Charlysia

= Maya Angelou =

Name: Maya Angelou Born: Marguerite Johnson, April 4, 1928 Where: St. Louis, Missouri Age: 83

**Biography** Maya's parents was name Vivian Baxter and Baliey Johnson. Baliey was a doorman and navy dietitian. Her mother was an real estate agent, trained surgical nurse, and later on a merchant marine. Marguerite was born and raised in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. She is well known as an poet. She wrote many books. Maya was nominated for the Pulitzer prize, for the books she wrote.She was an Northern Christan Leadership Conference(NCLC). Maya also worked over seas. Maya was also nominated for National Book Award. Angelou has been married three times. In the 1950's, Maya relocated to New York City. She relocated to focus more on here writing career/a poetic. She had join Harlem Writers Guild. Did you know that Maya Angelou meet Martin Luther King Jr.? Well yes she got to meet the most popular speakers in Montgomery, Alabama. So she began writing poems about civil rights. Well she's a successful writer. She has earned over 30 honorary degrees.

==My Favorite From Maya Angel  media type="file" key="Charlysia.mp3" width="240" height="20" ==

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size But when I start to tell them, They think I'm telling lies. I say, It's in the reach of my arms The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me.

I walk into a room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees. Then they swarm around me, A hive of honey bees. I say, It's the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me.

Men themselves have wondered What they see in me. They try so much But they can't touch My inner mystery. When I try to show them They say they still can't see. I say, It's in the arch of my back, The sun of my smile, The ride of my breasts, The grace of my style. I'm a woman

Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me.

Now you understand Just why my head's not bowed. I don't shout or jump about Or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing It ought to make you proud. I say, It's in the click of my heels, The bend of my hair, the palm of my hand, The need of my care, 'Cause I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me.

Thats my favorite poem because, its like she's talking all of the words out my mouth. Also, its like she describing me and all the other womens in the world. The characteristic she is using is tone. Her tone in this poem is strong and powerful. I know when i'm reading her poems, its like she describes herself in her poem but really about others. Also, she using rhyme scheme. like for an example:

**Still I Rise by Maya Angelou**
 You may write me down in history  With your bitter, twisted lies,  You may trod me in the very dirt  But 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 wells  Pumping 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? <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> Bowed head and lowered eyes? <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> Shoulders falling down like teardrops. <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> Weakened by my soulful cries.

<span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> Does my haughtiness offend you? <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> Don't you take it awful hard <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> Diggin' in my own back yard.

<span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> You may shoot me with your words, <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> You may cut me with your eyes, <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> You may kill me with your hatefulness, <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> But still, like air, I'll rise.

<span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> Does my sexiness upset you? <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> Does it come as a surprise <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> That I dance like I've got diamonds <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> At the meeting of my thighs?

<span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> Out of the huts of history's shame <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> I rise <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> Up from a past that's rooted in pain <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> I rise <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> Leaving behind nights of terror and fear <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> I rise <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> I rise <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> I am the dream and the hope of the slave. <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> I rise <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> I rise <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 14px; padding-top: 20px;"> I rise.