#Maya angelou quotes graduation how to#

When she finished her groundbreaking work, Angelou realized her life story had ended at 17. 'The truth is that he had talked to James Baldwin, my brother friend, and Jimmy told him that 'if you want Maya Angelou to do something, tell her she can't do it.'' 'I said, 'Well, hmmm, maybe I'll try it.'' Angelou recalls. As Angelou’s story starts she expresses and describes the excitement of her graduation with each detail, such as, my class was wearin. Pathos appeals to pity or sadness, basically emotion while ethos appeals to ethics. Her editor requested several times that she write an autobiography, but Angelou always declined.Īngelou says author James Baldwin, whom she considers a brother, had a covert hand in getting her to write 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.' Acting on Baldwin's advice, Angelou's editor tried a little reverse psychology and told her that writing an autobiography as literature was 'almost impossible' and she shouldn't even attempt it. One Day Angelou’s story, Graduation, appeals to pathos and ethos. She started writing at age 8 or 9, during a years-long, self-imposed silence after she was raped by her mother's boyfriend.Ī voracious reader, she eventually was urged to publish her work as an adult. Maya Angelou inspired countless people during her lifetime. The just-released biographical tribute traces Angelou's life and career with archival photographs and notes from her writings.Īngelou's foremost passion was always writing, even during her early days as a singer and dancer, and her activism alongside Martin Luther King Jr. Long, and her niece Rosa Johnson Butler have written a book in her honor titled Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration.

Angelou, whose books of essays and poetry have sold millions of copies, was an inspirational figure long before her acclaimed memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was published in 1969.įor her 80th birthday, on April 4, her longtime friends Marcia Ann Gillespie and Richard A. Though she feels she sometimes needs to remind God she's still around, the rest of the world needs no prompting. 'When I try to describe myself to God I say, 'Lord, remember me? Black? Female? Six-foot tall? The writer?' And I almost always get God's attention,' Angelou tells NPR's Lynn Neary with a laugh.

#Maya angelou quotes graduation how to#

19, 1993, at Bill Clinton's first inauguration.Īs she turns 80, the celebrated author, poet and artist Maya Angelou says she has figured out how to get divine attention. Let the poet's words encourage you to connect. Maya Angelou Graduation quotes - Read more quotes and sayings about Maya Angelou Graduation. Read some of Maya Angelou's most powerful quotes from famous poems like 'Still I Rise' as well as her essays, films, and past speaking engagements. All men are prepared to accomplish the incredible if their ideals are threatened. Angelou delivers her poem 'On the Pulse of Morning' on Jan. The need for change bulldozed road down the center of my mind.