The article written by Mark Twain is a piece of advice to the youth while the article written by Maya Angelou is a story about her life as a young house help to a white woman. Mark Twain adopted his name from river boat sailors who would utter the words Mark Twain to show that the waters were deep enough for a sheep to pass safely. He was and still remains as one of the most prolific writers in the history of America. Maya Angelou is well known for her memoirs and poetry. She is also a play writer and an actress.
Mark Twain’s article is an advice to the youth. It was a lecture he delivered in 1882. He uses humor to drive his point home. For instance, he says that we have no choice but to obey our parents. He adds that we should live most parents’ superstition that they know more than us rather than act by our own judgment. His pieces of advice are also controversial. He says that we should respect our superiors and strangers in equal measure, then goes ahead to say that when offended, we should hit our offenders with a brick just to confirm whether they acted on purpose or not. Maya Angelou’s article is about her life as a young house help to a white woman. She uses her words to draw sympathy from her readers. She describes her hometown as a place where young black girls, whether rich or poor were mainly involved in preparations for early adulthood. The main activity was knitting and much money earned was used to purchase knitting thread. In contrast, most white girls, presumed to be rich, were mainly involved in activities such as learning waltz or just sitting around enjoying a cup of tea.
One may not take the pieces of advice Mark Twain gives seriously because he seems to contradict the societal norms. For example, he does not really tell us whether lying is good or not. He argues that we should not tell the truth all the time and that smart lies can be immortal. He goes ahead to say that we should learn to be experienced liars and achieving this requires patience and diligence. He even gives an example of a man who used a lie to take all the credit on another man’s achievements. Maya, in her article, draws the reader’s attention by her description of Mrs. Cullinan and her house. The picture of Mrs. Cullinan that one gets is unattractive, lazy, lonely and very conservative and orderly. She also sarcastically implies that she was even lucky to find a husband beneath her social status, given her ugliness.
Works Cited
Miller, Quentin. The generation of ideas: a thematic reader. California: Thomas/Wadsworth, 2004.
