Renaissance Woman

Hillary R. Clinton once said that "There cannot be true democracy unless

Women's voices are heard" (Conference in Vienna, Austria 1997) that very brilliant

quote relates to my research on Maya Angelou "America's most visible black female

autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. Angelou's concept of writing is a rather

creative restatement on her childhood and early adult experiences. Angelou should be

crowned the greatest English novelist of her era, because she uses a new kind of

memoirist and her autobiographical are creative non-fiction, which tells a true story but in

the since of a fiction story those appeals to the average reader eyes. The style she chooses

could range from complex symbolical ideas to easy, straightforward concepts. Her style is

like a story, the vocabulary is usually easy to understand, and not to complicated her

works are not always conventional.

The novel Mother: Cradle to hold me I discovered that Angelou wrote this book

based on her life. The main concept of this novel was to show appreciation for your

mother. Ultimately, angelou uses creative non-fiction to catch the interest of her readers,

but at the same time give factually accurate information while telling her personal

journalistic story. Angelou primary goal of this story was to communicate information, j

just like a new reporter, but to shape it in a catchy way that might appeal to her reader's.

For instance: "Yes. It is true. I was created in you. It is also true that you were created for

me. I owned your voice. It was shaped and tuned to soothe me. Your arms were molded

into cradle to hold me, to rock me. The scent of your body was the air perfumed for me to

breathe" (Angelou 1). The writing style Angelou used shows that a mother do not indulge

but loves her child unconditionally. Also another poem goes to say "The way you posed

your head so that the light could caress your face when you put your fingers on my hand

and your hand on my arm I was struck with a sense of health, of strength and very good

fortune" (angelou 6) which intentions were that the mother touch is healing to the child

soul and that the child realize that bond from her mother. Angelou utilized a great tactic

to capture her reader by making her work compelling and very understandable. There is

no felling of puzzledness and she uses rather simple words which still give much

expression. We all experience some type of draw back, and she uses her poems to release

her life struggles. This particular piece showed her as a rebellious teen that matured and

realized a mother deserves appreciation because not only did she risk her life to carry her

child, but she cradled you and gave you a sense of healing from her touch to the words

that exited her mouth. During my research on this particular piece I have learned how I

could write non-fiction about my life, but at the same time make it sound fiction which

usually is preferred by many readers.

Angelou is an author that fined different fashions for each one of her works

depending on what mode she is trying to get across. The work in many of her poems is

decorated up to retell her true short story. Many of her poems can/has inspired people to

walk with their head high, appreciate life and they mother, while inspiring several more to

write. Knowing a little about Angelou life will give you a better insight on her poems,

because they revolve around her life. In one poem "Unmeasured Tempo," Angelou

narrated about a person's life. "How mind and body do not reach their apex at the same

time. By the time a person gets old enough to have a spiritual realization of who they are

their body is already declining" (angelou 11) which shows the word choice she uses is

very understandable. It is not hard to understand the main concept of the poem. This

poem is very understandable and written in a blank form nor does it have the rhyme or

rhythm formula. However this poem do poses figurative language. An example, the

smile, "Dreams are petted like cherished lap dogs" (Angelou 11) it is complex and give

the reader a feeling to dig deeper into the contents of the poem in search of a deep

meaning. In another one of Angelou's poems "Little girl speaking" she once again use the

autobiographical method to retell her life in a comparative poem that focus on what is

important to her. She goes on to explain to her friend she "had the best parents and best

toys