"Maya Angelou" Essays and Research Papers

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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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 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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Maya Angelou was a black child living with her grandmother in the American south in the 1930’s. In her autobiography “I know why the caged bird sings” she takes the reader on a journey throughout her childhood, growing up where racism towards the black people was rife. The opening lines introduce a crucial theme heavily laced with rhythm, dialect, alliteration and imagery. It shows Maya’s natural gift on her use of language and her use of upbeat, gentle self-deprecation that she uses when she writes...

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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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Sujet Maya Angelou, an African American writer, is visiting Ghana, in Africa, for the first time. After a few seconds of studying me, the woman lifted both arms and lacing her fingers together clasped her hands and put them on the top of her head. She rocked a little from side to side and issued a pitiful little moan. In Arkansas, when I was a child, if my brother or I put our hands on our heads as the woman before me was doing, my grandmother would stop in her work and come to remove...

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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 Marguerite Ann Johnson was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. After her parents divorced, she and her older brother Bailey lived with their grandmother in the racially segregated town of Stamps, Arkansas. In this town and during this time, African Americans depended on one another for social, economic and religious sustenance. Marguerite and Bailey formed a strong bond; it was during their youth that he gave her the nickname Maya. At the age of seven, Maya was molested...

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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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