ipl-logo

The Things They Carried By Maya Angelou Analysis

1385 Words6 Pages

Emotional Burdens in I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings and The Things They Carried Over the course of your life, you will most likely experience an abundance of emotional burdens that can either make or destroy you, which begs the question: How much of an emotion strain can a single person handle before breaking? In Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya is faced with the emotional burden of being a young black woman in a time where racism was an issue across America. As she grows, she tells the story of her struggle to become an independent woman when all odds are against her otherwise. In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Tim describes his time as a soldier in Vietnam in the late 1960s where the only thing scarier than the threat of death was the burdens they would carry on their shoulders for the rest of their lives. In Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird …show more content…

Both authors not only painted descript images of their troubles, but summarize their experiences in ways that leave the reader feeling heartbroken for the struggles they’d went through. Not only did both characters come out of their experiences stronger than ever, but neither of them broke within the stories they told. They both fought past their burdens and found ways to cope. I find that to be the most courageous thing out of both experiences - not the war, not the struggle of being black in a racist country, but their coping mechanisms. With what I’ve learned about the struggles of both Maya Angelou and Tim O’Brien, I’ve learned that as long as I still have the will to fight against my burdens, I will come out alive and hopeful. In a situation where it’s either your life or living with the painful emotional burdens and trauma of your past experiences, what would you choose? Would you be strong enough to

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of The Prompt By Maya Angelou

    73 Words  | 1 Pages

    I think that basically this prompt has the message for everyone to be more considerate of others and to be more grateful. I say this because in the prompt, Maya Angelou says, “They hear the first and last of every Tree Speak to humankind today. Come to me, here beside the River. Plant yourself beside the River.” If the nation is not lead correctly, there will be more pain, and trials and

    Read More

  • Maya Angelou Research Paper

    513 Words  | 3 Pages

    Maya Angelou, born in St Louis Missouri on April 4, 1928, American author, poet, and civil right activist. Her parents divorced when she was three years old, and she was sent along with her four-year-old brother to live with their paternal grandmother in Arkansas. They were placed in a train with only tags on their wrists that read, “to whom it may concern” with their names and destination. They also absorbed the deep religious faith and old-fashioned courtesy of traditional African-American life, the strict religious and moral training. One year later, when she was seven years old, her biological father arrived without warning and took the children back with him to California.

    Read More

  • Summary Of On The Pulse Of Morning By Maya Angelou

    464 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the late 20th and early 21st century cultural diversity among the american people was not how it is today. The poem “On the pulse of morning” by Maya Angelou was read at the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1993. Maya was not only the first woman to read at an inauguration but also the first african american. In the poem, Angelou speaks of a rock, a river, and a tree which are symbols of things such as peace, security, and freedom which are available to all people no matter their background. I believe Angelou wrote this poem to show how similar and connected we are as human beings and that we should unite no matter our differences.

    Read More

  • Maya Angelou Phenomenal Woman Essay

    970 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Today, Michelle and I join millions around the world in remembering one of the brightest lights of our time – a brilliant writer, a fierce friend, and a truly phenomenal woman.” (Online - White House). This memorial statement, by Barack Obama in 2014, encompasses how many felt towards Maya Angelou, one of the most influential writers and voices of her generation. Over the course of her lifetime, Maya Angelou was awarded over 50 honorary degrees and received the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Angelou’s personal admiration and self-love that is reflected in her poetic works, specifically, “Phenomenal Woman,” is credited to the overcoming of her traumatic childhood and her work in activism.

    Read More

  • How Did Maya Angelou Impact Society

    842 Words  | 4 Pages

    When thinking of a historical figure, many imagine a president, king, or general that lead a country to greatness, but never realized some could be the ones who influence the minds of society. Although not thought of as anything, writers and poets hold the key to shaping the society’s mindset without even knowing it. Being a civil rights activist, social activist, and role model for women makes Maya Angelou a historical figure who has made a huge impact in American society and in American history. Born poor and black, she was a childhood victim of rape, shamed into silence. She was a young single mother who had to work at strip clubs for a living.

    Read More

  • Maya Angelou Obstacles

    740 Words  | 3 Pages

    III. a. Maya Angelou was an avid writer, speaker, activist and teacher. As a result of the many hardships that she suffered while growing up as a poor black woman in the south she has used her own experiences as the subject matter of her written work. In doing this she effectively shows how she was able to overcome her personal obstacles. Her autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970) tells the story of her life and how she overcame and moved forward triumphantly in spite of her circumstances.

    Read More

  • Champion Of The World By Maya Angelou Analysis Essay

    476 Words  | 2 Pages

    She shows us that despite the injustices that may occur, there will always be victory for those who truly deserve it. Maya Angelou's perspective as a young African American girl is described in Chapter 19 of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, titled Champion of the World. Her community is gathered to support Joe Louis, the former champion, in a boxing match that determines if he'll continue being champion or not. As the story progresses in her grandmother's and uncle’s store, the tone transforms from hopeful to defeated, to triumphant.

    Read More

  • Why Is Maya Angelou Important

    514 Words  | 3 Pages

    Maya Angelou was a strong African-American women who made an influential impact on the Civil Rights Movement, in bother her actions, and her literature. Her life experiences and courage helped others, and made her work influential. During Maya’s early life, she experienced many hardships that shaped her into the person many remember her as. Born on April 4, 1928, she only lived in St. Louis, MO for three years before her parents got divorced, and Maya, along with her mother and brother, moved in with her grandparents in Arkansas. At the age of eight, raped by her mother’s boyfriend, Maya learned the power that words possess.

    Read More

  • Explication Of Woman Works By Maya Angelou

    767 Words  | 4 Pages

    Explication of Maya Angelou’s “woman works” in 1995, Maya Angelou’s poem describing the “jobs” that women have to do, but it did only prove that women work for others, almost all of the time, but that woman are humans and they need a break and the only time woman ever got to sleep was at night time. In the poem Maya Angelou talks about how a woman work all day long, sometimes they had jobs sometimes they just clean up after their lazy husbands or after their children. Maya Angelou said that “ I’ve got children to tend”(1 Angelou) Maya Angelou says that woman have kids and they also have house jobs to do like “the clothes to mend”. These women are hard workers and as the poem goes on we learn that woman would actually like a break from all of

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Angelou And Paul Laurence Dunbar

    535 Words  | 3 Pages

    His poem Sympathy is just one example of how he felt trapped like a caged bird in his life. Even though the Civil War was over, African Americans still did not have as many privileges and opportunities as most White people had. Most of Dunbar’s writing showed his perspective of life and the struggles that came with it. Maya Angelou was born in 1928 and suffered a hard childhood that later on affected her writing. When she was eight years old, Maya was sexually abused and raped by her mother’s boyfriend.

    Read More

  • Maya Angelou's Contribution To The Civil Rights Movement

    1975 Words  | 8 Pages

    Maya Angelou worked as a professor at Wake Forest University, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, from 1991 to 2014. As an African American women, one whose life was full of racial discrimination and gender inequality, she had plenty of experience and wisdom to share with her students. During her time working at the university, she taught a variety of humanities courses such as “World Poetry in Dramatic Performance,” “Race, Politics and Literature,” “African Culture and Impact on U.S.,” and “Race in the Southern Experience” (Wake Forest University,

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Maturity

    1826 Words  | 8 Pages

    Give it everything you've got. I've told you many times, Can't Do is like Don’t Care. Neither of them have a home'" (Angelou 265). Maya’s mother impacts her life greatly, allowing the developing mindset of the cruelty of racism.

    Read More

  • Still I Rise Angelou Analysis

    1181 Words  | 5 Pages

    Resistance to oppression Resistance to oppression is a fluid theme throughout these two works of literature, Angelou in Still I rise, An ode to the power that brews in us all to overcome our most difficult circumstances, and is truly an inspiration to all homestayers in the sixties no matter Their race. Her status as being a powerful black woman in the house, portrays her self confidence to override anything that puts her down as she will always exceed to rise up. “Some declared the institution of marriage to be a form of slavery and thus recommended its abolition” (Somers 263). Susan Rawlings in To Room Nineteen saw suicide as her only outlet to her lack of freedom in her marriage. “One of Angelou's main themes in “Still I Rise” is to say, “I like

    Read More

  • Example Of Activism Essay

    640 Words  | 3 Pages

    “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” (Angelou, Letter to My Daughter). If you want an honest example of overcoming adversity and challenges, Maya Angelou is one of the best. Ever since she was a young girl, many challenges were thrown her way. She had to hurdle over roadblocks and barricades all throughout her life.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Maya Angelou's 'Still I Rise'

    1362 Words  | 6 Pages

    ‘Still I Rise’ by the American, Maya Angelou presents the character of a black woman who is oppressed in the 1970s but refuses to accept this. ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen, however, is concerned with a character who is ‘broken’ after the disabilities he suffers in the First World War at the beginning of the twentieth century. The poem ‘Still I Rise’ is about a woman who discloses that she will overcome anything due to her self-confidence. The line ‘But still, like dust, I’ll rise’ is a metaphor that expresses that she will not be downtrodden by others.

    Read More

More about The Things They Carried By Maya Angelou Analysis

Open Document