Maya Angelou 5 - 1248 Words

Maya Angelou is a phenomenal woman. She was born into a devastating decade, that suffered numerous tragedies. Not only had society shaped her as a woman, she has also shaped our society and influenced many lives. She is still living today, yet I believe her legend will never die. Furthermore I will share with you what motivated her and some of her gratifying experiences. How she was effected by society, and what she did about it. Also how the time period she was born into made her the extraordinary woman she is today. Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928, a year before the crash of 29 (the stock market crash). To get a sense of what exactly Maya was born into, I will explain what exactly this meant. This was the start of the†¦show more content†¦She didn#8217;t like the fame, so she moved to Washington, where she met Bilie Holiday, She and Bilie became good friends. She is also a dedicated worker for equal rights, where, at the request of Martian Luther King Jr. served as a northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership conference. She also acted in the television version of Roots (1977) and has appeared in many other television shows, she has also been on many Talk Shows, including Oprah, where some of her books are a part of Oprahs cook club. She was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the commission of the International Women#8217;s Year and served as a board member of the American Film Institute and as an Administrator in the music department of the University of Ghana. She studied dance with Martha Graham and Drama with Frank Silvera and went on to a career in theatre. She toured Europe and Africa with a road show of Porgy and Bess. In 1992, President re- elect Clinton asked Maya to compose a poem for his inauguration, just as JFK had done with Robert Frost in 1961. She delivered a stunning piece at the culmination of the Jan 1993 ceremony. During the 1060#8217;s she lived ion Egypt where she was the associate editor of the Arab Observer in Cario. From 1964 to 1966, she was a feature editor of the African Review. Today Maya lectures in the United States and abroad. She is also a Reynolds professor of American Studies at WakeShow MoreRelatedMaya Angelous Influences Essay1236 Words   |  5 PagesMaya Angelou’s Influence Maya Angelou is terrific performer, singer, filmmaker, and civil-rights activist. She is a phenomenal woman, one thing that she does best is writing. She is still living today, I believe her legend will never die. If one would talk to her, he or she would think she has lead a normal, happy life. Her life is blissful now, it was not always perfect. Maya beard enough emotional stress in a time frame that most people do not experience in a lifetime. Her experiences and theRead MoreMaya Angelous Poems Essay1288 Words   |  6 PagesMaya Angelou’s Poems 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 potentialRead MoreMaya Angelou : An Influential Voices Of Modern Society Essay1386 Words   |  6 PagesMaya Angelou, born Marguerite Ann Johnson on the 4th of April 1928, was born in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in Stamps, Arkansas. Maya Angelou is regarded as one of the most noteworthy, influential voices of modern society with over 50 doctorate degrees. She became a distinguished poet, educator, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, memoirist, and civil rights activist throughout her life. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, Stamps, Arkansas was the embodiment of brutality and racial discriminationRead MoreStill I Rise by Maya Angelou Literary Analysis Essay756 Words   |  4 PagesIn the poem ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou, the poet uses repetition, metaphors and similes to express to her audience about how she has overcome racism in her life through demonstrating a strong, proud and defiant attitude to inspire others. The poet uses repetition of the word ‘rise’ to show that she has overcome and risen above racism. In the line, ‘you may trod me in the very dirt but still, like dust ill rise’ it expresses to the reader one of the key ideas in her poem, that no matter howRead MoreEssay about Girl/Woman Work Socio-Historical Critique1439 Words   |  6 Pagesinteresting life may produce interesting poetry or stories. Two phenomenal women, Maya Angelou and Jamaica Kincaid portray two different points of view in their works of literature. A lot of things can contribute to their differences, but in particularly their upbringing is a major cause of their variances. In Jamaica Kincaid’s â€Å"Girl,† a young girl has the â€Å"rules of the world† drilled into her head by her scolding mother while in Maya Angelou’s â€Å"Woman Work† a mother faces the adversities of her life on herRead MorePoem Analysis : Alone By Maya Angelou907 Words   |  4 Pagesworld. The civil rights activist, director, singer and poet Maya Angelou created a poem called â€Å"Alone.† In this poem, the title speaks for itself by warning you to not live life alone because it leads to unhappiness. The poem, â€Å"Alone† by Maya Angelou uses poetic devices diction, imagery, and figurative language to express the theme â€Å"No one can make it in this world alone and have happiness.† In summary, the poem â€Å"Alone â€Å" by Maya Angelou is about the speaker warning all human race to beware of thisRead More`` Speak, By The Maya Angelou1137 Words   |  5 Pageswriter, the late Maya Angelou. This statement also aligns to a 1999 contemporary classic novel, Speak, where a young freshman, Melinda Sordino, faces isolation and depression to an event that occurred over the summer, one that only she knows about. In the novel, Melinda hangs up a poster of Maya Angelou in her make-shift janitor’s closet hangout. Laurie Halse Anderson uses Maya Angelou as a figure for Melinda to learn and change by in the novel Speak. Melinda could learn from Angelou that she can standRead MoreMaya Angelou s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings701 Words   |  3 PagesMaya Angelou: â€Å" I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings† In this poem Maya Angelou talks about the civil rights movement. She also express her personal life of what she went through such as being raped at the age of 6 by her mother’s boyfriend and also becoming mute for 5 years. She also states how she got pregnant and had to raise a child at 16. All these events led up to writing this poem from a caged bird that sings point of view. â€Å"Remembrance† In this poem Maya Angelou express how she was being rapedRead MoreCage Bird and How to Say Nothing in 500 Words768 Words   |  4 Pagesjustify anything to be superior to something else, you must have more than one thing to compare. When I start to review narrative and descriptive essays, I have to try to understand what separates the two. I chose to compare â€Å"Caged Bird†, by Maya Angelou as my Descriptive essay and â€Å"How to say nothing in 500 words†, by Paul McHenry Roberts as my narrative essay. To me these two essays set themselves apart from each other, not just because of the different styles of writers, but the meaningfulRead More Maya Angelou Essay1200 Words   |  5 Pages Maya Angelou is a phenomenal woman. She was born into a devastating decade, that suffered numerous tragedies. Not only had society shaped her as a woman, she has also shaped our society and influenced many lives. She is still living today, yet I believe her legend will never die. Furthermore I will share with you what motivated her and some of her gratifying experiences. How she was effected by society, and what she did about it. Also how the time period she was born into made her the extraordinary