Analysis Of Inaugural Poem By Maya Angelou - 767 Words

The poem I chose to examine was the Inaugural Poem by Maya Angelou. This poem was written specifically for one occasion; President Bill Clintons inauguration ceremony in January, 1993. Through the usage of several poetic devices, Maya Angelou enhances the meaning of her poem. The first poetic device I will focus on is the rhyme scheme. There is not a consistent rhyme scheme followed throughout the poem. The reasoning behind this was to capture the flow of Maya Angelou’s numerous thoughts on this historic day. In addition, the poem ends with shorter lines, which is because Maya Angelou wanted to spark hope amongst the people. The primary rhetorical device used here is personification. Personification occurs when you give a non-living†¦show more content†¦The usage of these three distinctive parts of Nature is used to represent diversity. This can be related to humans, as even if we look different on the outside, we are all the same on the inside. Therefore, we must learn to respect one anothers culture, values and beliefs. This poem analysis would be incomplete without going into certain allusions that Maya Angelou makes with regards to American history. In multiple lines throughout her poem, Maya Angelou speaks of the many different races that came to America as slaves and as immigrants. This can be seen as a reference to the term melting pot, which came into general usage in the United States after it was used as a metaphor describing the fusion of nationalities, cultures and ethnicities. There are two views to this theory. The positive view of this theory that has developed says that persons of all different ethnicities have made American a great nation. Be that as it may, a negative view of this theory also exists, which says that the different ethnic groups in America have been ‘melted’ into a single identity which does not allow their specific cultural differences to develop. Maya Angelou advocates the acknowledgement of all these different cultures, alongside the coming together of the ethnic groups in transforming America into the dream their ancestors had wanted it to be. This poem additionally makes reference to the Middle Passage; where slaves were densely packed onto ships transporting across theShow MoreRelatedDescriptive Analysis6093 Words   |  25 Pagesdiscussion should help your students understand how strategies such as plot, pace, and point of view shape and sharpen the point of a narrative and descriptive essay. THE READINGS The five essays in this section illustrate these strategies in action. Maya Angelou opens her essay by speculating about the purposes of education in the South and then selects an example from her own life to illustrate the ironies in her speculation. George Orwell’s essay proposes a theory about real impulses of imperialism and