Maya Angelou

Paper Summary:

The paper details a brief history of Maya Angelou's life, showing the turmoil she lived through. It explains how she managed to overcome her hardships learning to love herself. The writer briefly describes each of the five parts of the autobiography. The paper discusses Angelou's message that every person, regardless of race, should have love and respect for themselves, and that life will only have meaning once this has been achieved. The paper details Angelou's many accomplishments. In conclusion, the writer states that through her life work, Angelou serves as an example to everybody, of what can be accomplished once a love for oneself and for others is discovered.

From the Paper:

"The first of Angelou's five-part autobiography is entitled I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings[3]. As the title suggests, the book depicts the struggle for freedom from restriction that she experienced during her childhood. These restrictions were unfortunately not only inflicted upon her by racism, but also by her own family and to some extent by herself. It was however mostly her hostile environment that she struggled to escape, that caged her like a bird.
"The youth depicted in the work is one of disappointment, and tragedy, but finally the author achieves independence. It is with this independence in mind that she tells her story - living with her grandmother, she learned much from the exceptional older woman, as seen above. The black community in this environment was tightly knit, and taught Angelou much of the pride and confidence that helped her later in life. She also gives an honest account of the tragedy at her mother's, her recovery, and the unwanted pregnancy that changed her life. The book itself testifies to the remarkable woman that Angelou has become. With this work, the author contributes not only to her own culture, but also to American culture as a whole. Many white Americans, ignorant of the struggle of black and poor people, would do well to read Angelou's work."

More papers on Maya Angelou:

• Analytical Essay # 123638 : "Maya Angelou and Themes"
• Essay # 52678 : "Maya Angelou"
• Analytical Essay # 29277 : "Maya Angelou"
• Analytical Essay # 66503 : "Maya Angelou"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: