Imagery In The Poem “Our Grandmothers'; by Maya Angelou
Image (Imagery) – Descriptive poetry flourished. One basic meaning for ‘image’ is provided by that context, but other, looser and more treacherous, meanings have accreted: any sensuous effect provoked by literary language; any striking language; metaphor; symbol; any figure.
Maya Angelou’s poem, “Our Grandmother’s,'; vividly exemplifies a sense of imagery that is brought to life. The most effective way that, Maya Angelou presents imagery to the readers is through the setting. Firstly, at the beginning of the poem the narrator describes the current state of the main character and gives a brief description of the setting through imagery. “She lay, skin down on the moist dirt, / … the whispers of leaves…/ the longing of hounds…'; (“Our Grandmothers';, 1-4). These lines are very effective to the readers because the imagery behind these lines allows the readers to feel the cool breeze blowing, hear the leaves rustling and even sense the smell of fear; everything that one could think of to enhance the setting of a plantation. Reading this poem is an escape from modern day life. As readers, we observe everything that the narrator and the main character experience. To fulfill the imagination of the readers, Maya Angelou concentrates primarily as to how the readers are going to interpret certain events. S...
The poem “Snapping Beans” by Lisa Parker is about a girl who visits her grandmother. In the poem, the girl and the grandmother talk about their usual things, like how she is going in school. The girl responds with how school is going good, but she knows that her grandmother would not approve of her social circle and what they do and talk about. The narrator does an excellent job of using imagery and personification to help the reader understand on an emotional level of how the student may be feeling while sitting on the porch with her grandmother. One example of personification in this poem would be: “About the nights I cried into the familiar / heartsick panels of the quilt she made me,” (26-27). This use of personification indicates that the panels of the quilt are heartsick because the girl cries each night into her quilt because she misses her grandmother dearly. In Regina Barreca’s poem “Nighttime Fires, the narrator explains her complex view of her father. Imagery plays a big role in this poem because it vividly illustrates the girl’s impression of her father’s...
In her autobiography, Maya Angelou tells the story of her coming into womanhood in the American South during the 1930s. She begins with the story of an incident she had on Easter Sunday in which she’s in church reciting a poem in front of everyone; however, she messes up leaving her unable to finish the poem, so she runs out of the church crying and wets herself. Growing up her parents had a rough marriage, and eventually they got a divorce when Maya was only 3 years old. Their parents send her and her older brother Bailey to live with their grandmother Mrs. Annie Henderson in Staples, Arkansas. Staples is a very rural area and their grandmother owns the only store in the black section of the town, so she is very respected amongst the people
Miguel Castaneda is the narrator and main character of the story “We Were Here”. Miguel is a young teenager from Stockton, California. He is dark complected because of his Mexican background but he does not have the personality to do the work like that of his Mexican relatives. I know this because in the story it says, “Told us we might be dark on the outside, but inside we were like a couple blonde boys from Hollywood.” He is very different from the rest of his family in terms of being able to handle situations that are put in front of him and completing the task at hand.
The social, cultural and political history of America as it affects the life course of American citizens became very real to us as the Delany sisters, Sadie and Bessie, recounted their life course spanning a century of living in their book "Having Our Say." The Delany sisters’ lives covered the period of their childhood in Raleigh, North Carolina, after the "Surrender" to their adult lives in Harlem, New York City during the roaring twenties, to a quiet retirement in suburban, New York City, as self-styled "maiden ladies." At the ages of 102 and 104, these ladies have lived long enough to look back over a century of their existence and appreciate the value of a good family life and companionship, also to have the last laugh that in spite of all their struggles with racism, sexism, political and economic changes they triumphed (Having Our Say).
Maya Angelou begins by giving background knowledge and describing the scene for the upcoming event. She describes the crowded room, tenseness in the air, and builds suspense for the fight between the “Brown Bomber and the white contender. The main technique used in the introduction to the story is diction. She uses strong verbs and adjectives to set the scene for the story, as well as short phrases and dialogue that help familiarize the reader with the room. For example, Angelou says: “The apprehensive mood was shot through with shafts of gaiety, as a black sky is streaked with lightning” (2). While many techniques are used in this sentence, one of the strongest is diction; she uses picturesque and vivid diction to describe the mood in the room with a metaphor comparing it with a “black sky streaked with lightning” (2). Words that stand out to help develop the suspenseful mood in the room include: “apprehensive”, “streaked”, and even “lightning” (Angelou 2). This particular use of diction helps to develop her purpose by strongly describing the emotions shared in the room, and how the culture in the room strengthens these emotions. Another way Angelou uses diction is to help the reader
Imagery is when the author presents a mental image through descriptive words. One prime example of imagery that the author uses is in paragraph 3; where she tells of a moment between a man and a woman. In this narration she states the time, year, outfit of each character described, and what the female character was doing. These details might come across as irrelevant, or unnecessary, but this is Didions way of showing what the blueprint of notebook it. Using imagery reinforces the foundation of the essay, and what the essay’s mission was.
Imagery is when the author uses detail to paint a picture of what’s happening. This is shown when Kendra is looking out of the window, “...fixed her gaze on a particular tree, following it as it slowly approached, streaked past, and then gradually receded behind her..” (1). This is imagery because you can imagine the tree flying past. These literary devices help deepen the plot of the
This literary critique was found on the Bryant Library database. It talks about how well Maya conveys her message to her readers as well as portraying vivid scenes in her reader’s minds’. Maya’s sense of story and her passionate desire to overcome obstacles and strive for greatness and self-appreciation is what makes Maya an outlier. Living in America, Angelou believed that African American as a whole must find emotional, intellectual, and spiritual sustenance through reverting back to their “home” of Africa. According to Maya, “Home” was the best place to capture a sense of family, past, and tradition. When it comes to Maya’s works of literature, her novels seems to be more critically acclaimed then her poetry. With that being said, Angelou pursues harsh social and political issues involving African American in her poems. Some of these themes are the struggle for civil rights in America and Africa, the feminist movement, Maya’s relationship with her son, and her awareness of the difficulties of living in America's struggling classes. Nevertheless, in all of Maya’s works of literature she is able to “harness the power of the word” through an extraordinary understanding of the language and events she uses and went through. Reading this critique made me have a better understanding of the process Maya went through in order to illustrate her life to her readers. It was not just sitting down with a pen and paper and just writing thoughts down. It was really, Maya being able to perfect something that she c...
In her essay, “Momma, the Dentist, and me” Maya Angelou describe her insight in remembering an incident of racism. The incident refer to a time when a white dentist named Lincoln did not treat her tooth ace just for being colored “Niggah.” In America no one should be allowed to be a form of prisoner, because of their native skin color. Americans should be held accountable for their actions whenever a color person are in need of help their social life. There should be laws ordinances to prohibit persons from confronting -either verbally or physically -color people for not being a Caucasian person. This conflict in rights between those held by color people and the American people those held by, because American refused freedom rights, endanger lives, and economic issues.
Imagery is a key part of any poem or literary piece and creates an illustration in the mind of the reader by using descriptive and vivid language. Olds creates a vibrant mental picture of the couple’s surroundings, “the red tiles glinting like bent plates of blood/ the
All in all, Maya Angelou's poems have became more inspirational as there years went on and the African Americans got the rights they deserved. She used imagery and a lot of emotions through her poems, as if you could feel the pain they had went through. Her poems had plenty of hope in them. She was hoping for the best during the Civil Rights Movement. In I Know Why The Cage Birds Sing, you can feel how that poem changed from the negative times to the positive. She talked about how the American Dream of giving blacks rights before the movement they had no hope, but as the poem went on you can feel a more positive vibe of hope.
Maya Angelou celebrates the strength of a young Black woman using imagery, characterization, and symbolism to share her highly personal experiences. Marguerite faces hardships like refusal for service because of her race, a longing for parental affection, and even sexual abuse and rape. Maya ultimately overcomes the oppression given to her race and to her femininity. Once believing she was and ugly caged, she is now the beautiful and free bird clothed with strength.
Maya Angelou describes the situation, feelings and descriptions of a person (probably herself) who does not need people to try and lift her up. Maya shows us within the poem that all those oppressed in general are strong. Within the poem we are shown some of the feelings and thoughts people have displayed against her, but in reality she won’t let them get her down. Maya’s moral opulence allows her to rise above where her ancestors fell to slavery; carrying herself as a strong woman. Her ancestors dream was to have a life in society without the fear of what might happen to them (slavery). The author herself is portrayed in the...
There is perhaps no greater joy in life than finding one’s soul mate. Once found, there is possibly no greater torment than being forced to live without them. This is the conflict that Paul faces from the moment he falls in love with Agnes. His devotion to the church and ultimately God are thrown into the cross hairs with the only possible outcome being one of agonizing humiliation. Grazia Deledda’s The Mother presents the classic dilemma of having to choose between what is morally right and being true to one’s own heart. Paul’s inability to choose one over the other consumes his life and everyone in it.
Poems are a way of expressing the feelings and emotions that the writer chooses to describe, usually using symbolic objects and comparing it to another thing using figurative language. There were many poets that came and went throughout history and there are still a lot today, one of which really caught my attention and her name is Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou is a very astounding poet with her 166 poems, but one really stood out to me and that was The Lesson. Maya Angelou had a very difficult life with the many challenges she faced being an African American during the timeframe of her life and she outlined these troubles in most of her writings. With her circumstances she just kept moving forward and giving it her best without giving up; she is a great model for anyone to follow.