Just Give Me A Cool Drink Of Water By Maya Angelou Analysis

Maya Angelou (1928-2014) was born in St. Louis Missouri to Bailey Johnson and Vivian Johnson. She spent her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas when the community was racially marginalized. She was honored by universities, literary organizations, government agencies etc, for her prolific work. Her book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was nominated for a National Book Award and her book of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ’fore I Die was nominated for Pulitzer Prize in 1972, Tony Award nomination for her role in the play Look Away in 1973, Matrix award in 1983 for excelling in the field of communication, Golden Plate Award in 1990 for accomplishments in sciences, business, industry, arts, literature, sports, entertainment, and public service, Inaugural Poet and three Grammys for her spoken albums in 1993,

Elsie B. Washington called Angelou “the Black woman’s poet laureate” and called her poetry “the anthems of African Americans” (56). She was an American author and poet. Her literary corpus comprises of several books on poetry, five books of essays, and six volumes of autobiographies. She has acted in numerous plays, films, and television programs. She was the first African American Black women to direct a motion picture. In 1993, Angelou was chosen by President Bill Clinton to recite her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” during the inauguration and became the first poet since Robert Frost to make to an inaugural session. The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou by Maya Angelou comprises six volumes and each will be critically examined in the thesis. The first volume is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), followed by Gather Together in My Name (1974), Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry like Christmas (1976), The Heart of a Woman (1981), All God’s Children Need Travelling Shoes (1986) and the last