Maya Angelou: A Phenomenal Woman Steph Gorman, Kara Larkin, and Anne Laurita

Maya Angelou: Style Doesn’t rely on a regular stanza structure Almost completely choppy sentences if not run-on sentences Alternates between stating, questioning and describing Last lines of verses often give closure while at the same time ‘leaving the reader hanging” Certain poems have a lot of line-to-line repetition About a fourth of the poems rhyme Uses mostly second person tense but sometimes switches the tense in the middle of the poem Uses onamotapeia: "Whoppa, Whoppa,” "Chugga, Chugga,” etc.

Maya Angelou: commonalities Female Anatomy, themes involving sexuality Racism, African American Empowerment –Ex: My Guilt Reminiscing about past loves and times Difficulties of dealing with men Mentions “workin’ in the factory”

Influence of Gender, Life Experience, and Culture- Biographical Life Experience: –At age 7 she was molested by her mother’s boyfriend; only told her brother –Later - she found out an uncle killed her mother’s boyfriend and she felt it was her fault; went silent for 5 years –In high school she was exposed to progressive ideals that caused her later political activism –Joined the Harlem Writers Guild and worked with other young writers to write about her views on the civil rights movement –She worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr., he gave her the job of Northern Coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Influence of Gender, Life Experience, and Culture- Primary Sources I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings -Maya Angelou, 1969 (the first part of her autobiography) "If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult." "They don't really hate us. They don't know us. How can they hate us? They mostly scared."

Influence of Gender, Life Experience, and Culture- Examples

Critics’ Viewpoints “strong note of self-affirmation” -Publishers Weekly “at times to chatty and anecdotal” -Janet Boyarin Blundell “model of conduct for people” -Adam David Miller “portrays the strong Black American woman” -Hilary Bailey

More Critics’ Viewpoints “relies often on rhythm for success” -Calendaria Silva “venomous hostility to one and all of the white race” -Daisy Aldan “musical, rhythmical, enchanting” -Mary Silva Cosgrave “sexual nuances” -R. B. Stepto

We agree with the critics: Self-confidence and affirmation is an important part of many of her poems She sometimes goes off on a whim and quite wordy and anecdotal Focuses on strong women overcoming their emotional and physical struggles, especially African Americans, and serves as a role model for them Most of her poems and musical and lyrical, rather than following a strict rhyme scheme

We disagree with the critics: The best poems of hers that we read did not seem to rely on rhythm…most did not have a steady rhythm or continuous rhyming Although Maya did exhibit some bitterness toward whites, it did not seem “venomous”

Conclusion