Maya Angelou Research Paper

Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri (1928) as Marguerite Johnson; however she grew up in Stamps, Arkansas where her grandmother ran a general store. Angelou has acted and written several plays, poems, and a six-part autobiography “I Know Why the caged Bird Sings” making her one of this country’s foremost black writers. In this story Angelou tells about how her grandmother (momma) triumphs over a pack of taunting neighborhood children. I feel very strongly about this particular piece given the time set and the way black people were treated by the whites, and how without harsh words or threats some black people overcame the taunting and cruelties of the whites.

Maya Angelou was abandoned by her mother and then sent to live with her grandmother with her brother when she was 3. 10 years later she came back to live with her mother Maya thought her mother looked weired because of how pretty she looked, she thought there was no way she could be her mother. Maya Angelou shows the story of her life by writing a story “From Mom Me and Mom” and in an interview called “Learning to love my mother”. In both stories she talks about her life but there are some differences between the interview and the memoir . Also in both stories there are similarities that occur as well.

Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928-May 28, 2014) was an American author, actress, screenwriter dancer and poet. She was known for her memoir, I know Why the Caged Bird Sings (bibography.com). “Her parents divorced when she was only three and she was sent with her brother Bailey to live with their grandmother in the small town of Stamps, Arkansas. In Stamps, the young girl experienced the racial discrimination that was the legally enforced way of life in the American

Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes are both African American poets that have made tremendously positive names for themselves in the literature department. Their significant signature in the poetic community has been made by their passion and commitment to produce poetry that speaks to the emotions the public faces on a daily basis. Maya Angelou was brought into this world on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas (Maya Angelou Biography 1). Sadly, Ms. Angelou left the earth on May 28, 2014 (Maya Angelou Biography 1), but still made sure that her works would be adequate enough for the public to enjoy her works past her time. She was not just a poet, as she wrote books, memoirs, taught, produced, acted, made films, and was an activist in the civil rights movement. (19 1). Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri (Langston Hughes 1). Langston was able to make himself known in the public eye during the Harlem Renaissance.

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, 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

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 was inspired to read by several amazing authors and an educated Black woman. “She read books by Langston Hughes, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Paul Lawrence Dunbar”. .”(Poetry Foundation, 2008). Maya said, “Even though she and Bailey were discouraged from reading the works of white writers at home, Angelou read and fell in love with the works of William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and Edgar Allan Poe.”(Poetry Foundation, 2008). Mrs. Flower’s was someone who also once played a wonderful role in her life. She was the person whom was able to get Maya to speak again when she was young. Mrs. Flowers was a charming gentlewoman who was an aristocrat in the small town of Black Stamps. She would give Maya books to take home, and she would tell her to read the books aloud. “She explained the importance of education, importance of the spoken word, and instilled in her a love of poetry. ”(Poetry Foundation, 2008). Maya became so interested in writing that she moved to New York and joined the Harlem Writers Guide in the late 50’s and began her writing career.

Maya Angelou was very brave. One of the things that makes her brave is being able to talk about being sexually abused. At the young age of seven, Angelou was sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend. This happened while she was briefly staying with her mother in St. Louis. For the rest of her life, she would have that memory in her brain, reminding her of such a traumatic experience. In 1970, Angelou had an autobiography that was on the New York Times’ bestseller

Maya Angelou has inspired me in more ways than one, and I had to write about her. When Maya speaks people listen. She has this wisdom that only few have, especially when life wasn’t always great. She turned tragedy into triumph, and helped others in doing so. So, Maya has proven too many women, especially black women that you succeed, even if you have had a child in your teen years. She’s proof that with determination nothing is unattainable.

This rumours caused a great unrest to her close friends and family worldwide. According to her close friend Oprah Winfrey, in 2013, Angelou narrated to her that she had taken courses offered by Unity church which was very spiritually significant to her. Despite that she never earned a degree, she preferred that she was intonated as Dr Angelou by her close friends and people out of her family. She did this because she wanted to have a sense of achievement in her life regardless of the popularity of her works. Angelou’s life work Maya had a vast volume of poetry including “I wouldn’t take anything for my journey now, “I shall not be moved”, “shaker, why don’t you sing?”, “oh pray my wings are gonna fit me well” and “just give me a cool drink of water ‘fore I diie” which had her nominated for the Pulitzer prize.

Dr. Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Her father, Baily Johnson, was a doorman, and, later a dietician for the navy. Her mother, Vivian Johnson, was a registered nurse. When Angelou was three years old, her parents were divorced. They sent her and her four-year-old brother, Baily, Jr., to live with their paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson, in Stamps, Arkansas. Henderson ran a small general store and managed to scrape by. She continued to do so after her grandchildren joined her. Angelou's grandmother was one the many strong who trained her, helped her, and provided her with role models. The people of her church also nurtured her and gave her a sense of belonging to a community. But her

When she was seven she went to Chicago, Illinois to visit her mother since she lived with her brother at her paternal grandmother’s house. While visiting her mother in this time, her mother’s boyfriend raped her. Too afraid to tell anyone, Maya Angelou told her brother and in result, her brother told their uncles. Their uncles killed her mother’s boyfriend out of rage, and this made Maya Angelou mute for five years until she met someone very important; Mrs. Flowers. These first years of her life were present in her first autobiography in 1969, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou Biography). Maya Angelou was not only influenced by her early life, but also in her adult years when she went to

Maya Angelou made literary history as the best non-fiction seller of her time. Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928, in St Louis, Missouri, when she was a child her parents split up when she was very young. Maya was raped by her mother's boyfriend, Angelou's uncles killed the boyfriend (Maya Angelou 2018). In 1952, at the age of 16 she had given birth to her son named Judy Johnson, who had worked at many places to support her and her son and keep them going in life (Maya Angelou 2018). In the mid 1950 her career started to take off Maya Angelou was an African American woman who wrote poems, she was also an award winning author known for her acclaimed memorial, “i know why the caged bird sings”, and her numerous poetry and essay collection (Maya Angelou 2018).” One of her most famous works, Angelou wrote this poem especially for and recited at President Bill Clinton's inaugural ceremony on January 1993 (Maya Angelou 2018). The occasion marked the first inaugural recitation since 1961, when Robert Frost delivered his poem "The Gift Outright" at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration(Maya Angelou 2018).

Maya Angelou chose to exercise her own quote, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you,” through her various autobiographies and poems. She did this so that readers may discover her extraordinary past and possibly even learn from it. Formerly known as Marguerite Johnson, Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri and was raised in Stamps, Arkansas. She is an African American female author, poet, playwright, and actress and is mostly associated with her most popular autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. One of her writings, The Heart of a Woman is the fourth of six autobiographies that was published in 1981 and it narrates her life from 1957-1962.