20 Century Genius Award Essay example

Maya Angelou was a poet whose life mirrored the lives of many oppressed people throughout history. Angelou, a Civil Rights activist, advocated during the time of the Civil Rights Movement to raise the resources that allowed Martin Luther King Jr. to arrange the movements against the cruelty of the Jim Crow Laws and she protested along with others calling for an end to racism according to John Nichols (3). Angelou often focused on the oppressor in her literary works and was able to relate to the lives of those who struggled to be seen and heard in society. Angelou wrote poetry to express her emotions about how hard oppressed people, especially African Americans, were fighting for justice and equality. Angelou’s use of repetition, personal pronouns, and symbolism in “Still I Rise”, “No, No, No, No”, and “On The Pulse of Morning” respectively illustrate the determination that oppressed people possessed during their fight against inequality throughout history.

Maya Angelou is a phenomenal woman. She rises through all things that come her way and she refuses to back down. Angelou chose at a very young age to be a writer and a role model for many people. She believes that everyone should be treated equally and that the world should come together as a unity. Angelou had many careers but is known mostly for her poetic creations. She has come a long way from where she started and I think anyone can agree with me when I say, she has made us all proud with her accomplishments. Angelou writes poetry to inform and encourage others to carry on through the worst of times. She is a strong, confident, inspirational woman and I am more than honored to be doing my senior paper on her.

Maya Angelou is a leading literary voice of the African-American community. She writes of the triumph of the human spirit over hardship and adversity. “Her style captures the ca-dences and aspirations of African American women whose strength she celebrates.” (Library of Chattanooga State, n. d.) Maya has paved the way for children who has had a damaged

Maya Angelou was inspirational and helpful to others. She has helped people to look at themselves and other people in different, better ways. Angelou also had a joyful and loving personality. She was very engaged in everything that she did (Hoffert). Along with her outstanding personality and inspiration to others, Angelou was helpful. She helped people from many nations and bridged divides between races. This was such an admirable trait that a residence hall at Wake Forest University was named after Angelou (Kennedy). It has been said by Toni Morrison that she was there when you need it the most. Morrison has a firsthand experience with this because Angelou was the first person not in the family to call when Morrison’s son died (Hoffert).

Unlike Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou devoted her life to inspiring African Americans to do whatever they wanted to do no matter what other people said. She also wanted to inspire people. Her poems Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise inspired not only the African American people, which is was intended to, but the whole world including men. Like Hughes, Maya Angelou did not think that one day she would be reading one of her poems at President Clinton 's inauguration. But she did think that she would inspire young African American writers that they too could become wonderful writers in a white society. Angelou is hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary black literature and as a remarkable Renaissance woman.

Angelou’s writings are an important historical faction of American literature. Maya Angelou was a well-rounded, self-motivated woman who accomplished many things in her life. She not only accomplished things to benefit herself, but to better the life and people around her. Among some of the many things she did, being part of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s was one of the most

I chose to write the paper as a timeline of Maya Angelou’s life. I started with birth, and concluded with present day, as Maya is still alive. Maya Angelou is not only a poet, but an author, activist, professor, and screenplay written. Maya Angelou was

Maya Angelou utilises her passionate style to send a clear message and to create an empowering response within her audience. Through her use of imagery, figurative language, diction and repetition, she creates an uplifting tone of proud defiance

Maya Angelou, a mother, a dancer, a singer, an actress, a poet, an author, and a civil rights activist, has become one of the most influential women in the world. Growing up as an African-American in the most racial conflictive years, Angelou has faced many struggles throughout her life. Those struggles didn’t stop her from doing what she loved and standing up for what she believed in. Angelou never gave up and always fought for justice whether it was through writing, performing, or speaking. Maya Angelou’s life experiences have influenced how she writes and performs.

Maya Angelou is a literary genius, receiving both a Pulitzer Prize nomination and Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor bestowed to U.S. civilians. Additionally, Angelou made history as an award winning actress, dancer, screenwriter, editor, poet, author and civil rights leader. In spite of a difficult childhood, she transcended her impoverished Arkansas roots and went on to pen more than 36 books, with 30 bestsellers, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is arguably the most famous. Perhaps her greatest work is not the books she authored, but the millions of lives she touched. Through her commitment to civil rights, she worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and served on two presidential committees. Undoubtedly,

Dr. Maya Angelou was conceived Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri on April fourth, 1928. She conquered a traumatic adolescence to bloom into a widely acclaimed artist, creator, instructor, on-screen character, student of history, producer and social liberties lobbyist. Throughout the span of an advantageous vocation that traversed a half-century, she would compose 7 personal histories, 5 accumulations of expositions, 18 books of verse, 2 cookbooks, 7 youngsters' books and 7 plays. She likewise got incalculable honors and awards, including 60 privileged doctorates from such schools as Columbia, Howard and Smith, to give some examples. Rainbow in the Cloud is an accumulation of 200 of the late symbol's most important quotes obtained from already distributed fills in as well as from social networking posts and pearls of intelligence imparted through the years to her just child, Guy, and other relatives. Her inspiring words touch on a reiteration of topics extending from group to otherworldly existence to beauty to love.

Maya Angelou has received many honorary awards and has been on two presidential committees. Angelou received the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Arts, both in 2000. In 2010, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom (Biography). Overall she was a well respected author and poet who’s legacy continues to live on. Maya Angelou died on May 28, 2014

Because I live in a community with a majority black population, it is very easy to know all of the famous African American people. Growing up with my grandparents, I always heard a lot about the loving Dr. Maya Angelou. She was a tremendous figure in their lives and a phenomenal woman. One day my family was sitting outside, and my mom was reading a book with a lot of famous poems. The one she read aloud was Maya Angelou’s poem “Caged Bird.” She was so emotional reading this poem. During that time, I did not understand her emotions. At my high school, we would always celebrate black history month, so one day my favorite teacher brought the movie “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” My classmates and I sat down and watched it for very first time. At the moment, I understood why my mom way so emotional when she read the poem. I finally understood the significance that poem brought to her life and what the poem was actually about. That day brought the admiration I now have with Dr. Maya Angelou. I started reading her poems and studying her. She was a woman that explained tough topics about certain things. Needless to say, the topics were not popular. Maya Angelou spoke the truth. She was a great activist who changed many people lives with her words.

Maya Angelou is a famous writer and civil rights activist who wrote an extensive amount of autobiographies, poems, and books, though she is more famous for her poetry. Angelou’s poems are her most popular works because they are powerful. Within her poem she weaves symbolism, current events, and, most importantly, rhetorical devices. In President Bill Clinton’s Inaugural Poem, Maya Angelou effectively uses personification and extended metaphor in order to show the audience that they should recognize the past and its lessons so they can take that knowledge to create a better and brighter future.

There is one person that is a civil rights activist, memoirist, a poet and above all a woman, this person is none other than Maya Angelou. Angelou has been a famous American poet since the release of her 1969 autobiography, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Angelou has inspired many people by telling her life story to the public, but not only did she inspire, she also created a very different and personal point of view of the world we live in. The poem’s she has written transition from pain and suffering or to courage and confidence. Nonetheless, even though Angelou wrote mostly about anguished emotions due to her past relations, her poetry expresses what she cannot demonstrate through actions but by using words. In other words,