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phenomenal woman poem by maya angelou essay
phenomenal woman poem by maya angelou essay
phenomenal woman poem by maya angelou essay
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Reader Response on "Phenomenal Woman"
To look at woman in this day and age, we try to base ourselves off of the size two or below that we see on television walking down the runway. But what they don’t advertise is that it’s even more beautiful to be a size 10 or above. “Phenomenal Woman” is a poem that shows that even if you’re not that size two or below, you’re still beautiful no matter what size you are. Every woman is beautiful inside and out, but it is those who carry themselves with etiquette and poise whom are the most beautiful. Maya Angelou speaks of this many times in her poem “Phenomenal Woman.” In my opinion, this poem should be read by all women who struggle with self-esteem issues because the poem teaches women to be who they are and to not let anyone belittle them because they are not the desirable size zero we women all wish to be; we women are phenomenal because of what we do to make a difference in this world and how we carry ourselves while doing it.
Some poems rhyme and never speak to you, but once in a while some poems blend and twist into a piece of work that can call a person to escape to it. "Phenomenal Woman" is an enchanting poem with relatable problems that women face in their day to day life. This poem engages readers, mainly women, and can move them to experience life in a deeper way. The poem “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou explains the different details about a woman that makes her phenomenal. Maya shows us that this woman feels great about herself regardless of what others think. The famous poet Maya Angelou is best known for addressing the world through her own problems that she has had in her own life. Her works are a reflection of the social issues and problems that she has had to face from ...
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... poet but as a woman, has given the courage to other woman to believe in themselves and to know that you will become something great in this world. “Maya Angelou has received more than 30 honorary degrees, as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S.'s highest civilian honor.” (Sachs, 2013) This spoke to me because if women can put forth the effort into something that they believe in, why can’t they be recognized for it?
After reading this poem, I began to think about how I can get the confidence that Angelou has stated all throughout this poem. I, myself, am a plus sized woman, and I have always been timid and shy around others because of that reason. Reading this poem made me think about how I carry myself as a woman throughout this world. Without having confidence in yourself, how can anyone else have confidence and faith in you? (Williamson, 2006)
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 the perspective as an African American woman, Maya Angelou speaks of the issue of sexism in her poem. In this quote, “You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lies…”, Angelou sheds light on the problems women faced during her time. Many had to also face the discrimination from men as men control them and put words in women’s mouths. This indicates the doubled amount of burden that African American women had to go through and it was important for Maya Angelou to speak of this issue through literature and give a voice to women who were struggling with the same conflicting situations. In contrast, Hughes’s, “I, Too,” poem states the African American inequality more generally than Angelou’s
This term paper was written to shine a little light on one of America’s extraordinary women, Maya Angelou.
Maya Angelou lived through a time where she was discriminated against for not only her race but also her gender. In her poem “Still I Rise” Angelou sarcastically talks about how no matter what is thrown at her she will rise above it and she will do it with resilience and confidence. Her poem discusses racism and sexism and gives minorities and women a sense of hope to overcome and endure both of those things. Angelou’s self-assurance in the poem makes you believe that you too can overcome whatever obstacle. Although this poem was intended for blacks, and women, and specifically black women, the poem helps build up strong and courageous people no matter what race or gender you are. Maya Angelou in “Still I Rise” uses both pathos and ethos to
A predominant struggle Angelou dealt with was her own insecurities. At a young age, she was conditioned to think that the color of her skin and how she looked were the most important attributes about her. In I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Angelou states, “Where I was big, elbowy and grating, he (Bailey) was small, graceful and smooth. When I was described by our playmates as being shit
Angelou, Maya, Paul Gauguin, and Linda Sunshine. "Phenomenal Women (Poem)." Phenomenal Woman. New York: Random House, 2000. N. pag. Print.
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.
Maya Angelou’s “Equality” depicts a more patient yet tenacious rebel than described in Dunbar’s poem. “You declare you see me dimly”, she begins, “through a glass that will not shine.” Maya describes the denial of her boldness, of her rebellion; but, she continues to march, chanting “Equality and I will be free. Equality and I will be free.” She identifies herself as a shadow, unimportant to those she opposes— but she intends to repeat the mantra “Equality and I will be free” until she is heard. The sixth stanza left me in literal tears (and I am not an emotional person, thank you very
This poem is Maya Angelou speaking to the audience as she explains the problems she has overcome such as; racism, sexism, bullying and other problems in her life that she has managed to move on from.This poem is set in a first person narrative, Angelou explains to the audience about the good and bad times within her life, presented in a graceful way. By the poem being set in first person narrative, this allows the audience to connect to the poet on a deeper level because the tone of the poem is more intense throughout, making it more real for the audience. This genre of poetry is lyric poetry, relating to Angelou’s feelings and thoughts throughout the poem, addressing the audience directly.
Maya Angelou did a fantastic job of emphasizing her message and making it clear for the reader to understand. Through repetition, figurative language, and providing examples of how different people are lonely, Angelou signified how important it is for a person to find someone that cared about them. Just packed into thirty-seven short lines, Angelou conveyed a message that can impact any reader that takes the time to read this meaningful poem.
Maya Angelou is a internationally respected, brilliant poet, and author. Maya Angelou says "In all my work I try to tell the human truth, what it is like to be human, what makes us stumble and somehow miraculously rise and go on from the darkness and into the light”. This theme is consistently exemplified throughout Angelou's greatly acclaimed poem ‘Still I rise’. The poem shows us the true life story of Maya Angelou's tragedies, and their dreadful conditions she had encountered in her youth. But in Angelou's poem, she escapes the night to go into the light, leaving all the hurt and shame to prosper in a new life she has created.
This poem, like “Caged Bird” is also unstructured verse, and sporadic rhyme; this is very common of Maya Angelou 's work. This poem is extremely blunt in it 's working making it very easy to understand. “Phenomenal Woman” is all about being proud of who you are. What makes you special and noticeable is not the world 's standards of what you should look like but the confidence that you live by. The poem is almost like a list of characteristics that make the speaker a real woman. Some of the things that make her a real woman is “the reach of my arms” “The stride of my step” “ The sun of my smile” just to name a few. The speaker is obviously extremely confident in herself. I believe that Angelou is trying to express that she is so phenomenally woman because of how she expresses and views herself and does not let other people define her. The poem expresses that you are beautiful based on how you see yourself, not how the world sees you, and that your success is all in your confidence. This is expressed in some of the language she uses. “Now you understand-Just why my head’s not bowed.” “When you see me passing-It ought to make you proud.” She is just being wholly herself and that greatly contributes to her amazing success. She says how the pretty people ask her why guys always fall over her and she even states that the guys themselves do not understand why they are so drawn to her. “Men themselves have wondered-What they see in me.” “When I try to
Phenomenal Woman, written by Maya Angelou, is a poem which is an anthem for all women’s strength in their own womanhood. (Angelou 1) The poem speaks out to us women as far as of where we are in society. “Look at me!" "I am beautiful in my strength, in whatever shape that is mine.”(Angelou 2) The poem reminds women that they are filled with beauty and strength and they should love themselves for who they are. Every woman should be filled with joy, confidence and wisdom in her as well to challenge the stereotypes of what makes a phenomenal woman.
The poem "Phenomenal Woman is a poetic poem that women can relate to. It is a celebration of womanhood and femininity It expresses the jealousy, difference, and attitude that women see towards each other and how mean persee them. Every stanza is filled with explanations on how a woman should be confident with the way she looks and reveals woman 's attributes as a phenomenal woman. Angelou tries to show her confidence by stating the body parts that show that confidence and inner strength. This can be seen every line of the poem. This shows her strong self-confidence when expressing the way she feels personally about herself. She shows that even though she is not the cute, petite, women that modern society deems as highly valuable, women do not have to look like a model to consider themselves beautiful, worth looking at. Women today put themselves down because they
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".