Tuesdays W/ Morrie & Caged Bir Essay, Research Paper

Summary of Two Novels:

Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom

I Know Why Caged Birds Sing by Maya Angelou

I’ve heard of students who say they like their professors’ sharp skills in different fields of study, but I’ve never heard of any that after twenty years of teaching, the student and teacher bond grow more and more. I’m talking about the book Tuesdays with Morrie. I thought it was a fascinating book. It contained teachings of a wise old man to his younger student, many years later. This man had a terminal illness, and he wanted to get his final message across to everyone, so he entrusted it into the young man, by the name of Mitch Albom. Tuesdays with Morrie was very inspirational and positive, even though there was death involved. Morrie had been teaching for years. This book explained each day of Morrie’s final class, which took place in his home. The class met on Tuesdays, and Mitch was the only student. I think this is a very powerful piece of writing, because it really happened, which makes readers connect to the story, because any student had to have had some close relations with a teacher at some point in their life, causing their memories to think beyond the norm. I believe this book shows much courage and strength, in, not only Morrie, but in Mitch himself. Mitch is the student that takes the final class with his old college professor, the lesson of life. It seems as if he is doing this especially for Morrie, and not just for himself. Since the disease is working its way up Morrie’s poor fragile body, Mitch becomes embarrassed by him, because he can’t do certain things he was able to just a few days earlier. This is where I feel the inspiration kicks in. Mitch shows his support to his teacher, and continues to attend classes weekly. He is inspired by him to keep persisting, not just in this situation, but also helping him while he is working. Mitch has a very admirable quality; he is loyal. Ever since graduation, he had promised to keep in touch with his professor, and visit him occasionally. He never did, until twenty years later. Weeks past and Mitch’s knowledge increased. He was learning something that can’t be taught from textbooks; only from experience. And he had an extraordinary teacher whose goal was to relate all the information he knew from his entire life to this one lucky young man. Since Morrie was sick and taught from home, you would often expect him to be lying in his bed teaching. “When you’re in bed, you’re dead,” stated by Morrie is absolutely true. This is why he didn’t teach this way. He wanted his student to stay alert and listen, rather than watch his old professor wilt away to nothing. This book was very touching, since it dealt with death. I was moved by this book, mainly because I never thought it was possible to keep in touch with a college professor, so long after the books were put away.

You would never think that a little girl being raised in the south would ever have so many experiences, some good, but most bad. This is because it was in the early 1900s, and because she was black. There were no segregation laws back then, which caused much grief for children and adults alike. In I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing, Maya Angelou recounts her life story as she was growing up. She, along with her brother, was given up at an early age by her parents, who were separated, to go and live with her father’s mother. The two children spent many years being raised by their grandmother, living in the south in Stamps, Arkansas. Eventually as time passed they went to live with their mother for a while, which was a grand change for two young children. Angelou shows that even as a little girl, when something either good or bad happens, you must keep on continuing in your path, and not let anything mess up what your goal is. A little girl can’t do much, but Angelou went beyond this, and captured all her feelings, and wrote this wonderful book. Some admirable values would be striving for excellence in her schoolwork, as well as in her family life. There were even some complications with her and her brother, because they had been through a lot together, and they were getting older, and lost interest in each other. Because of how she was raised, she would clean the house with out even being told, as just another job she became accustomed to do. She grew up to be liked by many, because of her family, as well as her personality. An inspirational quote from this book is “the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.” I believe in this quote mainly because I’ve felt this before. Things I never wanted to lose were lost, and never came back to me again, but in return, I got something far greater than I could even imagine.

As a “soon-to-be” college student, these books have had a great impact on me. Tuesdays with Morrie, has given me a reason to seek out questions and answers when not known, to my teacher, and become as close as possible with them, so they will be as comfortable with you as you are with them. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, persistence is the key in whatever I encounter. It doesn’t matter how many times you make a mistake, the main thing is to fix that mistake and know that you were wrong. I hope to graduate from college filled with knowledge that I never dreamed possible.

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