Maya Angelou Spoken Language

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Maya Angelou, author, performer, and leader, is an inspiration to various people across the world. She protested the rights of inequality among men, women and race. Angelou experienced many hardships, including abandonment and abuse throughout her childhood.

“It takes the human voice to infuse them (words) with the shades of a deeper meaning.” (Angelou) This quote enhances people’s views on the written language versus the spoken language. Hearing the words creates a distinction between verbal and written communication. There’s only so much people can understand and interpret while reading. Literature withstands not because of the words on the page, but because of the interpretation of those words. Verbal language is easier to grasp, therefore
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Mrs.Flowers, her neighbor, invited her over several times and read poems to Angelou. Angelou listened to poetry for the first time and furthermore, she began to enjoy it. Soon, she spoke a line from one of the poems that she memorized and she started to express emotions. She realized that people perceive words differently when they hear them out loud. Angelou didn’t talk for an elongated time, so her feelings were buried deep inside her and once she spoke, her sentiments slowly started to flood out.

If she were present today, she would inform the public on various lessons about love, death, pain and the importance people have in this society. Dr.Angelou composed poetry to represent the troubling times throughout her life. She was abandoned by her parents at a young age and was sent to live in Arkansas. She and her brother, Bailey, felt neglected by their parents. Although, none of her relationships lasted, she fell in love multiple times. Dr.King died on her birthday, April fourth, and she was deeply affected by his death because he was an activist in the Civil Rights Movement. Angelou talks countless times about what it means to be human and the choices we make throughout

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