Champion Of The World By Maya Angelou Analysis

Maya Angelous narrative writing style in "Champion of the World" provides deep meaning to the story, uses writing strategy to control the readers feelings and emotions, and uses descriptive language to paint a vivid scene for the reader. By utilizing these three writing techniques, Angelou is able to craft a gripping and compelling story which readers can appreciate and which makes them feel immersed in the story.
To begin with, Angelou's narrative style creates great depth and meaning to the story, as well as its characters and their importance. For example, "My race groans. It was our people failing." (par.16) describes the emotional weight of the fight, and how Louis losing will be devastating to the African American community. Angelou utilizes the dynamic between the announcer and the listeners from home to build tension, and create a sense of the unknown. The announcer and the peoples dynamic is also used to show the magnitude of the fights importance to many blacks in America, showing that even in a small and rural town that crowds have gathered to cheer for Louis even though he is thousands of miles away.

Moreover, Angelou uses her narrative writing strategy to keep the readers on the ropes, just as Louis is.

Firstly Angelou sets the reader up by explaining how monumental the fight is, for example, "The last inch of the space was filled, yet people continued to wedge themselves along the walls of the store." (par.1) shows how the entire town swarmed into the store, like moths to a flame, so they could root for Louis. Angelou also uses the announcer to make the reader just as anxious as the store listeners. For example, "One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven... is the contender trying to get up again?", (par.22) is a great example of Angelou's writing strategy as the reader is just as nervous and uninformed as the listeners, creating a sense of unease and

dread.
Lastly, Angelou uses her narrative writing style to immerse readers into the story through descriptive language. For example, "The men in the store stood away from the walls and at attention. Women clutched the babes on their laps while on the porch the shufflings and smiles, flirting and pinching of a few minutes ago were gone," (par.17) is a great example of how Angelous descriptive language sets the scene and plays out like watching a movie, as the reader can nearly see the casual atmosphere and joy leave the store and the shop listeners faces as it is replaced with white knuckled anxiousness. The announcer is also used by Angelou to immerse the reader. As she describes the announcers "husky and familiar voice" (par.26) coming onto the radio the reader can nearly hear the old timey voice crackling through the staticky speakers.
In conclusion Maya Angelou's narrative writing style in "Champion of the World" provides depth to the story and characters, uses writing strategy to coerce the readers emotions, and uses descriptive language to paint vivid scenes and imagery for the reader. These three techniques as used throughout the story create a gripping, edge of your seat story that immerses readers and hooks their attention throughout.