Maya Angelou's Biogrpahy Social Sciences Assignment (Essay Sample)

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Hope among Women: Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou had the desire to change the world using language. Having been raised up in a particularly unstable family, she relied on hope for a better tomorrow. During her high school studies, she developed passion in written, spoken and sung language. Precisely, she desired to use the power of language to impact on those who were desolate. Her commission was engendered towards the poor, especially the black women, as a message of hope for better tomorrow (Lupton 70). According to the premises of Angelou’s work, hope begets a new life, which, however, must be attained through determination, whatever the cost. Using her works and iteration of her biography, a clear demonstration of the power of hope in developing a revived life is evident, as explored below.
PHENOMENAL WOMAN
In the poem, Phenomenal Woman, Angelou invokes her stylistic swings of emotion from pride to anger and confrontation of those who oppress others. In this poem, Angelou is out to uplift the value of a woman this idea is echoed in her advice towards the new generation of women seeking power (Karin). The described woman (assumably herself) attracts attention to all that look at her. Her confidence is expressed in her looks as she holds her head up high. This implies that she loves and values herself just as she is. She, therefore, contracts her words, “I’m not cute or built to suit a model’s fashion size,” (Angelou 206) with the fact that she still accepts her personality.
Even though the woman is of such a high standard, she expresses her concern to men who are out to get hold of her (Hagen 126). But their ill intentions are well known to this particular woman. She is cautious; she will not give in to the malicious intentions of men. In this analogy, she uses contractions to compare the delight of this kind of a woman to the masculinity of a man wanting her attention. In this context, she is keen to warn young women not to fall into the traps of such men. While her knowledge comes from experience with the people, she wants no woman caught by the trap. Using such citations, we come to know her experiences in life, as a woman who has encountered difficulties from oppression (Juan 83). Since she expresses her history as a lady who has ever fallen to the indignities and prejudices of the blacks, she is a living witness that women can get past this tragedy. In this context, Harold Bloom states that any woman is a phenomenal woman since she holds the capacity to endure all these tribulations and still stand strong (44).
In a similar manner, while she makes many men wonder her uniqueness, she is equally similar to other women out there (Hagen 126). Her strength is her ability to believe in herself and trust in her abilities. This makes her feel classic in spite of her looks that are dissimilar to that of a model. She, therefore, asserts that she finds no need of charming men, for everyone is uniquely made. All the same, people are amused by her charm. She (Angelou) refers this charm as an “inner mystery” (206), hardly understood. The mystery can be related to her confidence in who she is.
STILL I RISE
Using this poem, Maya Angelou explores the fate of the blacks, especially women; a category that she belongs. She attempts to dismiss those who despise her by exclaiming that she will instead rise like dust. Sarcastically, she claims that she will rise like the dust, while her hatters want her to fall. She is positive that she will rise and her haters will do nothing about it. She says, “You may trod me in the very dirt but still like dust, I'll rise” (255). This is a declaration of determination, in spite of potential enemies that surround her. Galens and David in section 3 express that the poem puts the hatred shown towards the blacks by the nonblacks (1).
Upon acknowledging the hostile environment that she emerges from, she declares that she means no harm to anyone. However, this juxtaposition shows that even though so much harm is done unto her, she intends not to reciprocate. She can endure all of it, and still smile back. She is keen to accept the fact that the hostility shown towards her comes from the fact that she is black. She goes on to cite that the blacks will not only endure their plight but learn from it, as reported by Lupton (70). Henceforth the blacks will be conscious and keen never to exterminate their awareness within the western lifestyle.
To further express her background history as black who has witnessed the black American culture, she uses the dialect in her poem. These stanzas show that she is conversant with the ordinary language employed by the blacks. More than just the standard language, the negative attitude of dislike is used to commentate the everyday encounters that the blacks have to face in their daily life: Rejection. However, they have adapted to this situation. They find it no longer offensive to be hated. She has grown resilient enough to know that it does not matter anyway (Juan 84). It does not shake them. As she (Angelou) explains, she is just fine is she is hated. This is a wholesome explanation of the lives of the blacks.
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.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise. (255)
CONCLUSION
According to Angelou, the rightful place for the blacks especially women can only be recaptured through a forced fight for their rights. However, she daren't put the battle on the streets, but rather uses the power of the tongue, to sin...