Spoken By Maya Angelou Analysis

Maya Angelou’s poetry challenges the reader to take ownership of the issues they face by changing their perspective. Angelou uses figurative poetic form combined with accessible language to allow an immersive interpretive reading of her poetry. This enables the theme of individual empowerment in ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ and strength through unity utilised in ‘Alone’ to apply to a wider audience from a range of contexts. The emancipation Angelou offers in her poetry is heavily driven by the belief that an individual has the power to change their circumstances. Despite living in a 1950s America where she was subjugated for being part of the African American community, Maya Angelou’s poetry maintains its relevance today due to the focus she places on the emotional realm and its importance over the physical experience. Angelou uses widespread exposure by using her own experiences of racial oppression to relate to those who have felt any sort of inequality, which in turn intensifies the effect of her poetry on the target audience.

I'm going to be analyzing the short story, New Directions, By Maya Angelou. It's a story with a strong theme of courage. A book that reminds us that we can still make a name for ourselves, even if we have to do it alone. I'll be discussing a few of the key elements of the story such as the plot, setting, and mood in this analysis.

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 was born April 4, 1928. Her real name is Marguerite Johnson, but she later changed it to Maya. She was born in St. Louis, shortly after her birth her family up and move to Arkansaw. Maya grew up there in the rural parts of Arkansaw, and later married to a South African Freedom Fighter. She lived in Cairo with him, there she began her career as editor of the Arab Observer.

“Our parents had decided to put an end to their calamitous marriage and Father shipped us home to mother” (Angelou 7).

Throughout the years, sports have become a major part of society. Sports, a large percentage of the time, are a part of peoples’ lives in one way or another. Whether they participate in them or just enjoy watching them, sports are a big deal to the majority of people. There are also some individuals who have redefined the expectations when it comes to certain sports. For instance, Babe Ruth redefined the way people think about baseball, or Michael Jordan completely changing the game of basketball. But Joe Louis and Venus and Serena Williams have changed their games in a way no one could have imagined. Although “Champion of the World” by Maya Angelou and “Woman Who Hit Very Hard and How They’ve Changed Tennis” by Michael Kimmelman are different, they are similar in the ways they show how the respected athletes, Joe Louis and the Williams sisters, changed the game and were seen using symbolism in racial and sexual progression.

How different would this world be today if prejudice was out of the question? Today, there are people who treat others with prejudice, there are people who think it has left society, and there are some that still experience prejudice in their everyday lives. It’s a sad and controversial issue in today’s world. The official definition for prejudice is a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. This “disease” has gotten so out of hand that it’s been categorized.

In the excerpt “Champion of The World” adapted from Chapter 19 of Author Maya Angelou’s ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” The author makes an outrageous claim about African-Americans based on the victory of Iconic Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis against a White contender during a title match in the late 1930s. Right at the very end of this piece the Author makes a bold statement in response to the actions of visitors who were temporarily in town during the fight. Their decision to make arrangements to stay in town overnight and possibly avoid unwanted harassment (typically by their unsatisfied Caucasian counterparts), prompted Angelou to suggest that because Joe Louis continued to defend his Championship title in the fight he proved to be the

In this speech Maya Angelou uses an epideictic as her type of speech in order to talk about her friend who had passed away. In this speech there are many emotional appeals which can be expected because she is talking about a very good friend of hers who she no longer has. An epideictic is used to display the qualities of something or in this case some one. Maya Angelou says in her speech “She was a quintessential African-American woman” by saying this Maya displays how highly she thought of Coretta Scott King. Maya has a specific audience who she addresses few times in order to continue to focus on her main topic. Maya used many rhetorical strategies in order to convince others that Coretta Scott King was loved, influential and overall an amazing person.

“The Rock cries out to us today,You may stand upon me,But do not hide your face.” (Angelou,1). Maya Angelou, a well respected- poet, delivered her poem On the Pulse of Morning at an inaugural address. The inaugural address ceremony was for former President Bill Clinton in January 1993. The poem's theme centers around evolution and unity. Angelou begins the poem “A Rock, A River, A Tree,Hosts to species long since departed,Marked the mastodon.” (Angelou,1). The rock, river, and tree are representations of the origin of life and Earth itself. Throughout the poem, Angelou relates each symbol to the promising future of the world. When describing the rock,it expresses how humans should use it as a foundation. Everyone should evolve from their timid

Prejudice, discrimination, or opposition against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s race is superior is called racism. In stories “Finishing School” by Maya Angelou and “What’s in a Name?” by Henry Louis Gates Jr. racism is revealed by the main characters who showed similarities and differences within the time. Racism is portrayed in “Finishing School” and “What’s in a Name?” through the setting, circumstances, and characters reactions.

Sadly, that is not the only personal experience I have had with prejudice. My career, both in the military and in the civilian sector, has taken me to many different parts of the world. I previously worked in the Middle East for several years and had the opportunity to work in Israel and Saudi Arabia. It was during this time that I witnessed and experienced prejudice much more severe than during my childhood. Working in both countries offered me a unique perspective of the prejudice and other tensions that exist; one that most of the citizens of those countries would never experience.

“ Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.” This quote was written by Maya Angelou, and she wrote it because when she was at a very young age, she was raped because she was black. After she was raped all the kids at school made fun of her, so from that moment on she decided to not let anyone be prejudice or stereotype anyone. So she started writing quotes so other people can know how it feels and to share her story with everyone else. At that age in her life, everyone was fighting about racism, people were prejudice and stereotyping all the other people who were not the same skin color as them. People feel like they have to change, for example they change their looks, the way they talk, the way they dress, or even the way they act around people. Prejudice and stereotyping negatively affect people’s identity.

Strength. Strength can be seen in the readings that we have encountered this semester. Blacks have been through a lot ever since coming to this country called “America.” From being beaten, oppressed, and even worst, killed. Whites have always felt that Blacks had to be controlled because they were “property” but obtaining the obedience from Blacks was not a simple task. So in order to get the control of the people in the Black community, Whites thought that fear was the only way. Fear was something that could be put into a race so that they could be controlled by another. And with this fear a community could be controlled but Whites never through about the strength and braveness that was instilled inside of the Black culture.

Even today, there are many people who judge others by their race and religion. This is shown in the story (A Change of Heart) where Dr. Bashar Shala tries to bid on a piece of land but is denied once the owner finds out that he is a Muslim. He and many other minorities are denied rights because of their religion, which is unfair. He goes on to create a mosque for Muslims and become friends with many Christians. In the story (Hey, I’m Black Too! Where Do I Fit In?) The storyteller is told that he couldn’t major in Audiology in college because “it is a white job”. He goes on to graduate and gains his masters degree. This all just goes to show somebody's race and religion doesn’t define what they can or can’t do.