Maya Angelou

1039 Words3 Pages

Maya Angelou

By consistently weaving the theme of motherhood into her literature,

Maya Angelou creates both personal narratives and poems that the reader

can relate to. Her exploration of this universal theme lends itself to a

very large and diverse audience. Throughout Angelou's works, she allows

her followers to witness her metamorphosis through different aspects of

motherhood.

Well-worked themes are always present in Angelou's works- self-

acceptance, race, men, work, separation, sexuality, and motherhood.

However, Angelou uses the latter to provide "literary unity" (Lupton 7-8).

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928, to

Vivian Baxter and Bailey Johnson. After three years her parents divorced,

and both Maya and her older brother Bailey, were sent to Stamps, Arkansas.

Once in Stamps, the children were cared for by their paternal grandmother,

Mrs. Annie Henderson (Neubauer 21).

In her first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou tells

the story of her childhood. She also makes the reader keenly aware of her

close connection with her grandmother. Stephen Butterfield says of Caged

Bird (in his Black Autobiography in America, 1974): "Continuity is

achieved by the contact of mother and child, the sense of life begetting

life that happens automatically in spite of all confusion- perhaps also

because of it."

Annie Henderson is a God-fearing, independent woman whose firm hand

leads Maya throughout many rough spots in her childhood. It is through Mrs.

Henderson's values of self-determination and personal dignity that Maya's

id...

... middle of paper ...

...York: Random House, 1972.

Angelou, Maya. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. New York: Random House,

1969.

Angelou, Maya. Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas. New

York: Random House, 1976.

Lupton, Mary Jane. "Singing the Black Mother: Maya Angelou and

Autobiographical Continuity." Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol 77.

Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1993.

Neubauer, Carol E. "Maya Angelou: Self and A Song of Freedom in the

Southern Tradition." Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol 77. Detroit,

MI: Gale Research Inc., 1993.

Vermillion, Mary. "Reembodying the Self: Representations of Rape in

`Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl' and `I Know Why the Caged Bird

Sings." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Detroit, MI: Gale Research

Inc., 1993.

Show More
Related

  • Maya Angelou and M.F.K. Fisher

    314 Words  | 1 Pages

    When reading two passages, one by M.F.K. Fisher on the French port of Marseilles and the other by Maya Angelou on the small town of Stamps, I noticed that the passages had some similarities but where entirely different in their effect and the handling of language resources. While Angelou and Fisher organized and constructed their passages similarly, the persona and rhetoric of the authors are opposite.

    Read More

  • Maya Angelou

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    This piece of autobiographical works is one of the greatest pieces of literature and will continue to inspire young and old black Americans to this day be cause of her hard and racially tense background is what produced an eloquent piece of work that feels at times more fiction than non fiction

    Read More

  • Survival In Laurence Gonzales To Build A Fire

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many cases appeared in “To Build a Fire” where the man could have surrendered without giving up (Gonzales 98). For example, after the man broke through the ice and wet himself to the knees, he could not let go of the fact that his feet were freezing even though his hands would not work (London 86). If he had let go of the fact that his feet were freezing, he would have been able to think more clearly and find a way around using his hands. Another example of the man not letting go would be when he could not shake the thought that he would never make it to camp with the guys (London 89). If he would have put this behind him, he would have been able to focus on his safety from the start of his journey. Not only could he not let the possibility that he would not meet with the guys go, he could not let go of the fear of dying. He let it get to him instead, which only made him act without thinking. Had the man surrendered in any of these cases and let go of his fears, he would have been able to clear his mind to think of better ways of

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Death Of Ivan

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    and he alone was aware of this. Those about him either did not understand or did not wish to understand and thought that nothing in the world had changed” (69).

    Read More

  • The Powerful Leader Of Maya Angelou

    1382 Words  | 3 Pages

    Maya Angelou is one of the well-respected African-American women figures. Maya is a poet, actress, civil right activist, dancer, singer, writer, educator, and a director. Maya’s real name is Marguerite Johnson. Maya was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928. Maya’s parents divorced when she was three. She was sent to live with her brother and grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. She was very close to her brother Bailey and her brother named her Maya. When she lived in Arkansas, she experienced discrimination towards African-American. At the age of seven Maya was sexually assaulted by her mother’s boyfriend. “She only told her brother,” but a few days later her uncle has murdered the man who assaulted her. She thought her words have killed

    Read More

  • Maya Angelou

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Maya Angelou's autobiographical novel, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", tender-hearted Marguerite Johnson, renamed Maya by her refined brother Bailey, discovers all of the splendors and agonies of growing up in a prejudiced, early twentieth century America. Rotating between the slow country life of Stamps, Arkansas and the fast-pace societies in St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California taught Maya several random aspects of life while showing her segregated America from coast to coast.

    Read More

  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Movie and Book

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    The novel, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", by Maya Angelou is the first series of five autobiographical novels. This novel tells about her life in rural Stamps, Arkansas with her religious grandmother and St. Louis, Missouri, where her worldly and glamorous mother resides. At the age of three Maya and her four-year old brother, Bailey, are turned over to the care of their paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Southern life in Stamps, Arkansas was filled with humiliation, violation, and displacement. These actions were exemplified for blacks by the fear of the Ku Klux Klan, racial separation of the town, and the many incidents in belittling blacks.

    Read More

  • Maya Angelou Ethos

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    Maya Angelou lived through a time where she was discriminated against for not only her race but also her gender. In her poem “Still I Rise” Angelou sarcastically talks about how no matter what is thrown at her she will rise above it and she will do it with resilience and confidence. Her poem discusses racism and sexism and gives minorities and women a sense of hope to overcome and endure both of those things. Angelou’s self-assurance in the poem makes you believe that you too can overcome whatever obstacle. Although this poem was intended for blacks, and women, and specifically black women, the poem helps build up strong and courageous people no matter what race or gender you are. Maya Angelou in “Still I Rise” uses both pathos and ethos to

    Read More

  • The Theme of Loneliness in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

    1777 Words  | 4 Pages

    far this time and knew that he had no other choice. Also he did not

    Read More

  • Maya Angelou and Alice Walker

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    Two well regarded and recognized poets, Maya Angelou and Alice Walker, wrote lots of different renowned poetry that is appreciated for its beauty and its truth. Both poets are African American woman, although in different times, many of their words rang true to one other. Their work can be compared and contrasted by understanding the poems as two separate pieces of work, and then looking at how each are similar and different in their own respects.

    Read More

  • Deng Xiaoping

    1623 Words  | 4 Pages

    happily, and in order to do so, he gave his life in exchange. Even when there

    Read More

  • Maya Angelou Identity

    1648 Words  | 4 Pages

    Every child searches for individuality; what makes everyone unique? As a child, surroundings will shape who a person becomes. So a child raised in secure suburbs might be more trusting than a child who lives in a large city. Different environments will without a doubt put people in uncomfortable and sometimes unfortunate circumstances. Environment as a whole is what affects how a child behaves, thinks, and reacts to certain situations. In the novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou exposes her own struggle to find identity as she endured racial hardships and sexual abuse.

    Read More

  • Genetic Variation

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    Genetic Variation Species refers to a population of organisms which are potentially capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring. Variation can be shown within a species. Variation is the difference between individuals within a species. Variation can be caused by genetic factors, environmental factors or a combination of both. Environmental factors which affect variation include nutrition, climate and pollution.

    Read More

  • Book Report I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

    398 Words  | 1 Pages

    The book thus explores a lot of important issues, such as: sexuality and race relations, and shows us how society violated her as a young African American female. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou clearly expresses the physical pain of sexual assault, the mental anguish of not daring to tell, and her guilt and shame for having been raped. Her timidity and fear of telling magnify the brutality of the rape. For more than a year after the rape she lives in self-imposed silence, speaking only very rarely. This childhood rape reveals the pain that African American women suffered as victims not only of racism but also sexism.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Help And I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    The novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings goes through the childhood of Maya Angelou as she faces the difficult realities of the early South. This novel does not do a very good job at portraying the hardships of the blacks because she

    Read More

More about Maya Angelou

Open Document