New+Directions


 * New Directions**

Maya Angelou wrote the story about Mrs. Annie Johnson, a woman who chooses to take her own ways. In the beginning of the story we get to know that she lives in an unhappy marriage with two sons. One day, she tells her husband how she feels and they both agree to get a divorce. Her husband moves to Oklahoma to studying religion and he brought with him the most of the money they had. Therefore Annie had to make the money by herself. She would not work at home, so she decided to go her own way and let someone else take care of her children. It was impossible to get a job at one of the two local factories, the cotton gin and the lumber mill. She wanted them to work for her, and she managed it brilliantly! She would make food for them. It did not matter that she was not that good on fancy food, she would satisfy them anyway. Annie followed her plan through. She cooked the food and carried all the heavy food first three miles to the cotton gin and after that, five miles to the lumber mill. She switched on which factory she went to first and last, on that way it was fair for which of them who got the freshest meal. The income wasn’t that good the first time, but Annie was determined. The years went and Annie never disappointed her costumers, and in the end, it became a shop out of it which was located between the cotton gin and the lumber mill.
 * The plot**



The message in this story is that everybody has the right to go the way they want. And that we, from the ways we already have chosen, will be able to learn if they were right or wrong.
 * The message**

This story is relevant for education because we learn about the american values. Annie was tired of her unhappy marriage; therefore she wanted to start all over again. She started from the beginning and went her own ways in hope for a better life. This is linked with mobility. On the same way, Annie took care of herself and do not depend on any others, this is a sign on individualism.
 * Why this is relevant for the education programme**