The Life and Accomplishments of Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou has inspired me in more ways than one, and I had to write about her. When Maya speaks people listen. She has this wisdom that only few have, especially when life wasn’t always great. She turned tragedy into triumph, and helped others in doing so. So, Maya has proven too many women, especially black women that you succeed, even if you have had a child in your teen years. She’s proof that with determination nothing is unattainable.
I chose to write the paper as a timeline of Maya Angelou’s life. I started with birth, and concluded with present day, as Maya is still alive. Maya Angelou is not only a poet, but an author, activist, professor, and screenplay written. Maya Angelou was actually born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri. Both Maya and her brother Bailey, was sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas.
The move happened when Maya was three year old, and it was a result of he parents divorcing. Bailey, Maya’s little brother couldn’t pronounce her name Marguerite, so he called her my. Soon after reading a book about the Maya Indians, Bailey began to call his sister Maya. While living in Arkansas, Maya faced racial discrimination everyday, which was legally enforced at that time.
Even though she grew up sealing with discrimination, Maya was able to retain a deep religious faith. Maya’s relationship with her grandmother, brother, and extended family was very sound and loving. They instilled values and morals in her that helped shape her future, and career.
At the age of 8 while visiting her mother in Chicago, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. Being ashamed of what happened; Maya only told Bailey what happened to her. After eventu...
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... even though he whites wanted to repress and enslave blacks, they couldn’t any longer. Whatever they did, or try to do wouldn’t be able to break the black pride, and knowledge.
To me the underlying premise is courage. One must have courage, and pride to overcome adversity, and challenges. I figured the repetition of I rise at the end is said as assurance. Assurance to her as well as others, regardless of what she will rise.
Bibliography:
Works Cited
Maya Angelou. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved April 5, 2011, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/mayaangelo148652.html
Academy of Achievement (Maya Angelou Biography). (n.d.). Retrieved April 5, 2011, from http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/ang0bio-1
Angelou, M. (1969). I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Random House Publishing Group .
In 1970, a child with skinny legs and muddy skin was introduced into African American literature. Born marguerite Johnson she became known as Maya Angelou (Lupton 51). Her critically acclaimed works have changed the way of the African American autobiography is written.
"Angelou, Maya (née Marguerite Annie Johnson)." Encyclopedia of African-american Writing. Amenia: Grey House Publishing, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 12 March 2014.
For the most part, the guidance of strong, intelligent women through Maya's childhood provides the influence she needs to attain self-sustaining pride. These three women taught Maya the significant life lessons through example and good advice. Each of these women, while on different paths in life, was able to lead Maya down the right path for her. This autobiography was a true inspiration. Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice. Even though some schools have black listed it, it is a great book for high school and college classes to help provide true history on black women in the South and proof that no matter how hard ones childhood is, they can pull through and become anything they want to be in the end.
Maya Angelou is one of the most known African American poets."Dr. Angelou’s words and actions continue to stir our souls, energize our bodies, liberate our minds, and heal our hearts." (http://mayaangelou.com/bio/) She was born on April 4th 1928, in the South St. Louis, Missouri. This period was when the most racism was going on. It was quite over with yet, segregation was still a huge series going on. Maya Angelou was greatly influenced by the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement was a movements in the United States which they has a goal was to end segregation and discrimination against African Americans, or Blacks and give them their voting rights. I believe that Maya Angelou's writing has became more positive after the Civil Right Movement had taken place, it had inspiration and was hoping for the blacks to succeed the goal trying to get reached of them to became more civilized.
Maya Angelou was one of America’s greatest writers in history. She was known for her many writings and for her part in Civil Rights Movements. Maya Angelou went through many hardships during her childhood, the most prevalent of those, racism over her skin color. This racism affected where she grew up, where she went to school, even where she got a job. “My education and that of my Black associates were quite different from the education of our white schoolmates. In the classroom we all learned past participles, but in the streets and in our homes the Blacks learned to drops s’s from plurals and suffixes from past tense verbs.” (Angelou 221) Maya Angelou was a strong believer in a good education and many of those beliefs were described in her
Maya Angelou is one of most well-known poets ever. Her work is a reflection of her hardships during her childhood and her life as an adult. She expressed many of her opinions through her poetry and other writing. Many of her poems revolve around equality and freedom because she grew up in the segregated era and worked with civil right activist. The poems she writes are to inspire the lives of others. Till this day, Maya Angelou is still continuing to write inspiring poetry.
Angelou, Maya, Paul Gauguin, and Linda Sunshine. "Phenomenal Women (Poem)." Phenomenal Woman. New York: Random House, 2000. N. pag. Print.
Marguerite Ann Johnson, commonly known as Maya Angelou, was born on April 4th, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri during the midst of the depression developing in the United States. She was the daughter of Bailey Johnson and Vivian Baxter, and she had an older brother named Bailey Johnson Jr. Maya Angelou's nickname came from her older brother who called her Maya, shortened for, “my sister.” For a young, insecure African-American child like Maya, it was surpassingly difficult to gro...
BYU Studies 38.4 (1999): 43-64. Print. The. Sharer, Robert. A. The Ancient Maya.
Maya Angelou is an author and poet who has risen to fame for her emotionally filled novels and her deep, heartfelt poetry. Her novels mainly focus on her life and humanity with special emphasis on her ideas of what it means to live. The way she utilizes many different styles to grab and keep readers’ attention through something as simple as an autobiography is astounding. This command of the English language and the grace with which she writes allows for a pleasant reading experience. Her style is especially prominent in "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", where the early events of Angelou’s life are vividly described to the reader in the postmodern literary fashion.
Maya Angelou's life growing up was not always perfect. Given the birth name of Marguerite Ann Johnson, Maya Angelou was borin in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4th, 1928. Although she was born there, she spent most of her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas with her Grandmother, Annie Henderson and in San Fransico, California with her mother. Maya Angelou is still living today and teaches at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. Maya had to deal with many hard things growing up and although it wasn't perfect, she's lead a very eventful life.
Maxim Yelizarov Mrs. Rose American Literature 24 March, 2017 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Spirituality Spirituality. Many people know different types of spirits. Maya knew two types of spirits throughout her life. She heard about spirits haunting people in their dreams and then there is the spirit that is the most important thing to her.
Hanford, Mary. Maya Angelou. New Jersey: Salem, 2006. Literary Reference Center. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. .
Society creates the thought of what makes an ideal woman; however, Maya Angelou shows us what truly makes an authentic woman in her poem, “Phenomenal Woman.” The word “Phenomenal” is defined as something that is magnificent, remarkable, breathtaking, as well as extraordinary. This poem illustrates confidence and beauty from within, instead of the conventional view that society tends to have, which only focuses on the appearance. She shows how to acknowledge womanhood. One is able to appreciate the poem, even further, by analyzing many of the poetry elements that Maya Angelou illustrates, such as imagery, tone, and diction.
It is said that when we look in the mirror, we see our reflection; but what is it that we really see? Some people look through the glass and see a totally different person. All across the world identity is an issue that many women have. Woman today must be skinny, tall, thick, fair skinned and have long hair in order to be considered beautiful. Maya Angelou feels otherwise, as she gives women another way to look at themselves through her poem "Phenomenal Woman".