Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou is arguably one of the greatest renaissance women of the 20th century. With her achievement spanning from writing and directing an original screenplay called, Georgia Georgia, to 25 volumes of poetry. She was born, Marguerite Johnson to her parents in St. Louis, Missouri Soon into her childhood she began living with with her maternal grandmother. Throughout her life she dealt with many hardships. At the age of seven she was sexually assaulted by her grandmother’s boyfriend. Soon after her family found out about this vicious attack her uncles brutally murdered her assailant. She felt responsible for her uncle’s actions and became mute for the next five years. This is when she began to take an interest in the english language. She

This directly relates to the theme and basis of this great work of literature. Throughout the poem Angelou discusses what we can do as not just a nation,but as a society as a whole. Angelou describes this planet we share as, “ Small and lonely.”(1) This example of imagery is used to how close we are to one another even though we are spread across the globe. Throughout the text the theme of redemption and what amazing things can be done when we work together. On line 25-26 Angelou states, “When we let the rifles fall from our shoulders. And children dress their dolls in the flags of truce.” This is representative of the theme of redemption. She describes children who are often portrayed as pure and angelic. They are described dressing their dolls in flags of truth. Angelou throughout the poem repeats the phrase, “When we come to it,” evident in line 24. This is a representation of both Diction and Repetition. She uses this phrase to develop a sense of hope. Using the word, “When,” gives the reader no doubt that peace will come. Angelou in the text uses metaphors to compare seemingly different ideas. On line 50-51 she compares two very different kinds of people. She states, “Who reach daily for the bomb, the blade, and the dagger. Yet who petition in the dark for tokens of peace.” This idea is repeated which strengthens the theme of no one is pure evil or good. Angelou