Forms Of Poetry In Maya Angelou's Phenomenal Woman

Poetry can take on many forms, but it always has one common goal: to impact the reader in ways they have never been impacted before. A single poem can mean something different to every reader and even the poet. People read to poems to find humor, joy, solidarity, and comfort. Being a poet means being a guide for an audience much bigger than themselves, but it also means being true to oneself. Maya Angelou used poetry to impact the lives of many people and for that she is one of the most influential poets to this day.

Angelou: activist, actress, author, civil rights icon, director, feminist, mother, playwright, wife, and poet. Angelou would grow to be best known for her iconic work in the fields of film, literature, and her time as a civil

She wrote many poems about womanhood and made every woman feel comfortable through her words. “Phenomenal Woman” is an example of just this. Angelou did not only use her own character traits in this poem, but she also addressed the reader throughout the poem to illustrate a literary effect. By writing as if she is talking directly to the reader, Angelou draws the reader in as part of her story. For example, “Now you understand Just why my head’s not bowed I don’t shout or jump about Or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing It ought to make you proud” (Angelou). The poem also utilizes a technique where the same idea is repeated, but not exactly the same words. The way in which Angelou used this method was a way where she made her characteristics part of story by making them good things rather than often looked at bad things. For example, “It’s in the reach of my arms The span of my hips, the stride of my step, The curl of my lips” (Angelou) is used in the first stanza. Then again in stanza two, “It's the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet” (Angelou). Angelou truly was a phenomenal woman and made other feel so as