Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was an American writer and poet best known for her autobiography *I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings* (1969), which recounts her childhood in the segregated South.
Her work explored themes of identity, family, and racism.
She delivered "On the Pulse of Morning" at Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration, becoming only the second poet to read at a presidential inauguration.
Writer of prose narratives
- playwrightAuthor of stage dramas
- essayistAuthor of short prose
- screenwriterAuthor of film scripts
- poetWriter of verse
biographer · memoirist · storyteller · narrator · literature · prose · publishing · autobiography
Self-penned life narrative
- StampsAn English surname
- ArkansasSouthern state, capital Little Rock
- childhoodLife's earliest phase
- traumaLasting psychological wound
silence · coming-of-age · identity · resilience · grandmother · Marguerite · survival · segregation
Impetus toward a goal
- empowermentGaining authority or confidence
- wisdomGood judgment from experience
- courageFortitude facing danger
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
perseverance · dignity · mentorship · role model · trailblazer · influence · uplift · hope
Guaranteed individual legal protections
- equalitySame status for all
- justiceFair treatment under law
- empowermentGaining authority or confidence
- freedomAbsence of constraint
discrimination · racism · feminism · advocacy · humanitarian · social change · protest · reform
Metered poetic passage
- stanzaPoem's line grouping
- rhythmPatterned stress and silence
- imageryVivid descriptive language
- lyricismExpressive, melodic quality
spoken word · recitation · Still I Rise · meter · cadence · refrain · voice · performance
novelist
Writer of prose narratives
- playwrightAuthor of stage dramas
- essayistAuthor of short prose
- screenwriterAuthor of film scripts
poet · biographer · memoirist · storyteller · narrator · literature · prose · publishing · autobiography · Random House
autobiography
Self-penned life narrative
trauma · silence · coming-of-age · identity · resilience · grandmother · Marguerite · survival · segregation · St. Louis
motivation
Impetus toward a goal
- empowermentGaining authority or confidence
- wisdomGood judgment from experience
- courageFortitude facing danger
resilience · perseverance · dignity · mentorship · role model · trailblazer · influence · uplift · hope · strength
civil rights
Guaranteed individual legal protections
- equalitySame status for all
- justiceFair treatment under law
- empowermentGaining authority or confidence
freedom · discrimination · racism · feminism · advocacy · humanitarian · social change · protest · reform · nonviolent
verse
Metered poetic passage
lyricism · spoken word · recitation · Still I Rise · meter · cadence · refrain · voice · performance · oral tradition
singer
Vocal music performer
Porgy and Bess · nightclub · Roots · stage · Broadway · cabaret · performer · entertainer · touring · European tour
- Famous AuthorsShakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Hemingway, Twain
- notable womenRosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Florence Nightingale, Susan B. Anthony
- poetspoet, Homer, Dante, Milton, Emily Dickinson
- Women WritersJane Austen, Emily Bronte, Virginia Woolf, George Eliot, Anne Bronte
- MemoiristsDavid Sedaris, Anne Frank, Elie Wiesel, Frederick Douglass, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- AuthorsShakespeare, William Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Maya AngelouEzra Pound
Ayn Rand · Charles Bukowski · Sylvia Plath · T.S. Eliot · Ernest Hemingway