Tevin Hudson
ENC1102
Tuesday and Thursday 7:00am-8:15am
April 16, 2014
Writing Assignment 3
Biographical Synopsis
Dr. Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis Missouri. Angelou was raised in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. In Stamps she was faced with the brutality of racial discrimination, and a very traumatic incident where she, she was raped by her mother's boyfriend when she was eight, but because of this she also developed an unshakable faith and values of traditional African-American family. (Angelou)This shaped her poetry and her involvement in the arts. Where she began to sing and dance and planned to audition in professional theater but that didn’t work out well because she began working as a nightclub waitress, tangled with drugs and prostitution and danced in a strip club. In 1959, she moved to New York, became friends with prominent Harlem writers, and got involved with the civil rights movement. In 1961, she moved to Egypt with a boyfriend and edited for the Arab Observer. When she returned to the U.S., she began publishing her multivolume autobiography, starting with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as well as several books of poetry and the third being Still I Rise in published in 1978. (Maya Angelou is born) Because of this life of hardship shaped her to who she is and was the inspiration for a lot of her poetry.
Historical Context
Around the time that Still I Rise was Published was just the ending of Generation X or in other words the Baby Boomers. During this Post World War 2 Era many thing where going on such as on the need to combat corruption, dictatorships, abuse, AIDS, a generation in search of human dignity and individual freedom, the need for stability, love, tolerance, and human rights for a...
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... rises in the end and will continue to rise every day until the end of time. Just like moons and like suns (Angelou 8). By using this comparison it gives off an aura of invincibility because there is really nothing in this world that can stop the sun and moon from rising every day.
Work Cited
Angelou, Maya. "Welcome to Maya Angelou’s Official Site." Maya Angelou. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. .
“Maya Angelou is born.” 2014. The History Channel website. Apr 6 2014, 10:59 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/maya-angelou-is-born.
Chow, Balance. "The Poetry Of Angelou." Masterplots II: African American Literature, Revised Edition (2008): 1-5. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 5 Apr. 2014.
"Still I Rise." Poetry for Students. Ed. Sara Constantakis. Vol. 38. Detroit: Gale, 2011. 218-236. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 6 Apr. 2014.
In 1970, a child with skinny legs and muddy skin was introduced into African American literature. Born marguerite Johnson she became known as Maya Angelou (Lupton 51). Her critically acclaimed works have changed the way of the African American autobiography is written.
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
"Angelou, Maya (née Marguerite Annie Johnson)." Encyclopedia of African-american Writing. Amenia: Grey House Publishing, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 12 March 2014.
Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. In her early years, Angelou was an author, screenwriter, actress, dancer and poet. Her and her brother had a difficult childhood as her parent’s split up when she was young and they were relocated to live with their paternal grandmother in Arkansas. It is in Arkansas where Angelou experienced the true horrors of her childhood. Along with encountering racial prejudices and discrimination, Angelou dealt with feelings of abandonment and rejection, which stemmed from her parents lack of presence in her life. However, the worst of Angelou’s childhood came at age seven, when her mother’s boyfriend raped her. He was later murdered in response to the sexual assault. The assault itself
Angelou’s popular works; I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Harlem Hopscotch and On the Pulse of Morning she uses pride, identity, poverty, racism and violence to show her readers that she survived, she rose above them. She was loved by stars, Angelou was a mentor to Oprah. In 1981, she received a lifetime appointment as Reynolds Professor of Americans of American Studies at Wake Forest University (Merriam Webster). With over 50 honorary doctorate degrees Dr. Maya Angelou became a celebrated poet, memoirist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist (Caged Bird Legacy). Sadly, Dr. Maya Angelou passed away on May 28, 2014. “Whatever you want to do, if you want to be great at, you have to love it and be able to make sacrifices for it.” –Dr. Maya Angelou
Angelou, Maya. "Still I Rise." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
Born on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, Dr. Angelou was raised in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. In Stamps, Dr. Angelou experienced the brutality of racial discrimination, but she also absorbed the unshakable faith and values of traditional African-American family, community, and culture. Dr. Maya Angelou is one of the most renowned and influential voices of our time. Hailed as a global renaissance woman, Dr. Angelou is a celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist.
Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Ann Johnson, was born on April 4th, 1928. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she was raised there for a short portion of time, then later moved to Stamps, Arkansas. In Arkansas she went through racial discrimination, but still held on to her roots. During her childhood in Arkansas, she went through a tragic event, At the age of seven, she was raped by her mothers boyfriend. Her uncles discovered the crime and killed the man. Maya felt responsible for his death and went mum for five years. During this period of silence, she discovered her love for literature. She read from a variety of different authors such as Langston Hughes, W.E.B Du Bois, Paul Lawrence Dunbar,William Shakespeare, and Edgar Allen Poe. When Maya was twelve, her teacher Mrs.Flowers, - which she spoke about in her autobiographies-broke her out of her shell. After graduating at the top of her 8th grade class, she moved to San Francisco to attend George Washington High School
(““The Story About Maya Angelou that you have never heard in her own words”).
“Love arrives and in its train come ecstasies old memories of pleasure ancient histories of pain.” This is one of many stunning and thought provoking phrases coming from the Poem, Touched by an Angel by world-renewed poet, Maya Angelou. Originally born as Marguerite Johnson, Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in St Louis, Missouri. Maya Angelou was raised by her paternal grandmother, and brought up with righteous principles and values. Angelou’s work is filled with subtle as well as forthright criticism and commentary on a variety of themes such as racism, and family, making her one of the most influential writers and civil right activists in the world.
Maya Angelou’s life began in the small town of Stamps. At the age of three Maya and her Brother, Bailey, were dropped off at their grandmother’s house in Stamps by their parents. Maya lived her life as a store helper to her grandmother, Momma, and her uncle Willie. Her childhood was occupied by managing the store, going to school, and participating in cultural events. Maya’s went through many obstacles in her childhood such as the rape, desertion, and self discovery. Maya uses her relationships with other people to help her overcome the obstacles in her life.
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.
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.
Dr. Angelou was born on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis Missouri. All though born in Missouri, Dr Angelou was raised in Stamps, Arkansas. Dr. Angelou’s birth name was Marguerite Annie Johnson. Maya’s parents divorced and at age three she and her brother Bailey were sent to live with their grandmother. Maya lived with grandmother, Annie Henderson until the age of thirteen (Angelou, 2013). She then left Arkansas to be home with her mother Vivian Baxter in California (Angelou, 2013). Maya was scared and felt as if she was not beautiful enough to be the daughter of Vivian Baxter. Vivian would call Maya beautiful something Maya was never called before. Living with Vivian, Maya learned that she could be a giver simply by bringing a smile to another person’s face (Angelou, 2013). In Arkansas Maya experienced racism ...
Civil rights activist and writer, Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928. At the age of three, Angelou witnessed a divorce between her parents and was sent to live with her grandmother. At the age of eight, she was removed from her comfortable lifestyle