Maya Angelou Research Paper

Gahr 1

No one paints a picture of the life of the African-American race better than Maya Angelou. Many poets use their own words and language to express their life experiences and even their morals. As an author, screenwriter, poet, dancer, and actress, Maya Angelou had experienced many life-changing events that had influenced much of her writing. She grew up during the 1930’s, when race was a sensitive subject. She touches many important topics such as sexual abuse, discrimination, and love, but many of her poems have a common theme: oppression. Maya Angelou shows the theme of oppression in many of her works, such as Caged Bird, Still I Rise, Women Work, and Phenomenal Woman.

In Angelou’s poem Caged Bird, she begins her theme of oppression on racial issues. In the first stanza when she mentions a “free bird,” she creates the image of a bird doing whatever they please and floating by without a care in the world. However,

She herself was a phenomenal woman. When people pictured women, they thought the women should fit society’s standards: skinny waist, perfect face, perfect everything. Once again, Angelou creates a persona of a woman who stands tall and proud. In the first stanza, the lines “Pretty women wonder where my secret lies / I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size / but when I start to tell them / they think I’m telling lies” (Angelou 1-4) tell the reader that even though the woman is not up to society’s standards, she still is a phenomenal woman. She has what it takes to be absolutely astounding. The woman talks about men falling to their knees, swarming around her like a hive of honey bees. In the next few lines, “It’s in the fire in my eyes / And the flash of my teeth, / The swing in my waist / And the joy in my feet” (Angelou 22-25) she gives us the reasons why the men come to her. It is all about the attitude the woman has and how she carries