Maya Angelou’s Biography
A long time ago I believe it was on April 4, 1928 when my best friend Maya was born. Maya and I lived in the town of Stamps, Arkansas with her grandmother due to the divorce of her parents. During these awful years at the age of 7 Maya went to visit her grandmother when she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. After this due to the hatred her uncle killed her mother’s boyfriend. She became so traumatized by all of this that she even stopped talking. During this time Maya and I became great friends for you see Maya loved to write and well I was her tool the one object that made her happy as you may already know I am a pencil her best friend. She had a tough childhood but she never gave up she had me. I remember on her most hard nights she would grasp me and write out all her feelings and emotions was her escape and it’s just amazing to know how much you have helped a person. Also where we lived in Stamps, Arkansas was hard because Stamps was a rural and segregated environment. It’s really tough living somewhere where you are not treated equally. She never let go of me I was that person that was there throughout all her struggles during some of the toughest years in her life. I still remember the day she started to write her autobiography with is really known now a days t is called “I know why the caged bird sings” which talks about how her life has been since she was small all the way to the age of 16.Also at the age of 16 I remember when this little boy arrived he just cried and cried I wish I could help him just as I helped Maya but well he was a baby boy Mayas baby boy named Guy. During these times “I know why the caged bird sings” became very popular actually one of the best sellers. Maya and I have ...
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...One more day of pain is too much to bare
Now you just wish he would care
How do I fix this broken heart?
When you were the only thing to keep it together
Daddy’s little girl
Five years old hearing the family war
I’m tired of fighting over that bottle
I’d love to leave you alone but my heart won’t let you go
Grew up afraid of ever being loved
At eight years old having to see those horrible lights
My life came crashing down daddy’s little girl needed you
When you left my head started spinning
Nothing felt right like an endless hurricane came crashing in
I found comfort in other
Thought I could escape the pain but I couldn’t
Twelve years old depressed and confused
I needed that family but no one was there
But I found a new family filled with love and happiness
Something you could never give me
And now daddy’s little girl is happy once more
Zora Neale Hurston and Maya Angelou are arguably the most influential writers of the mid 20th century . Their work has inspired young African Americans to have more confidence in their own abilities. Their work has also been studied and taught countless times in many schools across the U.S. But the main reason why their work is considered classics in American literature; is because their work stands as testament to the treatment, and struggles of African Americans in the mid 20th century America.
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.
She was known worldwide for many things. She was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry. She was credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She was and still is a woman that people look up to. Many people know her as Maya Angelou.
Maya Angelou is one of the most known African American poets."Dr. Angelou’s words and actions continue to stir our souls, energize our bodies, liberate our minds, and heal our hearts." (http://mayaangelou.com/bio/) She was born on April 4th 1928, in the South St. Louis, Missouri. This period was when the most racism was going on. It was quite over with yet, segregation was still a huge series going on. Maya Angelou was greatly influenced by the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement was a movements in the United States which they has a goal was to end segregation and discrimination against African Americans, or Blacks and give them their voting rights. I believe that Maya Angelou's writing has became more positive after the Civil Right Movement had taken place, it had inspiration and was hoping for the blacks to succeed the goal trying to get reached of them to became more civilized.
`Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl' and `I Know Why the Caged Bird
Maya Angelou is one of most well-known poets ever. Her work is a reflection of her hardships during her childhood and her life as an adult. She expressed many of her opinions through her poetry and other writing. Many of her poems revolve around equality and freedom because she grew up in the segregated era and worked with civil right activist. The poems she writes are to inspire the lives of others. Till this day, Maya Angelou is still continuing to write inspiring poetry.
A poet, an author, a play-write, an actress, a mother, a civil-rights activists, historian and most important a survivor. Perhaps Maya Angelou, award winning author of many books, is one of the most influential African Americans in American history. I believe that she rates at the top of the list of American authors, with Hemingway, Hawthorne, and Voight. I believe through my research and reading of Maya Angelou that she should be among the members of The American Authors Hall of Fame. Maya was born on, April 4th, 1928 as Marguerite Johnson, in St. Louis Missouri. She was raised in Stamps Arkansas, by her Grandmother Annie Henderson and Her Uncle Willie. Stamps was a rural segregated community. However, it was tight knit between the African Americans. Maya grew up during a very difficult time period in American history. They were just recovering from the Great Depression, and learning how to deal with different races of people. Maya knew this and made it clear in her writing. "It was awful to be Negro and have no control over my life. It was brutal to be young and already trained to sit quietly and listen to charges brought against my color with no chance of defense. We should be dead. I thought I should like to see us all dead, one on top of each other. A pyramid of flesh with the whit folks on the bottom, . . . and then the Negro's." (Angelou Caged Bird 153) "If growing up was painful for the Southern Black Girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat." (Angelou, Caged Bird)
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 life growing up was not always perfect. Given the birth name of Marguerite Ann Johnson, Maya Angelou was borin in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4th, 1928. Although she was born there, she spent most of her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas with her Grandmother, Annie Henderson and in San Fransico, California with her mother. Maya Angelou is still living today and teaches at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. Maya had to deal with many hard things growing up and although it wasn't perfect, she's lead a very eventful life.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou was released in 1969 as the first of seven novels about her life. It covers her life from the age of 3 when her and her older brother Bailey move to Stamps, Arkansas to move with their grandmother Annie Henderson until the age of 16, when she is living with her mother and gives birth to her first son. It was published at a time where Black American women were being marginalized and it was important to hear their stories. The book starts with Maya and her brother Bailey Jr. being sent off to live with their grandmother, whom they call Momma, in Stamps, Arkansas.
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.
Feminism women’s rights, or just equal rights are all common themes that run through these two passages. The late poet Maya ANgelou writes about not only the black struggle but the struggle of a black woman. She expresses how she is a free spirit, and couldn’t care less about what you thought of her, because she knows what she thinks of herself. On the other hand the 1950’s article basically tells women their goal and purpose in life is to please her husband, clean the house and make sure the children look like perfect angels. I’ve come to see that these two passages have a lot more in common than not, after analyzing them.
Society creates the thought of what makes an ideal woman; however, Maya Angelou shows us what truly makes an authentic woman in her poem, “Phenomenal Woman.” The word “Phenomenal” is defined as something that is magnificent, remarkable, breathtaking, as well as extraordinary. This poem illustrates confidence and beauty from within, instead of the conventional view that society tends to have, which only focuses on the appearance. She shows how to acknowledge womanhood. One is able to appreciate the poem, even further, by analyzing many of the poetry elements that Maya Angelou illustrates, such as imagery, tone, and diction.
It is said that when we look in the mirror, we see our reflection; but what is it that we really see? Some people look through the glass and see a totally different person. All across the world identity is an issue that many women have. Woman today must be skinny, tall, thick, fair skinned and have long hair in order to be considered beautiful. Maya Angelou feels otherwise, as she gives women another way to look at themselves through her poem "Phenomenal Woman".