Rhetorical Analysis - Culture Critical Thinking Examples

Maya Angelou has written about diverse themes throughout her writing career. In her article “I know why the caged bird sings”, she writes about one of her childhood memories regarding the first funeral she ever attended. The retrospect mainly revolves around Mrs. Florida Taylor who was her neighbor.
She starts writing about the funeral from the church proceedings to the eventual burial illustrating how she felt about the black clothes and black atmosphere all around her in those summers. It is a bitter fact that we don’t realize a pain unless we are made to feel it. Dying, passing away, death, dead; all these situations don’t really matter to someone who has never experienced losing someone really close. She, then, recognized her own mortality as well. Maya, in a way, tries to draw the attention of her readers to the fact that death is an ultimate reality and everyone is mortal regardless to his color, creed or identity. The article was written in 1969 when the racism and cultural ethnocentrism was almost at its peak in United Sates. Being the American-African activist, she wanted the people to realize the fact that all humans are free, equal and respectable. They might differ in appearances but are identical right beneath their bones. This theme is not limited to just a section of audience in America or Africa but it is for the readers worldwide. The social issue she picked is not just a fact but a universal reality. She writes in a really natural way that could move the readers and make them think in a direction they might not have tried before. The words can have deep impact if chosen carefully and Maya is somehow an expert at it especially when it comes to the topics like mortality, equality and being human.