Maya Angelou Poetry

There are many influential poets that deserve to be heard. Maya Angelou was a poet, influential speaker, and a writer. Angelou was one of the most influential African-American women of all time. She published books, poems, and screenplays that were later filmed. Due to all these accomplishments, she was honored with a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award, five Grammys, the National Medal of Art Award, and finally the Presidential Medal of Freedom (Pettinger). Angelou was most known for her poems. She wrote “Still I Rise,” “Phenomenal Woman” and “Caged Bird.” These are three of Angelou’s most outstanding poems. These poems were inspired by her life experiences, such as her experience with racism, inequality and sexism.

Maya Angelou was an inspiring activist, poet, and woman. Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. Throughout her lifetime she explored her career options as an actress, dancer, singer, writer, and editor among many other careers. Angelou had a tough childhood. Her parents divorced when she was very young and she was sent to live with her grandmother in Arkansas along with her brother Bailey. As an African American, Angelou experienced discrimination and racial prejudices. Angelou gave birth to her son Guy, at the age of sixteen and married her first husband Tosh Angelos, at the age of twenty-four. Angelou and Tosh divorced years later however, she did get married a couple of more times. Angelou experienced many

Maya Angelou’s poetry occupies a very special position in her development as a writer (Chow 1). As a child, Angelou went through five years of complete silence after she was raped at the age of seven years old, by a man named, Mr. Freeman. As a result of telling about her traumatic experience, her uncle’s literally kicked the man that raped her to death. Beings she spoke of her traumatic experience and the result of the man dying, she then imagined that her voice had the potential to kill. Thanks to her teacher, Bertha Flowers, at school Angelou started writing poetry as a means of expression of her life events through her poetry (Chow 1). Poetry thus played an essential part in the recovery of her voice, which in

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.

As an African American poet, Maya Angelou had encountered various obstacles that eventually paved her way to success. In the early years of her life, she got raped by her step-father which was an event that contributed in shaping her fierce character. This event encouraged her to become a women rights activist. Further, she worked hand in hand with fellow African Americans to stand against oppression. Her poetry was one of the most powerful weapons that was

Maya Angelou was the woman of many artistic gifts and talents. She had several different careers in the performing arts including creative writing, dancing, and acting. She really wasn’t raised by her birth parents, but she had learned to accept what her parents did for her brother and her. Somehow through all that she has been through she made a way out of a way that almost seemed impossible. So please give me the honor of giving you the honor of sharing her life story and telling about her road to success.

Maya Angelou is a writer and a civil right activist. In addition, she’s a poet and award-winning author known for her numerous poetry and essay collections. Angelou received several honors throughout her career, including two NAACP Image Award in outstanding literary work category. (Biography.com) Beyond her poetic days she was an actress, songwriter, and dancer. As an African American, Angelou experienced firsthand racial prejudice and discrimination in Arkansas. She also suffered at the hands of a family associate around the age of 7 raped by her mother boyfriend. Traumatized by the experience she became a virtual mute. (biography.com) Maya Angelou have faced many tribulations in life and expressed it through her poetic writing. The style

Maya was born on April 4th, 1928 in St. Louis Missouri. A couple years later her parents split up and Maya and her brother were sent to live with their grandparents. When Maya was 13 Maya's mother got a boyfriend, Maya went to visit her. While her mother was out of the house the boyfriend sexually assaulted Maya, and as revenge Maya's uncles killed him. When Maya got back to town she was a virtual mute for 2 years. When Maya started

Maya Angelou is a very good poet. In fact she is one of my favorites. My favorite quote of hers says, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how they made you feel.” This quote reminds me to make a good impact on people so that they can remember me as a caring, kind, person.

Maya Angelou was one of the most famous female African American poets of all time. She became a huge role model for young female African Americans. Angelou’s style of writing was unique; she spoke her feelings in a way no other could, and for that she is remembered.

Maya Angelou was an inspiring women. She did many things throughout her life. She was a historian, educator, dramatist, civil rights activists, and more. She was famously known for being an outstanding poet. She is one of the most influential and renowned artists of all time.

The speaker of the poem is the poet. The speaker of the poem is Maya Angelou because she is telling what it is like to be free or trapped. An example would be “The free bird leaps on the back of the win” (Angelou1-2).the theme of the poem is that being able to do your own things and make your own decisions, is better than being trapped and struggling. An example of this would be “But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams” (Angelou 26) and “The free bird thinks of another breeze” (Angelou 22), because the free bird represents the white race and the caged bird represents the black race. In Maya Angelou’s poem, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, she uses symbolism and lyric as poetic devices to bring meaning to the poem.

Maya was a fighter who suffered most of her life with female bond. One of her features is quite interesting was her strength. Even though she experienced a variety of problems in her life, she never gave up and she kept pushing for the prosperity of her life. Maya Angelou is a woman with a strong character. She teaches how to keep ourselves up

However, in the poem “Caged Bird” Maya Angelou characterizes the free and caged bird as, one bird symbolizing imprisonment and limitations while the other symbolizes freedom, which further develops the theme of inequality. The line “And dares to claim the sky” shows how unaware the free bird is and further develops the idea of its freedom. This piece of evidence shows how unaware the free bird is by exaggerating the extent of its freedom compared to the caged bird. In

Near the end of the poem it is revealed that the bird “opens his throat to sing” Maya Angelou felt this way in her own life. She wrote, sang and danced because it was her way of expressing her longing for freedom despite being oppressed for most of her life. Although freedom, to the caged bird, is “fearful” because it is “unknown”, he still sings “a fearful trill”. The cries of help are heard but the overarching parents only hear it as background noise.