A Woman Who Did Not Angelose Her Opportunity For Success Maya Angelou was a true African-American renaissance woman who took on the titles of author, poet, memoirist, playwright, scholar, activist, actress, and singer. She is most well-known for her first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and her appearances with famous names such as Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, and Arsenio Hall. Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up with her grandmother Annie Henderson. She obtained her first job as a writer and editor in Ghana before moving back to Los Angeles. There, she received a multitude of awards and honorary degrees from universities for her work. Today, many regard her as one of America’s most well-known African American
Her legacy is one that will be remembered for generations to come. Maya Angelou’s signature book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, “has retained its position as a treasured work in the past 36 years, capturing the loyalty of successive generations of readers” (Long 1). This excerpt was written in 2005, which means that the book’s fame has now reached forty-eight years. The test of time has shown that readers are willing to pick up and read Angelou’s work as a classic rather than a new novel. The public responded to her death in 2014 with widespread honor and remembrance. This reaction was “so large, in fact, that while Angelou's family held a closed service at the Wait Chapel at Wake Forest University where she taught, the service was live-streamed by the university” (Hoffert 1). Enough people wanted to pay their respects at Angelou’s funeral that the university had to live-stream the service in order to satisfy her followers. One of the people she affected most was her good friend and world-famous talk-show host, Oprah Winfrey. Succeeding Angelou’s death, Winfrey said, “What stands out to me most about Maya Angelou is not what she has done or written or spoken, it's how she lived her life. She moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace” (Littleton 1). Angelou did not only impact society in general with her work but her personal community of friends and family with her personality as
Maya Angelou was raised in segregated rural Arkansas. She is a poet, historian, author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director. She lectures throughout the United States and abroad and is Reynolds professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina since 1981. She has published ten best selling books and numerous magazine articles earning her Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award nominations. At the request of President Clinton, she wrote and delivered a poem at his 1993 Presidential Inauguration.
Angelou well known as an entertainer was urged by James Baldwin and by the cartoonist Jules fifer and his wife Judy to try her hand at writing an autobiography. After several refuels she agreed the results was a unique series of autobiographical narratives. I know why the caged bird sings is the first of Maya Angelous's five autobiographies. It covers her life form the age of three when her parents send her and her brother bailey to live with their paternal grandmother Annie Henderson in stamps Arkansas until the age of sixteen when she becomes a mother. Annie is the main influence on her childhood.(Lupton 24).during her stay at her grandmothers Maya is raped by her mothers boyfriend Mr. freeman who warns her to be silent or he will kill her brother bailey . after the trial freeman dies after being violent beaten ,presumably by Mayas unless. Maya indeed silent mute she cannot will speak. The silent Maya is returned to momma Henderson though reaming speech less for five years until she recovers her voice through patient help of her grandmother's friend Mrs. bertha flowers.(Lupton 52).
"Angelou, Maya (née Marguerite Annie Johnson)." Encyclopedia of African-american Writing. Amenia: Grey House Publishing, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 12 March 2014.
The inspirational Marguerite Ann Johnson, better known as Ms. Maya Angelo was born on April 4, 1928 to her parents Bailey and Vivian Baxter Johnson. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Maya’s parents soon divorced when she was only three years old, resulting in her and her brother Bailey Johnson Jr. moving and staying with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. (Change-maker in black history: Maya Angelou). Her grandmother Annie Henderson was one of the most important, a pious woman who ran a general store in Stamps, Arkansas. (Moore, 1) Young Maya often dreamed about being a pretty little white girl and how she wished her hair was transitioned from her nappy roots to long, silky blonde. Her grandmother however instilled the importance of being proud of your race. Living during this time it was very common to want a better life of course, but this was one of the first known racial encounter Maya faced. Upon moving back to her mother at the age of eight, tragically, Ms. Angelou was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. Revealing her rapist resulted in her uncles taking matters in to their own hands, which also resulted in the death of her mother’s boyfriend. By acknowledging the power of her tongue, this tragic encountered her to go mute for about five years. (Global Renaissance Woman) Mrs. Bertha Flowers was who was acknowledged and worked with Maya to speak again at the age of thirteen.
In 1960’s she devoted herself to the cause of African-American rights and freedom. “As a civil rights activist, Angelou worked for Dr. Martin Luther ...
“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”(www.mayaangelou.com, 2014).
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.
Maya Angelou is an author and poet who has risen to fame for her emotionally filled novels and her deep, heartfelt poetry. Her novels mainly focus on her life and humanity with special emphasis on her ideas of what it means to live. The way she utilizes many different styles to grab and keep readers’ attention through something as simple as an autobiography is astounding. This command of the English language and the grace with which she writes allows for a pleasant reading experience. Her style is especially prominent in "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", where the early events of Angelou’s life are vividly described to the reader in the postmodern literary fashion.
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
In her autobiography I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Angelou encounters many struggles, whether it pertained to others or herself. Throughout her life, Angelou experiences conflicts relating to self love, her weaknesses, and gender roles. Despite these conflicts, numerous female characters influenced Angelou and shaped her into the woman she was. All of these tie in with the gender/feminist literary lense.
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.
In her first autobiography, Maya Angelou tells about her childhood through her graduation through, “Graduation”, from “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” when she is about to graduate. She starts as an excited graduate because she was finally going to receive her diploma, a reward for all her academic accomplishments. On the day of her graduation finally comes, that happiness turns into doubt about her future as she believes that black people will be nothing more than potential athletes or servants to white people. It wasn’t until Henry Reed started to sing the Negro National Anthem that she felt on top of the world again. Throughout her graduation she felt excited to disappointed, until Henry Reed sang and made her feel better.
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.
Maya Angelou is a well acclaimed poet, author, and civil rights activist. Though she passed away in 2014, her work continues to awe and inspire people worldwide. Angelou had written numerous poems, but in this analysis I will be focusing on “Caged Bird,” “Phenomenal Woman,” and finally “Touched by An Angel.” In these works we see her approach issues such as equality, racism, feminism, love and many more issues as well. Angelou is a very skilled poet; though some people find her work too straight forward and little more than common text broken into stanzas. Maya Angelou 's poems are easy to understand; and though I do enjoy her work, I find that how she structures her poems can be confusing