Research Paper On Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou 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. Maya 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,

Obviously, her poems spoke her truth and were very detailed in the sense that she wrote from the heart. She chose to write without a filter in front of her and wrote what she really believed was right. Another heavy influence in her work was the concept of living life to the fullest. In her poems, it was obvious that she did not intend on wasting any time and rather wanted to make the most of her opportunities. She writes, “I keep on dying, because I love to live,” in her poem “The Lesson.” Lastly, Angelou commonly wrote about her internal struggles through life. She often used the form of questioning the reader in her work. For example, ¨Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you so upset with gloom?” (“Still I Rise”). Angelou used questions to make the reader feel and understand her point of view. Maya Angelou’s work as a poet had very defined themes and styles. One of Angelou’s most iconic compositions is a poem of self-worth and perververenve deemed “Still I Rise.” The poem quickly draws the reader into the story through the use of rhetorical questions and continues this style as the poem progresses. “Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes?” (“Still I Rise”). Not only do the questions reveal details about the author, the author goes onto answer the questions. “Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own back yard” (“Still I