Maya Angelou: An Example of Perseverance

1037 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Maya angelou's struggle

Maya Angelou was raped by her mother’s boyfriend, dropped out of high school, was a teenage mom, and constantly dealt with racism. Who would have thought that someone who had gone through so much would someday be such a confident, inspirational woman? Maya Angelou’s confidence in herself and the African American race that she demonstrates in her poetry gives others courage to speak for themselves. Three poems by Angelou that display her confidence are “Still I Rise,” “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” and “Phenomenal Woman.” While each poem is written differently, they all express confidence and the idea of having the courage to stand up for oneself. Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. According to “Maya Angelou - Biography,” growing up, Maya had to deal with racism and discrimination towards African Americans. When she was young, she was very interested in arts and music, and as a teenager, Maya earned a dance and drama scholarship in San Francisco, California. When she was 14 years old, she dropped out of school and she worked many jobs to support her and her family (Maya Angelou - Biography). Poetryfoundation.org states that Maya finished high school when she was 17 years old and had her first son, Guy, not long after graduation (Maya Angelou). Maya Angelou - The Official Website says that in 1960, Maya moved to Egypt, and later to Ghana. She met Malcolm X in Ghana in 1964, and would later go back to the U.S. with him to start an organization in support of African Americans. Maya was eventually asked by Martin Luther King, Jr. to be a coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (Maya Angelou - Biography). In 1970, Maya Angelou published I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which was i... ... middle of paper ... ...elly Holland. "Maya Angelou." Maya Angelou. University of North Carolina at Pembroke, 1998. Web. 06 May 2014. Hagen, Lyman B. Heart of a Woman, Mind of a Writer, and Soul of a Poet (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1997): pp. 127–29. Quoted as "'Still I Rise' and the Black Spiritual 'Rise and Shine'" in Harold Bloom, ed. Maya Angelou, Bloom's Major Poets. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2001. (Updated 2007.) Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 6 May 2014. "Maya Angelou - Biography." Maya Angelou. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. . "Maya Angelou." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. Thursby, Jacqueline S. "'Phenomenal Woman'." Critical Companion to Maya Angelou: A Literary Reference to Her Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2011. Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 7 May 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Maya Angelou

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    Anderson, John . Blooms bio Critiques Maya Angelo .bloom hall Pa, chelas house publishing's, 2002.

    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

  • Summary Of The Champion Of The World By Maya Angelo

    789 Words  | 2 Pages

    Maya Angelo was born marguerite Johnson in Saint Louis in the year 1928. Broken family, raped at the age eight, unwed mother at sixteen years old she had an unpleasant eventful youth. She wrote six book of poetry, produced a TV series in Africa, and acted in a television series and serve as a coordinator for a southern Christian leadership conference. She is best known for her books I know why the caged bird sings, song flog up to heaven, hallelujah! The welcome table. She was also a Reynolds professor of American studies at wake Forest University.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography Of Maya Angelou

    2111 Words  | 5 Pages

    "Angelou, Maya (née Marguerite Annie Johnson)." Encyclopedia of African-american Writing. Amenia: Grey House Publishing, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 12 March 2014.

    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 Struggles in Maya Angelou's Life

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    The early 1930’s a time where segregation was still an issue in the United States it was especially hard for a young African American girl who is trying to grow and become an independent woman. At this time, many young girls like Maya Angelou grew up wishing they were a white woman with blond hair and blue eyes. That was just the start of Angelou's problems though. In the autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou goes into great depth about her tragic childhood, from moving around to different houses, and running away and having a child at the age of 16. This shows how Maya overcame many struggles as a young girl.

    Read More

  • Biography Of Maya Angelou

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    Maya Angelou's writing career began during the late 1950's, around the same period when the Civil Rights Movement began to take place. Maya's known for one f her most famous poems, I Know Why The Cage Birds Sing. This poem is basically talking about how the birds in the cage are the African Americans/Blacks, where they have no freedom. "The free bird leaps on the back of the wind/and floats downstream till the current ends/And dips his wings in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky."(Angelou, 1-3) In the beginning , of this poem Maya Angelou is using the free bird to refer to the white people because they have all the rights and the blacks are stuck in "the cage" with no rights or freedom. Also, she could have a more positive aspect meaning that the free bird is the Black American dream coming to reality. After, being in ...

    Read More

  • Maya Angelou

    984 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Maya Angelou: The Strength of the Human Spirit

    1752 Words  | 4 Pages

    Angelou, Maya, Paul Gauguin, and Linda Sunshine. "Phenomenal Women (Poem)." Phenomenal Woman. New York: Random House, 2000. N. pag. Print.

    Read More

  • Biography Of Maya Angelou

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Web. The Web. 28 Feb. o http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175742>. The "Phenomenal Woman" By Maya Angelou : The Poetry Foundation. Web.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    Maya Angelou’s excerpt from her book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” reveals the challenges facing a young black girl in the south. The prologue of the book tells of a young Angelou in church trying to recite a poem she has forgotten. She describes the dress her grandmother has made her and imagines a day where she wakes up out of her black nightmare. Angelou was raised in a time where segregation and racism were prevalent in society. She uses repetition, diction, and themes to explore the struggle of a black girl while growing up. Angelou produces a feeling of compassion and poignancy within the reader by revealing racial stereotypes, appearance-related insecurities, and negative connotations associated with being a black girl. By doing this she forces the

    Read More

  • Maya Angelou's Life

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    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

  • Critical Analysis Of Maya Angelou's Phenomenal Woman

    1436 Words  | 3 Pages

    Maya Angelou’s word choice in “Phenomenal Woman” is simple and dull, but it fits the poem perfectly once it is read. The words used in the poem are not powerful but it keeps you reading. It makes the readers a have different opinion on the poem. Also it makes the readers analyze what she is really trying to say. For example, in the poem Maya Angelou states “Men themselves have wondered, What they see in me. They try so much, But they can’t touch, My inner mystery.” It is a little confusing on what she is trying to say because of her word choice and the way the sentences are connected, but reading furthermore into the stanza, it begins to become more understanding. Then too, If she had used a different word choice the poem would not have been so intriguing. For example, if she would have said “Men don’t really understand my personality”, instead of “Men themselves have wondered, What they see in me.” then the readers would not have to put much attention into it and the theme would be completely different. Moreover, another example would be “ It’s the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I’m a woman Phenomenally’’. She uses simple phrases like “fire in my eyes”, “flash of my teeth”, “swing in my waist”, etc. to show the phenomenal woman she is. The word choice that Maya Angelou portrays in this poem, makes woman realize that

    Read More

  • The Effect of Racism in I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

    1400 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, racism is a frequent obstacle that non-whites had to overcome. When Maya is young, she doesn’t recognize the racism and discrimination as well as her grandmother does. As Maya gets older, she begins to recognize and take notice to the racism and discrimination towards her and African Americans everywhere. Maya may not recognize the racism and discrimination very well at her young age, but it still affects her outlook on life the same way it would if she had recognized it. The racism and discrimination Maya faced throughout I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, affected her attitude, personality, and overall outlook on life in a positive way.

    Read More

More about Maya Angelou: An Example of Perseverance

Open Document