Poetry Explication: Maya Angelou's Phenomenal Woman

Poetry Explication: Maya Angelou’s “Phenomenal Woman”

“Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou is an anthem poem that challenges society's narrow minded standard of what makes a woman beautiful. Immediately, in the first stanza the speaker addresses women while admitting she does not fit society’s standard of beauty. That is, the speaker forces the reader to look beyond a woman’s physique, “Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. / I’m not cute or built a fashion model’s size” (1-2). By doing so, the speaker establishes herself as an authoritative voice on what makes a woman phenomenal—her self assurance. Through this, Angelou gives other women the freedom to do the same. Moreover, the speaker boldly declares that there is something special that

More times than not, we learn something about a person’s history that causes us to empathize and understand what led them to commit such a crime. The passage from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein introduces the climax of a story between the scientist and the creature he created. Victor Frankenstein, playing God, created a monster who has now put his creator’s morality on trial through the implication that he was created for cruel and selfish reasons. That is, Frankenstein, after manufacturing the creature, did not think of the consequences of his actions for either the creature or those around him. Instead, Frankenstein took his disdain out on his creation through cruel and unjust suffering. Thus, Shelley uses Frankenstein, as a warning about the dangers of playing

As a result, Shelley illustrates the humanity of the creature to the reader. That is, one can see that he still values the relationship between him and Frankenstein. Despite his superior physical capability, he chooses to remain “mild and docile” if his “king” will keep his end of the bargain (Shelley). Although the passage does not directly mention what the debt is, the reader knows that a promise has been made and not upheld. At this point, by making the creature humble towards Frankenstein, whose parental negligence has only caused the creature’s suffering, Shelley insinuates that Frankenstein may indeed be the antagonist rather than the