...reading Maya Angelou's peom "And Still I Rise" and then watching her read it. Maya Angelou was born April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Maya Angelou was raised in St. louis, MO and also Stamps Arkansas where she had to exsperience racial discrimination that was common during this time. Maya Angelou is one of the most influential voices of our times. She is a global renaissance woman. When I read Maya Angelou's poem it touched me in a very deep way. As I read the poem the meaning that I got from it was that she was speaking of a woman that had to exspreience hard time and was maybe put through some difficult situations. However through it all she did not let it hold her back or cause her to be a negative and bitter person. Maya Angelou's words are very inspirational. I also watched Maya Angelou read the poeam "And I Still Rise". Listening to her read it really changed it a lot it seemed as if the poem was much more deep and meaningful. The words and still I rise was much more powerful when I listened to her read the poem. I believe that people enjoyed reading and listening to Maya Angelou because she spoke so deeply and knowledable. She was a very smart woman who's poems reached all audiences. Her poems are very clear in words which meant they are easyly understood. Maya Angelou exprenced a lot as a child and young adult she had to deal with the rasicism the followed during her early years and even being raped by her mothers boyfriend. I believe that Maya Angelou wrote her...
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...daughter Maya Angelou. The world was in for a change that day. Marguerite Annie Johnson was her real name. It wasn’t till Maya Angelou's early twenties when she received her name that we would all know today. Maya Angelou was a master of all trades, Maya went on to become an acclaimed American Poet, autobiographer, storyteller, and activist. Maya Angelou was best known as a poet and an award-winning author. In 1931 Maya Angelou and her brother has been sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps in Arkansas. At this time Stamps was a racially divided and Maya had now experienced what being a black girl in this racist society. As one could imagine her grandmother did her best to instill values and morals among their home. When Maya Angelou was eight years old she was living with her mother in Saint Louis. Tragically Maya was raped which then lead Maya to become mute for close to five years. Maya Angelou was sent back to Stampa because no one could handle the state that Maya was in. While living back in Stamps Maya life was going to change for the better. Mrs. Flowers was a woman that rescued Maya from who she thought she was. Maya confidence was regained and she was once more thriving. Maya at this time lived behind the back of the Johnson Grocery store with her brother and Uncle Willie. At this time Johnson Grocery Store would sell to both whites and blacks. In the home Mrs Annie had taught the Christian principals, respect, love and courage. Mrs Annie had a hand in Maya Angelou...
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...Maya Angelou “ Still I Rise” The Poem “ Still I Rise “ Immediately drew me in with its powerful words. For example in the first stanza it reflects the concept of slavery seen with the words “ You may write me down in history” “(The Academy of American Poets, Inc.)” .The poem offers a mixture of tones however in the end its tone is mainly victorious. This poem is not only addressed to one person it is addressed to all the public it is extremely political and somewhat controversial. This made me want to analyze the different meanings the poem may have hidden within. The poem was written by Maya Angelou in 1978. This was Angelous most famous point of her career. She had just published three autobiographies and published two other volumes of poetry. “ Still I Rise” is part of “ And I still I Rise” a volume of poetry made up of thirty-two short poems. This volume also included one of her most famous poems “ Phenomenal Woman”. The thirty-two short poems carry a similar theme throughout the volume. Maya Angelou focused a lot on her race, strength and resiliency. Maya Angelou was born on April fourth 1928 in St. Louis Missouri United States of America. She was born Marguerite Ann Johnson. Her father Bailey Johnson was a doorman and a naval dietician and her mother Vivian Baxter Johnson worked variously as a card dealer, boarding house proprietor and registered nurse. Maya Angelou and her family moved to Long Beach, California, however after he parents were divorced, her and...
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...Maya Angelou's Early Life Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri in 1928. Maya and her brother, Bailey, moved to live with their grandmother after the divorce of their parents. The move to Stamps, Arkansas forced Maya to encounter much racism. Despite prevalent racism in town, Maya's grandmother always made sure to teach Maya and her brother strong values. At the age of eight, Maya's mother, Vivian, took the children back to live with her in St. Louis. Shortly after the move, Maya was raped by her mother's live-in boyfriend. This traumatic event caused Maya to become mute for a period of time afterward and withdraw from family and friends. It also created a major rift between Maya and Vivian. At thirteen, Maya moved to San Francisco where she attended George Washington High School and received a scholarship to the California Labor School for dance and drama classes. Maya was one of the only black students in her school and found life in San Francisco intriguing and liberating. Maya's Young Adult Life She became pregnant with her son, Clyde, at age seventeen. Maya had just earned her high school diploma and her dreams of attending college were fleeting. Instead, she took various waitressing and cooking jobs and was even the madam of a brothel. Maya yearned for stardom in her young adult years, but her dancing career did not take off. Soon, Maya figured out that she needed to find a way...
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...cage While researching the lists of the authors, I was attracted to the author Maya Angelou, because I am personally interested in civil rights. In this essay, I am going to research whole biography about her which includes lots of work that she has completed, her general perspective and important event which affected people in that century. The reason why I chose her is to explore whether she should have been much popular or not. First I will find historical background of her so that every audience can know at least who she is. And then I will find her major works that she has done, popularity of work at that time, popularity of herself and hidden work which has potential to be popular at that time so...
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...Peoples English IV CP Blankenship 3/21/14 Maya Angelou Known as one of the most influential voices of our time, Dr. Maya Angelou is a global renaissance woman, a celebrated poet, novelist, educator and holds many other titles. She has proven the point that sex and race cannot hinder dreams and goals. In this paper, Dr. Maya Angelou’s failures as well as successes will be recognized and discussed. Born on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, Dr. Angelou was raised in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. Maya Angelou's former name was Marguerite Ann Johnson. Maya got the nickname from her older brother Bailey, who had a speech issue and could not pronounce Marguerite (Longly, 2013). He started calling her Maya because he read a book on Mayan indians, and the name stuck. In Stamps, Dr. Angelou experienced the brutality of racial discrimination, but she also absorbed the unshakable faith and values of traditional African-American family, community, and culture (Angelou, 2012). Growing up in Stamps, AK, Angelou learned what it was like to be a black girl in a world whose boundaries were set by whites (Longly, 2013). As a child, she always dreamed of waking to find her "nappy black hair" metamorphosed to a long blond bob because she felt life was better for a white girl than for a black girl (Franks, n.d.). Despite the odds, her grandmother instilled pride in Angelou with religion as an important element in their home. Maya Angelou contributed to black history by publicizing...
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...Diana Hocker January 20, 2015 English Period 8 _______________Maya Angelou was an African American poet, singer, and actress who influenced the world through her writing. Her compositions, including songs, poems, and speeches, relate to her experiences in life, in which she faced racism, rape, and the stereotypes of African Americans. Angelou’s poems were written with various underlying themes, based upon the events that she faced, but was then able to overcome. Maya Angelou, through her autobiographical poems, “Phenomenal Woman” and “Still I Rise”, conveys to readers the importance of inner strength and perseverance to overcome obstacles.__________________ One of the most prominent themes in both “Phenomenal Woman” and “Still...
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...right to vote and have the voices of the African American community heard. These leaders just didn’t consist on people only protesting for their equal rights, however. Some were famed authors, poets, play writes and inventors. Two influential civil rights activists that come to mind are Maya Angelo and Jesse Jackson. These two helped in the fight for equal rights, but they also were much more than that. They lived completely different lifestyles and accomplished many different tasks within their lives. Jesse Burns, also known as Jesse Jackson, was born on October 8, 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina (Dyson, 2006). His father always noted him as being a gifted child. Jesse’s father recalls Jesse saying that one day he would be a preacher and lead his congregation through the water. Once Jesse Jackson graduated high school in 1959, he attended college. He was enrolled at North Carolina A&T where he excelled in his football career. This was also the time in his life where he decided to begin his activist career (Dyson, 2006). He was a part of a sit-in movement to help integrate Greensboro’s pubic facilities (Dyson, 2006). By 1964, Jesse had received his Bachelor of Science degree in sociology. Throughout his life, Jesse Jackson had a very influential role in regards to the African American community. He once walked, and was also the youngest, beside Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King also appointed Jesse as head of the SCLC Operation Breadbasket...
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...Maya Angelou is not only an author; she is a poet, playwright, screen producer, and many more. Growing up, Maya’s life was filled with ups and downs. In spite of her trials and tribulations, Maya Angelou has found a way to accomplish many goals. Throughout her career, she has not only written books, but she as acted in and directed several plays, lived in Ghana for four years, raised a child by herself, and worked as hard as he could to give her and child the best life. Maya Angelou, Marguerite Johnson, was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri (Gale Group 4). She initially lived in St. Louis with her mother, Vivian, who was a nurse, and a maid, and her father Barly, a doorkeeper and navel dietician (Gale Group 4). As she was growing up, Maya’s mother never cared for her as a mother should. Often, her mother would leave her and her brother and would not return for days at a time. This, of course gave Maya no other choice but to take full responsibility for the household and her brother. When she was thirteen, Angelou’s mother decided to leave St. Louis without telling her. It was on that day that she went to live with her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Maya’s grandmother was a very strict lady and made sure that Maya and her brother would grow up to be the best people they could be. Maya’s grandmother made a great impact on her and her brother’s lives. Because of her grandmother, Maya can often be quoted as saying “ If you don’t appreciate the things you have, other...
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...Martin Luther King Jr.’s good friend, Oprah’s hero, Alicia Keys’s singing instructor, America’s everywoman, phenomenal poet, inspiring speaker: there is an unlimited list of how to describe Maya Angelou. Those who knew Angelou knew her for her most popular memoir, or her poetry, or her talent for public speaking. Few knew her for her dancing career and less popular autobiographies, and even fewer knew how much she influenced people around the world. Knocked down by rape, racism, and sexism, Maya was able to not only stand right back up, but she also helped others who were struggling stand up with her. Her words of strength were not only popular and enjoyable, but the messages they held truly affected people and changed the way they saw the world. Through writing and voice, Angelou was able to have an everlasting effect on people, worldwide....
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...variety of approaches, including the nonviolent tactics of King and the more aggressive methods of Malcolm X. As the movement began to rise, African American literature became more attuned to the events of the decade challenging political ideologies and revolutionary changes. One of these influential figures being Maya Angelou who is remembered as a poet, an author, an actress, a dancer, an educator, even a film director but also as a civil rights activist. While Angelou impacted the world through various aspects, her poetry was used as a political weapon...
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...Chosen Leader: Oprah Winfrey There are many great leaders throughout the world but the leader that our group chooses to write about is Oprah Winfrey - one of the world’s most influential women. Oprah Winfrey was born in 1954, she is a famous American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. The reason why we choose Oprah is because our group has 5 ladies, all ambitious and want to be successful in life. Oprah is an example of a woman that had overcome many difficulties in life and became one of the richest women. Studying about her will help us apply her leadership style and hopefully be a better leader in the future. Why do you consider her as a leader? According to the definition of leadership we studied in...
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...Dr. Maya Angelou is one of the most renowned and influential voices of our time. Hailed as a global renaissance woman, Dr. Angelou is a celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Born on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, Dr. Angelou was raised in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. In Stamps, Dr. Angelou experienced the brutality of racial discrimination, but she also absorbed the unshakable faith and values of traditional African-American family, community, and culture. As a teenager, Dr. Angelou’s love for the arts won her a scholarship to study dance and drama at San Francisco’s Labor School. At 14, she dropped out to become San Francisco’s first African-American female cable car conductor. She later finished high school, giving birth to her son, a few weeks after graduation. As a young single mother, she supported her son by working as a waitress and cook, however her passion for music, dance, performance, and poetry would soon take center stage. In 1954 and 1955, Dr. Angelou toured Europe with a production of the opera Porgy and Bess. She studied modern dance with Martha Graham, danced with Alvin Ailey on television variety shows and, in 1957, recorded her first album, Calypso Lady. In 1958, she moved to New York, where she joined the Harlem Writers Guild, acted in the historic Off-Broadway production of Jean Genet's The Blacks and wrote and performed Cabaret for Freedom. In 1960, Dr....
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...Sister Flowers vs. Fish Cheeks Lakisha M. Couch English 121: Composition I January, 10 2014 Instructor: Brad Trolly The story of Sister Flowers by Maya Angelou and Fish Cheeks by Amy Tan gives us two different examples of how two young ladies manage to overcome embarrassment and cultural differences. Although both have labeled their situation as “embarrassing”, it is clear that both situations are coming from two different aspects. The story Sisters Flowers depicts educational differences, whereas Fish Cheeks describes a young lady facing the embarrassment of pride and cultural differences. According to our text book, the idea of descriptive writing is the kind of writing that describes person, place or thing in such a way that is forms a picture in the readers head. In order for one to capture such an event one would have to pay close attention to each detail by using their five senses. As I read the story of Sister Flowers, I felt as though this story definitely follows the guidelines of a good descriptive story. For example: Sisters Flower by Maya Angelou discloses a revelation of an important mentor in the life of Marguerite. The character, Sister Flowers, is painted as an individual who was kind, respectful, educated, and inspirational. She was an aristocratic and highly cultivated person who had the ability to reach out and bring forth a positive impact on the lives of those that resided in her community. Marguerite was a young girl who was trapped in her...
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...The Caged Bird Sings written by Maya Angelou proves that development is multidimensional including biological, cognitive and socioemotional. Maya is three years old and her brother, Bailey, is four experienced broken family and were sent to Stamps, Arkansas with pieces of paper attached on their bodies “to whom may it concern”. They live with their paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson, whom soon they called Momma. Maya and Bailey who was born and grew up were abandoned without the love, care and nourishment in a good environment with their biological parents have had many struggles to face during childhood to early adolescence and affect their entire life. As the beginning of the book, Maya was unable to finish her poem “What are you looking at me for? I didn’t come to stay…” According to Erikson, Maya must be in initiative versus guilt stage because Maya feels that she is awkward and ugly with kinky hair and dark skin. She dreams to be a beautiful white child with the straight blonde hair and blue eyes, not because she didn’t like herself, but because was taught not to like her Blackness. The social norms with stenotype expectation influences Maya’s development and personality when she interacts with people, that make she wanted to “retain a sense of uniqueness”, known as personal fable according to psychologist Elkind. This in turn caused Maya develops a psychological vulnerability. She always feels insecure and abandoned by her family. Maya struggles facing the significant...
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