Maya Angelou attained international fame in 1969 with the publication of her first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings; however, the seeds of her acclaim were planted long before. Raised primarily by her grandmother in Arkansas, Maya attributed her first important lessons to the woman she affectionately calls "Momma." With those lessons and other hard-earned knowledge, Maya progressed from being a victim of racism and sexual brutality with

It is almost impossible to exaggerate the importance with which Maya viewed this incident, saying "If Joe lost we were back in slavery and beyond help. It would all be true, the accusations that we were lower types of human beings. Only a little higher than the apes" (Angelou, Chapter 19). This is not the only time that violence and black males are associated in the novel, nor the only

Angelou understands that part of her role is to be a leader (which encompasses more than the idea of "role model" although it certainly parallels it in many ways this idea) by asking others to be attentive to language. For example, in an interview for the Paris Review, she said: When I'm writing, I am trying to find out who I am, who we are, what we're capable of, how we

Maya Angelou is one of the most renowned and influential voices in the recent time. She is a celebrated poet, novelist, actor and filmmaker. In her early life, she experienced the brutality of racial discrimination based on the situation at the time (Goodman 21). Her experiences in life had an influence in her work as she touched on the issues of racism and sexism over the years. Her poems, in

Maya Angelou and Jay Gatsby The two works of art are similar in many aspects though they also hold quite a number of differences when it comes to the characters and the themes covered in the works. Maya Angelou's work is more of an autobiography since it tells of the life experience of the character called Marguerite's also called "My" or "Maya" and the challenges that she undergoes. This character is highly

/ Weakened by my soulful cries." (Angelou, 7) Thus, the overall message of the poem is not very different from that of the first text, Phenomenal Woman. Again, the writer celebrates her own self as an emblematic image of the entire people. Pride and self-esteem are the major ingredients in the writer's cogent and powerful discourse. She declares her haughtiness and the pleasure she takes in her own self, suggesting