"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you." This quote by Maya Angelou means that everyone should tell their story because there is no greater gift than the ability to tell your own story. I was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. My house was on the corner of Crete St. and Bellechase St. It was a red and white two story house with more than an acre of land behind it. As a child my dad would bring me to the neighborhood washateria to eat nachos with a lot of jalapeno peppers and play the game machines. Sometimes my dad would bring my puppy, duke, outside for exercise and wait outside while I play the games. On warm sunny days, I would walk to Bayou St. John to watch the sunset. The beautiful sunset was a canvas …show more content…
“What?” He looked outside the window. “Where is he?” I pointed outside the window. “There he is.” I said as I wiped my tears away. “Don’t worry baby girl. I’ll go get him.” He said as he walked out of my room and towards the front door of our home. “Michelle! Michelle! Duke’s outside!” My grandmother from the porch.
I ran outside to see if the news were true and it was. He was doggy paddling to the steps of our home. I grabbed him and held him in my little arms. My uncle handed me a towel to dry him off. That was only day one. About three days after hurricane pasted, we began looking for supplies and food because we were low on supplies. The news radio station said the National Guard would be over the Mid-City area in a few hours. So we all went and sat on the porch awaiting their arrival. Once the National Guard came, they began dropping down care packages randomly. Fortunately, they dropped a bag of packages near our house. My dad and uncle ran outside and swam towards the packages. In the distance, more packages fell into the water. I watched as people fought and killed for the packages. My dad and uncle grabbed the packages and swam back to our home. I never ate packaged food so I didn’t know what to do to cook them. “How do I cook this without a microwave?” I asked my
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There, hundreds of people were gathered to wait on more rescue teams. There were supposed to carry us to the airport so we can leave New Orleans. We refused to leave without my dad and uncle. When they arrived, we all got onto a truck and were carried to an airport. When brought to the airport, we stood in line for hours waiting on an airplane. Hours later, we became next in line, waiting on another airplane to arrive. My father and uncle spotted a tour bus loading, it was already loaded and ready to leave, but they stopped it. Fortunately, it had four seats left. My family boarded and went to their seats. I had to sit on my dad’s lap because the bus was at capacity, as a small child, I didn't mind. I fell asleep for the whole
“On the Pulse of Morning” by Maya Angelou. "On the Pulse of Morning," is a poem written by Maya Angelou. In this poem, Angelou depicts personification. Personification is an element of literature in which an object or animal is given human characteristics. Angelou uses personification to give the rock, the river, and the tree the ability to speak to the reader. In "On the Pulse of Morning", Angelou writes, "But today, the rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully, Come, you may stand upon my back and face your distant destiny, but seek no haven in my shadow.
While reading "Courage Courses through Maya Angelou's story; Writer and activist agrees social problems persist" by Fish Griwkowsky. Maya Angelou is a very strong individual, not physically but mentally. Her life struggles and the strength she was able to maintain through those devilish times of her life made her the successful person she is now. She worked hard enough to become an iconic writer, poet, even in front of major films as an actor/filmmaker. Only hard work and dedication can get people where they want to be in life. Maya Angelou took risks and sacrifice, those hard times she went through gave her the strength to be successful. (Griwkowsky)
Hope is an attribute in life that many people cling to. It gives people courage and reasons to continue striving in everyday life, especially in the toughest of times. The autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou, published in 1969, followed Angelou’s childhood growing up in the South as a minority, the problems that she faced because of that, how she overcame those problems, and how she still found hope. The theme represented in this autobiography is that in every storm faced in life it may feel like there’s nothing left; however, there will always be hope that can still be found.
In Maya Angelou’s third book of poetry And Still I Rise, the personal struggles of the African American Woman are brought to life through poetic works. With inspirations drawn from personal journeys of Maya Angelou herself, powerful poems praise, celebrate, and empathize with the feminine colored experience. Angelou’s writing sheds glaring light on themes of feminine power, beauty, and perseverance, raising the African American Woman to a pedestal that demands respect and adoration. For Angelou’s audience, the everyday woman is presented equipped with all the necessities to thrive and shine in the face of adversity. In Maya Angelou’s works “Phenomenal Woman”, “Woman Work”, and “Still I Rise”, audiences are able to connect to the strength and virtue of the woman that is brought to life through the praising of femininity, and through its power to make an impact on society.
Throughout life graduation, or the advancement to the next distinct level of growth, is sometimes acknowledged with the pomp and circumstance of the grand commencement ceremony, but many times the graduation is as whisper soft and natural as taking a breath. In the moving autobiographical essay, "The Graduation," Maya Angelou effectively applies three rhetorical strategies - an expressive voice, illustrative comparison and contrast, and flowing sentences bursting with vivid simile and delightful imagery - to examine the personal growth of humans caught in the adversity of racial discrimination.
In August 2005, at the tender age of 7, I received the most devastating news. I was told by my family that a hurricane was coming to my city, New Orleans, Louisiana. Because of this storm, Hurricane Katrina, I was told that I would most likely have to move away for a long time, meaning the rest of my life. My family and I lost everything, and the hurricane ended up destroying the entire city completely. This was heartbreaking to me for a plethora of reasons, including that I lost loved ones and was separated from the rest of my family at such an early age. This ravaging storm marked the most drastic change of my life.
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 ...
People should not be treated differently because of race. It's not fair for African Americans to be looked as with less power because of the color of their skin. However, because of racism, (being unfair to other people because of their skin color) those who are labeled or caged” as ¨less than” are oppressed due to their lack of opportunities. For example, being an African American in the 60ś meant that Maya Angelou was told to go to a school for only black children. Being separated does not mean being treated the same because white schools had way better education than black schools.
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.
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.
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.
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".
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
Years ago I had the most terrifying, shocking day of my life. I had between seven or eight years when this happened. The day before the accident, all my family was at my grandfather’s house. We all were eating the food my mother and my aunts brought, telling jokes at the dinner table. Meanwhile, I was playing with my cousins in the backyard. Everyone was enjoying the family meeting. As the time passed by and everyone was about to go home, my mother suggested the idea that we all should go at my grandparent’s ranch next day, since everyone was in town we all could have the chance to go. Everyone liked the idea. It was the perfect time to go because it was a weekend. As they all agreed to go, they begun to decide who bring what to the gathering. Who would have thought that thanks to that suggestion, I would lead me to the hospital the day of the reunion.
It all started one hot summer morning at sunrise, July 5th 2012 around 3 am the day after the 4th of July holiday. I was awakened by the crying and screaming of my family over me yelling at me “Get UP FUNMI PLEASE”! And as I jumped up startled and shaking wondering what’s going on walking into my, mother’s room seeing a rainfall of tears fall down her face, she then tells me with the most hurtful voice ever “YOUR BROTHER HAS BEEN SHOT AND KILLED”! I completely went into shock as, I could feel my heart drop I started to panic badly wishing, and praying, and hoping saying to myself I wish that someone would pinch me, and wake me up from this terrible dream. The news I had gotten at that moment felt so unreal never would a day go pass in, which I would have thought about going through a loss of one of my siblings this soon.