ENGL 2050C: Women and Education in Literature: A Critical Analysis

This essay critically analyzes the works of Alice Walker and Maya Angelou, prominent figures who fought for women's rights against gender and racial discrimination. The essay focuses on the theme of education, examining its evolution through different movements and the barriers faced by women, particularly Black women, in accessing it. Walker's perspective highlights the lack of educational opportunities due to racial identity, while Angelou's autobiography reveals the importance of education in overcoming personal trauma. The essay further explores how societal factors and historical contexts have shaped the accessibility of formal education, emphasizing that education remains a privilege for many. References to the 1967 U.S. federal order for equal opportunities are made to highlight the ongoing struggle for women's rights. The essay provides a detailed analysis of the authors' experiences and their impact on the fight for women's education.

Running Head: WOMEN EDUCTION
Women Education
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

1WOMEN EDUCATION
The paper seeks to analyze critically the works of Alice walker and Maya Angelo,
two prominent figure, Maya Angelo and Alice Walker, who had sought to fight for the rights
of the women not on the basis of the gender discrimination but also on the ground of the
racial discrimination. As such, their victimization happened on two different level. However,
the particular concern of the essay would revolve around the line of the education and thereby
seek to determine how it has evolved in the course of different movement.
Alice Walker, while she was speaking about the education claimed that black women
never had the chance or the privilege of acquiring education in her life. She had imposed the
blame that prevented her characters from availing the education on their colored identity
(Angelou, 1997). This is evident as she voices in the wording of Maggie that ‘I am a large,
big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands’. In her work, How a caged bird Sings
depicts the life of Maya through a series of autobiographical narratives. In her work, she had
narrated a considerable portion of her life where she had depicted the traumatic experience of
her life that had shunned down her spirit for quite some time. It was through the intervention
of Mrs. Flowers who made her realize the importance of education and spoken words. The
wordings of the Maggie in ‘Everyday Use’ by Alice walker also reflects the implication of
the education and how their gender base as well as their racial identity prevented them from
having an easy access to it (Walker, 2004).
The character of Alice Walker clearly voices her disparity at not being able to have a
complete access to education. She blamed her status of being a colored person as well as a
woman behind it. On the other hand Maya Angelo was denied formal education for a
considerable period of time though time again the reader would find her voicing that she had
a general bend towards learning and would love to keep herself engrossed in studies. Such
examples of the authors discussed in this respect elucidates in front of us how ‘formal
education’ had turned out to be a matter of privilege for them. There has been a play of

2WOMEN EDUCATION
identity and belongingness as we get to her in her voice that ‘No, You could not have known.
Of course I forgive you.’ Their understanding has been shaped by their natural wit, which in
turn has given form to their sensitivity. In the contemporary scenario, frequently we
experience that a considerable portion of the society is deprived of education . It is primarily
because to a greater extent education still continues the status of being a privileged leisure
and affordable by only a few. In the year, 1967U.S president had passed the federal order
demanding the equal opportunities should be provided irrespective of gender. As such it
should grab the domain of job opportunities and education (mym.cdn.laureate-media.com,
2018).. The fight that had begun from the beginning of the feminist movement is continuing
till then. The narrative of Maya Angelo is a personal where the work of Alice Walker, used
other subjugated figure in order to voice her concern about the issues which even she had to
encounter during the face of her growing up.

3WOMEN EDUCATION
References
Angelou, M. (1997). I know why the caged bird sings. Bantam.
mym.cdn.laureate-media.com. (2018). Women’s Voices and Social Change. Retrieved 10
February 2020, from
https://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/ENGL/2050/CH/mm/
womens_voices_timeline/index.html
Walker, A. (2004). Everyday use. Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic.