Marguerite Ann Johnson was born on April 4, 1928 to Vivian Baxter and Bailey Johnson Sr. Johnson had trouble growing up due to the color of her skin. In 1945 Marguerite Ann Johnson would graduate high school and give birth to her son Clyde Bailey “Guy” Johnson (Cox, 113). During her singing and theater career, she took the name Maya Angelou. Unfortunately Maya Angelou passed away on May 28, 2014 at the age of eighty-six. Angelou’s style of writing was influenced by her childhood and her ancestors (Bouchard, no p). Maya Angelou displays the theme of freedom, being victorious and life in her writing. Her structure of writing, disguise and poetic element helps Maya Angelou’s point of view through to the reader and makes her one of the greatest African American poets. The theme of freedom is represented by the poem “Caged Bird.” Many symbols are deciphered between a caged bird, a free bird, a cage and nature. The poem focuses on the caged bird crying out for his freedom, while the free bird roams around nature and flying freely. Imagery demonstrates the difference between a caged bird and a free bird. Stanzas one and four explain the free bird and what it is doing freely; “The free bird thinks
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The way African Americans were treated and how Maya Angelou was treated for the color of her skin displays a theme shown in “Weekend Glory” not judging a book by its cover. In stanza six the speaker is judged by the spoiler people by the hard work she has put into the week and making a living while the spoiler people are just being handed things to them and not working for it. The lines “posin and preein” and “putting on acts” conveys the author’s attitude towards such people, who the speaker seems as being ignorant and having misplaces values (wgmaia, no p). Maya Angelou shows the attitude of aggressive towards what has happened during her childhood, her ancestors and the African Americans have been
The way African Americans were treated and how Maya Angelou was treated for the color of her skin displays a theme shown in “Weekend Glory” not judging a book by its cover. In stanza six the speaker is judged by the spoiler people by the hard work she has put into the week and making a living while the spoiler people are just being handed things to them and not working for it. The lines “posin and preein” and “putting on acts” conveys the author’s attitude towards such people, who the speaker seems as being ignorant and having misplaces values (wgmaia, no p). Maya Angelou shows the attitude of aggressive towards what has happened during her childhood, her ancestors and the African Americans have been