Unit 1 Text II Champion of the World

"Champion of the World.

Maya Angelou1

The last inch of space was filled, Yet people continued to wedge themselves

along the walls of the Store2. Uncle Willie had turned the radio up to its last notch so

that youngsters on the porch would not t miss a word. Women sat on kitchen chairs.

dining-room chairs. stools, and upturned wooden boxes. Small children and babies

perched on every lap available and men leaned on the shelves or on each other.

The apprehensive mood was shot through with shafts of gaiety. as a black

sky is streaked with lightning.

"I ain't worried 'bout this fight. Joe's3 gonna whip that cracker4 like it's open

season5..

"He gone whip him till that white boy call him Momma."

At last the talking finished and the string-along songs about razor blades

were over and the light began.

,.A quick jab to the head.,, In the Store the crowd grunted. "A left to the head and

a right and another left.'. One of the listeners cackled like a hen and was quieted.

.

They're In a clinch, Louis Is trying to fight his way out."

Some bitter comedian on the porch said. 'That white man don. t mind hugging

that now, I betcha."

,The referee is moving in to break them up. but Louis finally pushed the

contender away and it. s an uppercut to the chin. The contender is hanging on. now he.

s backing away. Louis catches him with a short left to the jaw.,,

A tide of murmuring assent poured out the door and into the yard.

"Another left and another left. Louis is saving that , The

mutter [n the store had grown into a baby roar and it was pierced by the clang of a bell

and the announcer's 'That. s the bell for round three, ladies and gentlemen."

As I pushed my way into the Store I wondered if the announcer gave any

thought to the fact that he was addressing as "ladies and gentlemen" all the Negroes

around the world who sat sweating and praying, glued to their master's voice."

There were only a few calls for RC Colas, Dr Peppers, and Hires root beer6.

The real festivities would begin after the fight. Then even the old Christian ladies who

taught their children and tried themselves to practice turning the other cheek7 would

buy soft drinks, and if the Brown Bomber's victory was a particularly bloody one they

would order peanut patties and Baby Ruths also.

Bailey and I laid the coins on top of the cash register. Uncle Willie didn't allow

us to ring up sales during a fight. It was too noisy and might shake up the atmosphere.

When the gone rang for the next round we pushed through the near-sacred quiet to the

herd of children outside.

"He. s got Louis against the ropes and now it. s a left to the body and a

right to the ribs. Another right to the body, It looks like it was low ... Yes, ladies and

gentlemen, the referee Is signaling but the contender keeps raining the blows on Louis.

It's another to the body, and it looks like Louis is going down."

My race groaned. It was our people falling. It was another lynching. yet

another Black man hanging on a tree. One more woman ambushed and raped8. A

Black boy whipped and maimed. It was hounds on the trail of a man running through

slimy swamps. It was a white woman slapping her maid for being forgetful.

The men in the Store stood away form the walls and at attention. Women

greedily clutched the babes on their laps while on the porch the shufflings and smiles,

flirtings and plnching of a few minutes before were gone. This might be the end of the

world. If Joe lost we were back in slavery and beyond help. It would all be true; the

accusations that we were lower types of human beings. Only a little higher than apes.

True that we were stupid and ugly and lazy and dirty and unlucky and worst of all,

that God himself hated us and ordained us to be hewers of wood and drawers of

water ,forever and ever. world without end.

We didn't breathe. We did not hope. We waited.

"He. s off the ropes, ladies and gentlemen. He's moving towards the corner

of the ring." There was no time to be relieved. The worst might still happen.

"And now it looks like Joe is mad. He's caught Carnera with a left hook to

the head and a right to the head. There is a left jab to the body and another left to the

head. There. s a left cross and a right to the head. The contender's right eye is bleeding

and he can't seem to keep his block up. Louis is penetrating every block. The referee

is moving in, but Louis sends a left to the body and it's an uppercut to the chin and the

contender is dropping. He's on the canvas. ladies and gentlemen."

Babies slid to the floor as women stood up and men leaned toward the

radio.

,.Here's the referee. He. s counting. One, two. three, four. five. six.

Is the contender trying to get up again? "

All the men in the store shouted. "NO..,

"-eight,nine, ten." There were a few sounds from the audience but they

seemed to be holding themselves In against tremendous pressure.

,.The fight is all over, ladies and gentlemen. Let. s get the microphone over

to Here he is. He's got the Brown Bomber's hand, he's holding

Here "

Then the voice, husky and familiar. came to wash over us ----The winnah.

and still heavyweight champeen of Joe Louis.,,

Champion of the world. A Black boy. Some Black mother's son. He was the

strongest man in the world People drank Coca-Colas like ambrosia and ate candy bars

like Christmas. Some of the men went behind the Store and poured white lightning9 in

their soft-drink bottles, and a few of the bigger boys followed them. Those who were

not chased away came back blowing their breath in front of themselves like proud

smokers.

It would take an hour or more before the people would leave the Store and

head for home. Those who lived too for had made arrangements to stay in town. It

wouldn't be fit for a Black man and his family to be caught on a lonely Country road

on a night when Joe Louis had proved that we were the strongest people in the world.

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the author Maya Angelou （1928-）was born in ,Missouri. She is a

prolific writer whose works include I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ,Gather

Together in My Name ,and Heart of a Woman. Angelou also has collected five books

of her poetry :Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water fork I Die , Oh pray My Wings Are

Gonna Fit Me Well，And Still Rise I Shall Not Be Moved ，and Shaker ,Why Do Not

You Sing ?She has been a dancer ,actress ,producer and civil rights activist . Angelou

has received accolades and many honorary degrees. In 1975 ,she received the Ladies

Home Journal Woman of the Year Award in Communications. Recently, she wrote the

lyrics for the musical King :Drum Major for Love and became the first poet since

Robert Frost in 1961 to read a poem for a presidential inauguration .

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings begins as a narrative of a young black girl growing

up in the care of her grandmother in Stamps ,Arkansas, in the 1930s. The story

proceeds chronologically ,following Maya experiences in and California, but

is not organized with connecting chapters . Individual sections stand alone as

self-contained short stories, and Angelou skillfully blends dual point of view---that of

the child Maya and that of the adult Angelou---within these units.

2. the Store (Paragraph 1) the general store where Maya family lived and where

blacks traded and congregated

(Paragraph3) Joe Louis became one of the most famous boxers of the golden

age . He held the heavyweight title longer than any other fighter ---from 1937 until he

retired in 1949. Louis came out of retirement in 1950,but lost to the heavyweight

champion, Ezzard Charles. He then won several comeback bouts . In 1951 ,in his last

fight , Louis was knocked out by Rocky Marciano.

4. cracker (Paragraph 3) an offensive term for a Caucasian person (白种人)on a

relatively small income living in a rural area ,especially in the South

5. open season (Paragraph 3) a time when a lot of people take the opportunity to

criticize someone

6. root beer (Paragraph 13) a sweet ,non-alcoholiic drink made from the roots of

some plants , drunk especially in the US

7. turn the other cheek ((Paragraph 13) to deliberately avoid reacting in an angry or

violent way when someone has hurt or upset you

8. One more woman ambushed and raped .( (Paragraph 16) Angelou book includes

some rough language and refers to some brutal incidents. Most disturbing is the rape

of Maya by Vivian boyfriend. The actual rape and its painful physical and emotional

consequences are honestly and graphically described.

9. white lightning ((Paragraph 27) strong, illegally distilled alcohol, usually whiskey

Questions For discussion

is the symbolic meaning of “master ”voice”

was it important that Joe Louis win the heavyweight championship fight?

you think the title ”Champion of the world ”is appropriate? Why or why not?

u uses African-American dialect in this essay . Are these dialectical

expressions effective?

5. Have you ever listened to your favorite sport on the radio? How does it differ from

watching it in person or on television?