"Maya Angelou" Essays and Research Papers

“The honorary duty of a human being is to love” (Maya Angelou). Maya Angelou is an African-American was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Maya Angelou's five autobiographical novels were met with critical and popular success. Her volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. In 1993, Angelou wrote a poem for Clinton's inauguration. In 2008, she earned a NAACP Award. Maya’s life growing up was not so easy. When she was young her...

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Maya Angelou’s tumultuous childhood in the South and the struggles that come with being black are the basis for her autobiographies such as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Through her rich, insightful literature she is able to record the black experience and ultimately the black struggle. She “[is] always talking about the human condition – about what we can endure, dream fail at and still survive.”(Matzu 23) Angelou’s early life was full of hardships; making her strong and ready to fight for...

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Maya Angelou Maya Angelou, born Magarite Johnson, was and author, playwright, professional stage and screen performer, and a singer. She has written five volumes of autobiography, four volumes of poetry as well as written plays, screenplays, and numerous periodical articles. She has overcome a difficult and traumatic childhood to become a prize-winning poet and author of several best-selling autobiographies. “Dr. Maya Angelou is one of the most renowned and influential voices of our...

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 Dr. Maya Angelou is one of the most renounced and influential voices of our time. She played a big part in the global Renaissance and is a poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Dr. Maya Angelou was born as Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4th, 1928. Her parents divorced when she was three years old and she and her brother, Bailey were sent to live with her...

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Maya Angelou Maya Angelou paved the way for many of today’s black poets. She is famous for her poems and series of autobiographies. Angelou has had an interesting life filled with many accomplishments. Maya Angelou was born as Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd Ed.) Her parents divorced when she was 3, she then lived with her mother. (Shaw, Taylor) At age 8 her mother’s boyfriend, Mr. Freeman, raped her. Angelou hid her dirty...

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Song Flung Up to Heaven”, which was published in 2002, begins with Maya Angelou’s return from Africa in 1965, shortly before the assassination of Malcolm X, with whom she had intended to work with. The book covers those devastating periods of her life in civil rights work as the northern coordinator for Marin Luther King, as well as other events of the 1960s. People died and get injured, and thousands of people got arrested. Angelou vividly recalls scenes of rioting in the Watts area of Los Angeles...

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Dr. Maya Angelou is one of the most prominent and influential voices of our time. Maya was born on April 4th, 1928, under the name of Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents divorced when she was three. When she was eight, she was raped by her mother's boyfriend. When she told her uncles what happened, they kicked him to death. Frightened by the power of her own voice, she chose not to speak for the next 5 years. She was constantly discriminated against for being African American...

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Dascia Turner Professor Kimberly Balding English 1010: Composition One 20 September 2010 Truly Inspirational I find Dr. Maya Angelou to be a very interesting woman. She has lived a very productive life. She rose up in the face of adversary and succeeded in making a life for herself. Her numerous accomplishments testify to this fact. She did not come from a promising background, but she defied all the odds. During her childhood, she absorbed the faith and values of a traditional African American...

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Maya Angelou is one of the most famous African-American women figures. As well as an inspiring figure as a poet, Maya is also well known to have been a great actress, educator, historian, author, playwright, director and producer. At the time of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Maya was also inspired to become involved in the civil rights movement. Maya Angelou's former name was Marguerite Ann Johnson. Maya got the nickname from her older brother bailey, which had a speech issue and couldn't pronounce...

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Dig Deeper It’s a fact that Maya Angelou is known for writing poetry and novels that empower and inspire many people, especially African Americans. Critics have different beliefs of the purposes of her poems. This research paper will focus on two of Angelou’s most famous works: “Caged Bird” and “Still I Rise”. Critics believe that the main focus on these two poems is reflected on African American history. They go much deeper. These two poems reflect her life story as well, which is why so...

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