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Maya Angelou

Poetry. Maya Angelou. Emily Ehrlich, Lauren Sharp, and Ryan Parker. About Her Life. Born in St. Louis, Missouri She was the daughter of Bailey and Vivian Her parents were divorced in 1952 Went through many jobs Read “On the Pulse of Morning” at Bill Clinton’s presidential inauguration. .

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Maya Angelou

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  1. Poetry Maya Angelou Emily Ehrlich, Lauren Sharp, and Ryan Parker

  2. About Her Life • Born in St. Louis, Missouri • She was the daughter of Bailey and Vivian • Her parents were divorced in 1952 • Went through many jobs • Read “On the Pulse of Morning” at Bill Clinton’s presidential inauguration. April 4, 1928 - ?

  3. Influences • Was raped by her mother’s boyfriend (8) • Grew up in a predominantly white society • Had many odd jobs • Divorced her first husband • She had a illegitimate son named Clyde (16) • She lived in numerous exotic places

  4. Themes Black Rights ex: Harlem Hopscotch People are all Equal ex: Human Family Love ex: A Kind of Love Some Say Loneliness ex: Greyday Problems of Mankind ex: Human Family

  5. Criticism Positive Negative • “Gather Together in My Name” is a little shorter and thinner than its predecessor; telling of an episodic, searching and wandering period in Maya Angelou’s life, it lacks the density of childhood • “Personal experience has not been examined, it has been turned into a sort of propaganda. • “Hers is not a major poetical voice; she seldom dazzles-or tries to- and at times her addiction to rhyme betrays her to banality. • “Inspiring and Wonderful” • “Lovely and Touching” • “The Imagery is tangible, the emotion is strong and proud” • “Her metaphors are strong and right; her similes less often so.” • “Maya Angelou writes like a song, and like the truth.” • “Angelou accomplishes the rare feat of laying her own life open to a reader’s scrutiny without the reflex-covering gesture of melodrama or shame. And as she reveals herself, so does she reveal the black community, with a quiet pride, a painful candor, and a clean anger.

  6. We Agree • writes about things she believes in • desire to always rhyme takes away originality • emotion is strong and full of pride

  7. We Disagree • Doesn’t write like a song, not exactly about truth • Does go into detail about personal life/experience • Doesn’t have quiet pride about black community

  8. Commonalities • Rhyme • Rhythm • Repetition • Imagery Repetition Rhyme Imagery Rhythm

  9. Quotes • As far as I knew white women were never lonely, except in books. White men adored them, Black men desired them and Black women worked for them. • History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again. • I believe we are still so innocent. The species are still so innocent that a person who is apt to be murdered believes that the murderer, just before he puts the final wrench on his throat, will have enough compassion to give him one sweet cup of water. • Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible. • The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste, and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors, and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.

  10. List of Works Cited "Maya Angelou."Contemporary Literary Criticism. 12 edition. 1980."Maya Angelou."Contemporary Literary Criticism. 35 edition. 1985."Maya Angelou." African American Literature Book Club. 2007. 18 Apr 2007< http://aalbc.com/authors/maya.htm>"Maya Angelou." Maya Angelou. 2002. 17 Apr 2007<http://www.mayaangelou.com/>.Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1970.Maya Angelou. 1999. Circle Association. 17 Apr 2007<http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/angelou/poems-ma.html>.Angelou, Maya. I Shall Not Be Moved: Poems. New York, NY: Random House, 1997."Portrait." Steve Dunwell Photographer. 19 Apr 2007<www.backbaypress.com/portrait-01.html>."Maya Angelou." Time. 18 Apr 2007<www.cs.cmu.edu/.../2005_11_01_archive.html>."Maya Angelou." Architects of Peace. 2007. The Jesuit university in Silicon Valley The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. 20 Apr 2007<www.scu.edu/.../Angelou/homepage.html>.

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