Maya Angelou

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Maya Angelou
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Biography

• Birth name Marguerite Johnson
• Born April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri
• Raised in segregated rural Arkansas
• Interesting fact At age 16, she was the first
  African American woman streetcar conductor in San
  Francisco.

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Career achievements

• Worked on the civil rights movement with Martin
  Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X
• Served in the SCLC with Dr. King
• First black director and screenwriter in
  Hollywood
• nominated for an Emmy Award for her acting in
  Roots, and her screenplay Georgia
• wrote and delivered a poem at President Clintons
  1993 presidential inauguration

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Literary Achievements

• First book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,
  nominated for Pulitzer Prize
• Published twelve best-selling books
• Some books Just Give Me A Cool Drink of Water
  Fore I Diiie, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,
  Phenomenal Women, And Still I Rise

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And Still I Rise

• Written in 1996
• Series of powerful and distinctive poems, full of
  lifting rhythms of love and remembering

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Still I Rise-from Still I Rise
You may write me down in historyWith your
bitter, twisted lies,You may trod me in the very
dirtBut still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my
sassiness upset you?Why are you beset with
gloom?'Cause I walk like I've got oil
wellsPumping in my living room. Just like moons
and like suns,With the certainty of tides,Just
like hopes springing high,Still I'll rise. Did
you want to see me broken?Bowed head and lowered
eyes?Shoulders falling down like
teardrops.Weakened by my soulful cries. Does my
haughtiness offend you?Don't you take it awful
hard'Cause I laugh like I've got gold
minesDiggin' in my own back yard. You may shoot
me with your words,
Cont
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You may cut me with your eyes,You may kill me
with your hatefulness,But still, like air, I'll
rise. Does my sexiness upset you?Does it come as
a surpriseThat I dance like I've got diamondsAt
the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of
history's shameI riseUp from a past that's
rooted in painI riseI'm a black ocean, leaping
and wide,Welling and swelling I bear in the
tide.Leaving behind nights of terror and fearI
riseInto a daybreak that's wondrously clearI
riseBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I
am the dream and the hope of the slave.I riseI
riseI rise.
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Some key poetic devices to notice about the poem

• rhythm
• rhyme
• repetition
• lyrical quality

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Listen for these poetic devices as Dr. Angelou
reads a version of Still I Rise
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Taking advantage of the lyrical quality of the
poem Ben Harpers Still I Rise from his 1994
debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World
Listen
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Maya Angelou Homework Assignment
Option 1 Find a poem that you think has lyrical
potential and turn it into a song. This can be
either performed live in class, or you may bring
in a recording. Option 2 Find a song with
poetic lyrics and give a dramatic poetry reading
of them to the class. It must be memorized.
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For More Information on Maya Angelou

• www.mayaangelou.com
• www.empirezine.com/spotlight/maya/maya1.htm

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Angelou Audio Clip from

• www.educeth.ch/english/readinglist/angeloum/author
  .htmlvideo