Maya Angelou: an Inspiring Poet

 Maya Angelou is an African American writer who managed to inspire people through both her words and her books. Angelou wrote about many things she went through in life. She put her pain into stories. She did that in various styles of writings. Angelou encouraged both the young and old to follow their hearts and do whatever their hearts desire. Lots of people adored Angelou, not only because she was a writer but because she was an amazing person.

        At the beginning, Angelou had a rough background but it all lead to an amazing journey in life. According to Critical Companion to Maya Angelou, Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis Missouri. Her parents were Bailey Johnson and Vivian Baxter. Her father was a nay dietitian and her mother was a professional nurse (7).  Angelou was seduced and raped at age 8. According to Critical Companion to Maya Angelou, The man who raped Angelou was murdered (possibly by Angelou's uncles) and Angelou was silenced for 5 years (15). Angelou graduated George Washington High School with honors. Angelou struggles with her sexuality and has sexual intercourse with a white man to determine if she was bisexual or not. When she realized that she was pregnant, she decided not to tell anyone until it was almost time for the birth. She had her only son after she graduated (21). Her father got a new girlfriend after him and his wife divorced and his girlfriend did not like Angelou an she stabbed Angelou when they were fighting (19).  Angelou's journey did not stop there.

        The worst of Angelou was almost past her. According to Critical Companion to Maya Angelou, Angelou was a dancer in nightclubs, a body shop employee, she removed paint from cars with her bare hands. Angelou was at a nightclub and she saw some dancers and Angelou decided that she wanted to own a prostitute business (24). Angelou decided to travel to South Africa with her son. While in South Africa, she received threatening phone calls from agents of South Africa's apartheid regime. Angelou met a new fling (Make) and he moved Angelou and her son to Egypt (38). Angelou was hired the assistant administrator or the School of Music and Drama at the University of Ghana. She wrote the Ghanaian Times newspaper (41). Angelou worked in Malcolm X's organization. She realized that it was amazing that she was in the organization. Sadly, Angelou received news that Malcolm X was assassinated. Angelou fell into an emotional tailspin (44). Angelou decided that she wanted to start writing about her journeys through life. Her books are written in various styles and an amazing amount of emotion.

        One important thing to look for when reading Angelou's amazing books are their styles. According to Critical Companion to Maya Angelou, Angelou's books are laced with rhythms. Her books talk about black traditions of the South. When she is reading the books, she reads them in a deep southern accent (9). When she is speaking to groups, she reads in a mixture of aphorisms and parables (59). According to American Writers: Supplement: a collection of literary biographies, Angelou is an absolute observer of self and society. She echoes in structure; flexibility of the life process. She observes areas of life. Angelou's most popular book is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1). Her amazing books attract both the young and old. Angelou has a way with words. She usually writes about things that have happened in her life. Angelou's techniques are just as important as her styles.

        Along with the last paragraph, Angelou's techniques are very unique. According to Critical Companion to Maya Angelou, Some of her techniques include, a deep southern voice. She uses authentic dialogue. She also uses some of her song lyrics. Usually she writes in first person singular. She also uses slave narrative (5,2,9,33,39). According to Contemporary Black Biography in context, Angelou writes about her poetic adventure. She observes things like shattered dolls, filmy veils, and Klansmen riding in the night. According to American Writers: Supplement: a collection of literary biographies, Angelou has books for cooking. Her languages in her books are a very important technique. She uses lovemaking. What is amazing is that when she writes, she is not only embarrassing herself, but she is embarrassing the people she loves and care about but they do not care. They are happy that she is doing what she loves (14). Her techniques tie together with her themes.

        First, there are some things that people should know about Angelou because her life may look amazing but there are some things that a lot of people do not know. According to Critical Companion to Maya Angelou, Angelou's child was left heartbroken after his father left. After his father left, nothing was the same with Angelou and her son. Angelou tried her best to mend her relationship with her son (28). Angelou had to find a way to help pay for bother her son and herself. She decided to become an exotic dancer (29). After that job, Angelou because a singer and a professional dancer (30). Angelou soon realized that her son was not getting enough attention. She did not realize it at first because she was doing so many things. She did not want to have to depend on anyone for anything. She did not even want to depend on her own mother. She wanted to do things on her own (32). The things Angelou wrote about may have seemed like it was too personal.

        A better way to express how Angelou wrote her amazing books would be to tell about her subject matters. According to Critical Companion to Maya Angelou, Angelou wrote about her and her sons relationship. She mainly wrote about her life. She also loved to write about the social history of African Americans and their culture. She wrote about experiences with her grandmother. She wrote about experiences with her brother. Her first auto biography was based on a black girl living in the South. Angelou was that black girl (5,22,8,9). According to American Writers: Supplement: a collection of literary biographies, Angelou felt abused and devoted. She often referred to it as a black ugly dream (3). Angelou loved to surround herself in men. She also had a drinking problem (15). Angelou was a prostitute and the lesson from that was you do not always have to sell yourself in order to get money. People just have to find what they like most and use that as their ticket to success (5). Angelou writes I many different genres. That is what amazes people attention the most, the way she can express herself in different styles of literature.

Next, as we get deeper in to Angelou's amazing writings, we see that she has various genres. According to Critical Companion to Maya Angelou, Angelou has a lot of genres. Angelou has poetry books (6). She has personal essays, drama, television plays, children books, and screen plays (40). Angelou's amazing work has inspired people. Angelou wrote a lot of books when she was alive. Some of her books were, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie. Gather Together in My Name. Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas. Another one is, And I Still Rise. Angelou appeared in a lot of plays and television shows. One show she appeared on was, Sister, Sister. All of the books she wrote always came with some criticism. It was not always bad. Most of her criticism was good.

        After Angelou's amazing books were published, critics would read them and tell her what was good about the book and sometimes what was bad. She always took the bad criticism and constructive criticism. Just some advice that would help her along the way. According to Critical Companion to Maya Angelou, Loomis, which is Angelou's editor, said, Maya is her books (50). What Loomis meant was that Angelou puts everything she has inside of her in her books. All Angelou's experiences in life are in her books. According to Contemporary Black Biography in context, Houston A. Baker from New York Times book review said, One of the geniuses of Afro-American serial autobiography (1). Baker was indicating that Angelou's books give a very unique vibe to the African American culture. According to American Writers: Supplement: a collection of literary biographies, an unknown critic said, Lacked intuitive good judgement in Caged Bird (6). What that unknown critic was saying is that Angelou gives good judgement without actually saying those exact words. Her books give an amazing amount of information even if the book is short. All of the books that Angelou wrote were amazing in some type of way. Angelou received various awards for her books.

        In addition to the last sentence in the last paragraph, Angelou has many awards for her amazing books. According to Contemporary Black Biography in context, Angelou received awards like the National book award, Pulitzer Prize, League of New York Theatres and Producers. Angelou even received the Woman of the year in communications award. She received a Tony award. She received a Grammy award. She also received a Quills award for poetry. Angelou received a Presidential medal of freedom award (1). Angelou received all of those awards because of her amazing talent. Angelou writes from the heart and nowhere else. She always seems to give off a positive vibe in her writings. Angelou is a very appreciated woman. Not only from her friends and family but also from her readers.

        Maya Angelou is an amazing friend and an amazing writer. According to Critical Companion to Maya Angelou, Angelou died on May 28, 2014. Angelou is a valued writer because she gives her readers life. Her writings inspire everyone. Maya Angelou's writings came from the heart. She cared about her son. She went through so much in her life, but she never gave up. She was determined to do what she loved. She overcame obstacles. She told the truth and never held anything back. She respected everyone. She was not bias, and she was not racist. Angelou lived a full and strong life. There was nothing that she could not do when it came to helping people out. Angelou was supportive of everyone. Lots of people adored Angelou, not only because she was a writer but because she was an amazing person.

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