Maya Angelou Nicknames

In I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Angelou uses various stylistic devices and rhetorical strategies such as similes and metaphors. Angelou’s use of similes are used in order to describe her own character. In this, Angelou remarks “For nearly a year, I sopped around the house, the Store, the school and the church, like an old biscuit, dirty and inedible” showing that Angelou's inner feelings of not being good enough to be picked or loved. Correspondingly Angelou felt her skin looked “dirty like mud” showing her inner insecurities of her skin colour being unattractive. The sense of Angelou’s insecurities can also be seen with the use of metaphors regarding Angelou's skin as she remarked “I was described by our playmates

Maya Angelou is a leader by example, she sets the standard by her actions and the stories she tells teaches the audience a lesson. Majority of her work is to inform us of the past and she wants us to learn from her experiences in life; she is a life teacher. The purpose of this poem was to inform us of the history of our country. The poem is titled “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” and her purpose of writing this is to teach the reader why the caged bird sings. Maya Angelou wants to put the reader in her shoes to get the ultimate experience of racial inequality but instead by taking the role of a caged bird or a free bird.

Maya Angelou, named at birth, Marguerite Johnson was on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Her and her family moved from St. Louis to Stamps, Arkansas, where she was raised growing up. Maya Angelou was an American author, dancer, screenwriter, actress, poet and civil rights activist. Angelou gained a majority of her fame with the memoir she wrote in 1969, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This memoir made literary history as being the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. Angelou received many awards and honors throughout her entire career. These awards included two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work (nonfiction) category, in 2005 and 2009. Angelou became one of the most legendary and influential

‘Still I Rise’ is a poem written by Maya Angelou, an African-American poet, and civil rights activist in the 1960s. She has struggled at many times in her life; when her parents divorced at the age of three, being raped by her mother’s boyfriend just after moving back to live with them, and refusing to speak for five years because she felt guilty for reporting the crime. The poem portrays an ironic response towards people who have persistently put her down, due to the fact that she is now overcoming this, and is most likely having a better current life than her last oppressors. The reader can comprehend Angelou’s strength to continuously fight her battles against subjugation towards her and others of the same race and gender. The basis of

In “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” Maya Angelou make a statement about the power of names and gives examples of the importance by sharing instances where people are to assume a different identity with a different name.

In the book, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, by Maya Angelou the main character is Marguerite Ann Johnson (Maya). She is portrayed as a mature young girl suffering from the traumatic events associated with being a black female in America. She is said to be a smart and imaginative person. Maya felt that people judge her unfairly due to her awkward appearance. She fantasized that she actually was a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl trapped in a “black ugly dream” and would soon wake up and reveal her true identity. She faced three obstacles in the south white prejudice, black inability, and female subjugation.

Maya Angelou, who was the first African-American to work in the San Francisco streetcars, accomplished many things in her life. This fact proves that Angelou was a woman who believed in doing what needs to be done in order to accomplish her goals. Angelou made an influence on the world with her books and poems that related to diverse people in different situations, but most importantly, she fought for African-American right in the early and middle 1900s.

Marguerite Annie Johnson (better known as Maya Angelou) was born April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Angelou’s childhood was overwhelmed by turmoil. After her parents’ divorce, Angelou and her older brother Bailey were sent to her paternal grandmother’s home in Stamps, Arkansas. Angelou’s time in Arkansas exposed her to the brutality and racial discrimination of the south. It is also provided her grandmother Annie Henderson with a chance to teach Angelou about Christian values, respect, independence, courage, and forgiveness.

Her people endlessly toil to support their families and make ends meet despite working from dawn to dusk. Starting at a young age, she gradually learns about the hostility between white and black people. Marguerite must fight against oppression and the struggles of being a minority to survive. Maya Angelou writes, “If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult” Also, on page 4 of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: “Wouldn’t they be surprised when one day I woke out of my black ugly dream, and my real hair, which was long and blond, would take place of the kinky mass that Momma wouldn’t let me straighten?

The words Multi-talented barely describes Maya Angelou's lifelong accomplishments and notoriety. She was a woman born during the difficult times of prohibition and abandoned at a very young age and faced the most painful of challenges during her youth. From transferring for place to place without her biological parent(s), unfit living environments, physical and mental abuse/ trauma, to simply just wanting to find a place to belong. These were the trials of Maya Angelou, in her youth, she moved more than four times across the country. The second time involved her father taking her and her kid brother back to California, but instead of taking them all the way he decides to drop them off to live with their mother in St. Louis where gambling and

When I first read this poem, I was overwhelmed with conflicting emotions. Maya Angelou depicts herself as a fighter that will never give up, no matter the circumstances. She has obviously faced some difficult situations in her life that should have stopped her but she continues to triumph in the face of adversity. In this way, I am inspired to continue pursuing my goals. I also felt discouraged and disgusted, mostly because of the types of obstacles that are described in this poem. It is symbolizes the obstacles that many African Americans faced in the past as a result of the abolition of slavery, racism and inequality. The discouraging part of this poem is that some of these very inequalities and injustices still go on today. So, while this poem illustrates strength,

Through an examination of the female experience, Maya Angelou's Still I Rise (1978) and Anne Sexton's Her Kind (1960) utilise the authors' individual styles to inspire and shape our understanding of oppression and empowerment. In the difference in presentation of their common themes, the implications of different styles are shaped. Though there are similarities between the poets, it is the way they choose to utilise literary devices that creates a text that resonates with the audience in different ways.

A hero is a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities. Maya Angelou disregarded expectations and the wants of the real world in order to show society women in her time period can conquer. Coming from such a pressuring background she still proved whatever a person puts their mind to, they can do. Maya Angelou is known intentionally because of her wonderful talents: poetry, singing, writing songs, dancing, and playwright; in which, she has blessed many hearts with these impossibly great inspirations. A hero is someone who stands out in their own way without caring for an approval like Maya Angelou.

In the book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou, there are several women who play very important roles in Marguerite Johnson’s life and development. Marguerite had three women in her life that educated and provided her with useful skills, information, security, religion and love. Momma, Mrs. Flowers, and Ma’ Dear are mother figures in Marguerite’s life who provide her with the necessities and strength to help her through life, Momma taught Marguerite about religion and cleanliness and was a good role model when it came to being strong and powerful, Mrs. Flowers introduced and provided Marguerite with literature and Ma’ Dear who is Marguerite biological mother wasn’t with her as she was growing but she still played a very

Throughout her life, Marguerite experiences many different situations and people that all contribute to the way she grows up and the person she becomes. Despite some of her tragic circumstances, she learns a lot growing up, mainly because of the African-American women in her life who teach her all different life lessons. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Marguerite gets to absorb teachings from her mother (Vivian), Mrs. Bertha Flowers, and her grandmother (Momma). These women allow Marguerite to learn and grow as an African-American female, all while paving her own way.