Maya Angelou

Paper Summary:

This paper details the life of accomplished poet and author Maya Angelou, which began in Missouri in 1928. Angelou largely became known to the American public when she delivered a poem at President Clinton's inauguration in 1993. This paper contends that Angelou's life experiences, such as being raped by her mother's boyfriend, are a contributing factor to her unique style of writing. This paper contains a brief chronology, in list form, of Angelou's personal life and various literary achievements. The writer of this paper also reviews several of Angelou's poems, that tend to focus on slavery and racism.

From the Paper:

"At the age of eight Maya was raped by her mother's boyfriend. After the trial, her rapist was found murdered. For some inane reason Maya felt that she had killed him and stopped speaking for a while. As a male it is hard to imagine exactly how that would affect a person. Also, at the age of eight, it is doubtful that Maya truly understood what was happening. Still, one can be quite certain that Angelou was psychologically damaged for a while after this event. In my opinion, she would have become jaded at a young age and had little or no respect for herself."

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