nor hedges, nor tennis courts, nor climbing ivy,'

reveals not only a clear illustration of what luxuries the white schools in the forties had but also

how unjust the system was. Throughout the book she implies her concern for continuing

education after graduation. Her main idea was about the unfair treatment of African-Americans

during that time because they were not valued for their educational intelligence.

Anzaldua, Gloria E. author, cultural theorist, and feminist philosopher, was born in the south

Texas town of Raymondville, the oldest of four children of Urbano and Amalia (Garca)

Anzalda, sixth-generation Mexican-American rancher-farmers. Gloria was diagnosed in infancy

with a rare hormonal disorder that triggered premature puberty, including monthly menses from

the age of six. This hormonal condition marked Gloria as physiologically different from her

peers, fostering in her a lifelong empathy for other outsiders, which motivated her social justice
work and her desire to use the written word to create new forms of inclusionary communities.

The piece How to Tame a Wilde Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua is tremendously valued since it

brings to discussion important social issues such as sexism, cultural imperialism, racism, low

self-esteem, reprimand and identity formation. She determines comparisons among English,

Spanish and their differences and how cultural imperialism influence on peoples preference to

speak one language rather than the other. One of the piece strengths is clearly stated by the

author when she qualifies the acculturation process as violent. She uses the term linguistic

terrorism and clarifies how the First Amendment is violated, when an individual has his form of

expression attacked with intend of censure. Another interesting point is the view of languages as

subjective and passive of changes that go beyond new grammatical rules. Those changes

incorporate social and cultural factors. In addition, there is an intriguing questioning on whether

identity construction is a social input and to what extent individuals have control upon their own

identity formation. In the piece Gloria says wild tongues cant be tamed, they can only be cut

out it signifies how ingrained her Chicano heritage and language is in her.

Poetry changed Maya Angelou life ,Angelou was well on her way to mastery of the various

linguistic styles around her, in the beginnings of a lifelong love for the "sound of language."

Although she never attended college, her gift with words was ultimately recognized by more

than 50 honorary degrees and an endowed university professorship, not to mention a permanent

legacy in the minds and classrooms of the nation. The language in her works reflect the different

social and cultural worlds that she navigated, especially as a groundbreaking Black poet with

access to Standardized English, African American English, and the great diversity of both. Every

word Angelou wrote was a choice between one language variety or another, and the way in

which she decided between them is a significant part of how her words resonate with so many
people. Whereas poetry means the same to Gloria Anzalduas it gives her a platform to speak

about the wrongs that is going on in society.

 Work cited

"Gloria E. Anzalda." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

"How to Tame a Wild Tongue- Summary and Response." Brainstorming Ideas - The Social
Worker. N.p., 12 May 2015. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

"Maya Angelou's The Graduation." Maya Angelou's The Graduation: Maya Angelou The
Graduation. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

"Maya Angelou." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.