An Interpretation of “On the Pulse of Morning” Essays

An Interpretation of â€Å"On the Pulse of Morning† Essays An Interpretation of â€Å"On the Pulse of Morning† Paper An Interpretation of â€Å"On the Pulse of Morning† Paper Essay on â€Å"On The Pulse Of Morning† Analysis The poem that Maya Angelou chose the read at President Clinton’s inaugural in 1993, delivers a message of hope. It uses the metaphor of morning or dawn to show that people can create their dreams and bring them to life. Maya Angelou has been a national celebrity since the reading of this poem. Her writings have a way of embracing people and successfully state her thoughts and emotions. â€Å"Pulse† is a call for hope and opportunity in part of our history. When analyzing this poem a great deal of the stanzas relate to diversity, change over time, and equality. This poem successfully portrays a sense of diversity throughout it. Many lines in different stanzas are related to diversity. Stanza four and five states, â€Å"The singing River, and the wise Rock. So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew, the African, the Native American, the Sioux, the Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek, the Irish, the Rabbi, the Sheik, the Gay, the Straight, the Preacher, the Privileged, the Homeless, the Teacher. They hear. They all hear the speaking of the tree. † They are united by nature, but different due to their culture. In stanza six a lot about diversity has been acknowledged. The people who once helped Maya, do not anymore. In addition it states that we arrived from the Indians. In the course of history, elements of society have changed. Examples through this poem are â€Å"the dinosaur, who left dried tokens of their sojourn here†¦Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages. But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully, Come you may stand upon my Back and face your distant destiny. The dinosaur, as we all know is now extinct. They have left their â€Å"dried tokens† or their fossils here when they were once here. They left them here for us to find. For the different groups to find. The dinosaurs were â€Å"lost in the dust†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and it was hard for people to find, but now over the years, the dinosaurs fossils have been found. In addition the slave black Africa n Americans have come from the ancient homeland of Africa. The slaves were once here and now the United States passed a law that slavery was to be abolished. Over time people, places, and all things have changed for good and bad. Equality is an important concern in the world today. â€Å"Women, children, men, Take it into the palms of your hands†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This is saying that our society can be a loving one with equality for men, women, blacks, and whites. Whether we are rich or poor, we all have the same opportunities in our country. No matter when in history we appeared. No matter how strange we appear to be to others. People think that people that are not like them and come from other planets, however we are all members of this planet. History, despite its wrenching pain Cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not to be lived again. † This is saying that we have learned from our past. The discrimination and the inequality should not be repeated in our future. In addition, this poem describes characterization. Personification is a part of literature in which an object or a living thing is given human individuality. Angelou uses personification to give pitch to, â€Å"the river and the tree†, and the aptitude to converse to the reader. Angelou writes â€Å"But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully, Come, you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The rock signifies strength. The strength for us as people everywhere in the world to stand together as one. Not to hide behind shame, humility or cowardness, but be able to stand strong in our right for what we believe in and what we know is right. We as people can unify and become one and be solid as a rock. This written document is using an argument to assert. Angelou does a great job of asserting her position so that the audience would understand how she feels. Although this writing may influence others in the future, her primary purpose was simply to let others know how she feels about this topic. The word choice is phenomenal as she makes you look deeper into the meaning of what she is trying to say. By doing this, it is left up to the interpretation of each individual as to the meaning of it and what is taken away from it. Because her audience was the entire country, she does a great job of excluding no one and reaching out the every individual. She is successful in leaving no one untouched by her rhythmic word choice. Because Angelou is able to understand the rhetorical situation, this may contribute to the strong, audience-focused, and organized writing that she was able to produce. To write any argument effectively, you must first become aware of the rhetorical situation. Prior to starting this writing, she had to analyze and imagine the audience and identify how she would connect with them. In addition to this, the cultural context in this writing was a large part of what is was about. Culture will always be a part of any rhetorical situation and shape any argument. For this writing to be as persuasive as it is, it was important that Angelou understand the culture. In doing this she takes gender, age, and sexual orientation into consideration when addressing the audience. Maya Angelou was successful in relating her poem to diversity, change over time, and equality. This poem is amazing and touches the depths of so many issues. Angelou is brilliant in her construction of the topics and how she leaves you pondering them after you have finished reading this writing. She is a very talented writer, and this poem clearly is a contribution to today’s Civil Rights Movement.