During the ceremony marking their transitioning into the larger world a elevated status of honor in school held by the graduates began with the teachers. The teachers held the graduate students at a nearly equal status and any …show more content…
In speaking of the way the parents treated the event Angelou tells us, “ Parents who could afford it had ordered new shoes and ready-made clothes for themselves from Sears and Roebuck or Montgomery Ward. They also engaged the best seamstresses to make the floating graduating dresses”. (Angelou, 2014,p179) These families overall were poor as demonstrated by the school’s facilities and this was a significant, but short-term investment. Even the climax of the week, Sunday, the day of rest, was held in no more esteem as confirmed by Angelou herself. She reflects, “Momma made a Sunday breakfast although it was only Friday”. (Angelou, 2014,p181) No focus on self-confidence seemed to have been trained into the youth, merely a self-value defined by the level of reward they could achieve in