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Maya Angelou Research Paper

817 Words4 Pages

Kadence Morris
Mrs. Kimberly Derby
A. P. Language and Composition
10 February 2023
Maya Angelou: Poet, Activist, and World Changer
Maya Angelou is one of the most well known and respected poets of the 20th century. Her knowledge of literature and her passion for resistance makes her the inspiring woman she is. Angelou has dealt with many hardships in her life; racism, sexual assault, and abuse are all prevelent themes in Angelou’s life as well as her writing. Through Maya Angelou’s poetry and public speaking about her hardships she made a positive impact on the world by bringing awareness to rape and sexual assault.
One of the most critical moments in Maya Angelou’s life would be when she was raped at the age of eight. Maya Angelou, born Marguerite …show more content…

Following her traumatic childhood, the first volume delves into Angelou’s life from birth to age 17, remarking her unsettling encounters with rape, racism, and abuse (Wightman, Juliet and Bauer), this piece of text gives depth and detail into the hardships Angelou endured at such a young age. Her impact on African-American women and victims of rape held strong, her book became the most widely read and taught book written by an African American woman. The book, being a giant metaphor for oppression and racism as well as self-acceptance, impacted the African-American community as well as …show more content…

“On the Pulse of Morning: Remembering Maya Angelou.” On the Pulse of Morning: Remembering Maya Angelou | From the Catbird Seat: Poetry & Literature at the Library of Congress, 16 Feb. 2021, blogs.loc.gov/catbird/2021/02/on-the-pulse-of-morning-remembering-maya-angelou/#:~:text=In%201993%2C%20Angelou%20received%20an,1961%20inauguration%20of%20John%20F.
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." Gale In Context Online Collection, Gale, 2020. Gale In Context: High School, link.gale.com/apps/doc/XHHKXD703947645/SUIC?u=owassohs&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=43385b0b. Accessed 12 Jan. 2023.
"Plot Summary: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." UXL Junior DISCovering Authors, UXL, 2003. Gale In Context: High School, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ2110300004/SUIC?u=owassohs&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=a3e12822. Accessed 19 Jan. 2023.
Walker, Pierre A. "Racial Protest, Identity, Words, and Form in Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." EXPLORING Novels, Gale, 2003. Gale In Context: High School, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ2111200050/SUIC?u=owassohs&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=618cfe47. Accessed 12 Jan. 2023.
Wightman, Juliet and Bauer, Pat. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Sep. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/I-Know-Why-the-Caged-Bird-Sings. Accessed 10 February

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“Caged Bird” written by Maya Angelou in 1968 announces to the world her frustration of racial inequality and the longing for freedom. She seeks to create sentiment in the reader toward the caged bird plight, and draw compassion for the imprisoned creature. (Davis) Angelou was born as “Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928 in St Louis, Missouri”. “Caged Bird” was first published in the collection Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing? 1983.

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