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A literary analysis by maya angelou
A literary analysis by maya angelou
Representation of women in literature
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Maya Angelou’s poem “Mama Welfare Roll” tells a story of a mother on welfare trying to provide for her children. The poem describes the woman negatively, even viciously, but the description of her situation also makes her sound admirable. The poem begins with strong imagery and metaphors to describe a woman. Angelou states “her arms semaphore fat triangles” (1), a semaphore is commonly used to send some sort of signal which is probably what the woman was trying to do. The poem is told from a third person point of view so the woman may be sending a signal to the narrator or even the audience. As the story continues, the writer uses more imagery to describe our main character. “Pudgy hands” (2) and “layered hips” (2) imply that the woman is on …show more content…
“Her jowls shiver” (5) suggests that the woman is either sad or angry. By looking back at the title of the poem, we can understand why she may feel this way. Her being on welfare implies that she is a single mother with a low paying job, or even unemployed. Due to the family’s financial situation, her children are not able to reap the same benefits as children in more financially stable families such as toys and games. By mentioning the “darkened doorways” (9) and “rooftop tag” (10) I assumed that the poet was referring to a ghetto. Apartments in these neighborhoods are usually dark, and run down, hence why those are the only things children can do for fun. Bringing the children into the poem gives us a sense of the woman’s motherly instinct and we can see how she wants the best for her …show more content…
Angelou states that the woman searches her dreams, but also still walks in to receive assistance. I think that her dreams have a biblical meaning related to hope and faith. The poem also refers to the office as “a den of bureaucrats” (16), this reminds me of the story of Daniel that has to do with a lion’s den. At the end of this story, faith is what saves Daniel, so this may also be the answer to this mother’s problems. The writer then refers to welfare as her “portion” (17), implying that this is something she is owed. The mother feels that welfare is the only option for someone of her status so she looks at it as something the government owes her. Angelou then ends the poem saying “they don’t give me welfare. I take it” (18-19). She doesn’t see it as a handout, but as something she takes on her own. Despite being on welfare, she still has her dignity which makes her a person someone would look up to: a mother trying to make the best out of a bad
Fulfilling the roles of both mother and breadwinner creates an assortment of reactions for the narrator. In the poem’s opening lines, she commences her day in the harried role as a mother, and with “too much to do,” (2) expresses her struggle with balancing priorities. After saying goodbye to her children she rushes out the door, transitioning from both, one role to the next, as well as, one emotion to another. As the day continues, when reflecting on
The mother is a selfish and stubborn woman. Raised a certain way and never falters from it. She neglects help, oppresses education and persuades people to be what she wants or she will cut them out of her life completely. Her own morals out-weight every other family member’s wants and choices. Her influence and discipline brought every member of the family’s future to serious-danger to care to her wants. She is everything a good mother isn’t and is blind with her own morals. Her stubbornness towards change and education caused the families state of desperation. The realization shown through the story is the family would be better off without a mother to anchor them down.
Through diction, the tone of the poem is developed as one that is downtrodden and regretful, while at the same time informative for those who hear her story. Phrases such as, “you are going to do bad things to children…,” “you are going to suffer… ,” and “her pitiful beautiful untouched body…” depict the tone of the speaker as desperate for wanting to stop her parents. Olds wrote many poems that contained a speaker who is contemplating the past of both her life and her parent’s life. In the poem “The Victims,” the speaker is again trying to find acceptance in the divorce and avoidance of her father, “When Mother divorced you, we were glad/ … She kicked you out, suddenly, and her/ kids loved it… ” (Olds 990). Through the remorseful and gloomy tone, we see that the speaker in both poems struggles with a relationship between her parents, and is also struggling to understand the pain of her
...e family’s life style; that they live in poverty and go to church on Sundays. The poem is centered on one question: “what did I know of love's austere and lonely offices?” The majority of the poem is examples of “love’s austere and lonely offices”. One such example would be when the boy polishes his shoes, probably getting ready to go to church. The father, although poor, still passes on good values to his son by going to church on Sundays. Another example would be the father waking up earlier than the rest of the house to get it warmed up. He deeply cares and loves his family and doesn’t want them to suffer in the cold and darkness as long as possible (only suffer at night). Another example of the father’s love is when he wakes up earlier and gets the wood from the cold outside weather to keep the family and house warm instead of enlisting for help from his family.
and make fun of black elders. And would talk to them any kind of way.
Because this woman is a slave, she has no right to her own child, therefore she cannot claim him as her own. No matter how much she loves him or how much joy that he brings into her dreary life, he can never be hers, and her heart breaks when he is taken away from her. Mothers have a very special bond with their children; they feel a love that can be described as much stronger than any other kind of love in the world. This love that is felt by the slave mother in this poem literally changes the tone of the poem when the narrator speaks about the mother and her son. Despite the anguish and despair that she feels, the thought of her child can lift her spirits, only for the child to be taken away from her. Because of her race, she cannot claim any right to love her own child. As a woman, her right to be a mother and raise and love her child was taken away from her. The slave mother had no rights to herself or her own children, and her race and gender are the main causes for
Mama has her own American Dream that she chases after, which heavily affects the family, she just wants a better life for her family, a life where her children can be happy, not really ever wanting anything for herself. Mama has to go through many struggles and
When she was younger, she dreamed of being able to live in a decent sized house where she could even have her own small garden. However, the more privileged black neighborhoods were too expensive for her and her family at the time so she could never get the best of what Chicago had to offer. That factor didn’t hinder her from providing for her family and getting what she needed in life though. Mama’s environment formed her into a woman who hopes for the best, but even if that doesn’t happen, she will still make do with what she has. She also is very religious, this enables her to have strength and guidance during troubling times, and find a way when there is none.
“On the Pulse of Morning” by Maya Angelou. "On the Pulse of Morning," is a poem written by Maya Angelou. In this poem, Angelou depicts personification. Personification is an element of literature in which an object or animal is given human characteristics. Angelou uses personification to give the rock, the river, and the tree the ability to speak to the reader. In "On the Pulse of Morning", Angelou writes, "But today, the rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully, Come, you may stand upon my back and face your distant destiny, but seek no haven in my shadow.
Morrison , B. (2011). Innocent: Confession of a Welfare Mother . (1st ed.). Baltimore,MD: Apprentice House
Not only does this personification alter the pace of the poem, but the fact that the woman’s breasts – important sexual organs and symbols of female sexuality – are portrayed as sleeping conveys a lack of arousal and general desire, particularly on the behalf of the woman. This sense of a lack of desire between the gypsy and the woman is communicated later in the poem through the description of the characters’ undressing before they begin to have sex:
In her narrative piece “What’s Your Name, Girl?,” Maya Angelou describes some of the challenges that she faced as an African American girl growing up in the South. At the age of ten, Angelou experiences racism from Mrs. Cullinan, the woman she works for. One day, after serving Mrs. Cullinan and her friends, she is asked what her name is. Mrs. Cullinan tells her friend that the girl’s name is “Margaret,” to which her friend remarks is “too long,” and that she would shorten the name, had Maya been her slave. The day after this incident, Angelou, already upset about the comments over her name, is referred to as “Mary” by Mrs. Cullinan.
...sed society with religious overtones throughout the poem, as though religion and God are placing pressure on her. The is a very deep poem that can be taken in may ways depending on the readers stature yet one thing is certain; this poem speaks on Woman’s Identity.
"Wouldn’t they be surprised when one day I woke out of my black ugly dream, and my real hair, which was long and blonde, would take the place of the kinky mass that Momma wouldn’t let me straighten" (Angelou Prologue). Her self hatred from her younger years is something most black girls have gone through. Self hatred, with women of color, isn't really identified in a lot of works of literature. When Maya Angelou referenced this she was targeting a specific group that isn't really focused on. This book was something a lot of black girls need to learn and look up too.
The speaker in the poem uses images to help to support the theme. For example the statement that "sometimes the woman borrowed my grandmother's face" displays the inability of the children to relate the dilemma to themselves, something that the speaker has learned later on with time and experience. In this poem, the speaker is an old woman, and she places a high emphasis on the burden of years from which she speaks by saying "old woman, / or nearly so, myself." "I know now that woman / and painting and season are almost one / and all beyond saving by children." clearly states that the poem is not written for the amusement of children but somebody that has reached the speaker's age, thus supporting the idea of the theme that children cannot help or understand her or anybody of her age. In addition, when the speakers describes the kids in the classroom as "restless on hard chairs" and "caring little for picture or old age" we can picture them in our minds sitting, ready to leave the class as soon as possible, unwilling and unable to understand the ethics dilemma or what the speaker is feeling.