How does Maya Angelou use diction and imagery to develop narrative voice in Phenomenal Woman, Still I Rise, and Touched by An Angel?
Introduction
During Maya Angelou’s life she has encountered and experienced many things, and these things have made an impact on her writing. Maya Angelou grew up during segregation, and this has impacted her poems as will. She also was raped at age eight by her mother’s boyfriend, and this also has impacted her poetry. In multiple poems she’s written, her rape and unfairness during segregation has helped her write this poetry, because all her poems are biographies of her life. Some famous poetry that she has created consists of Still I Rise, Phenomenal Women, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Touched by An Angel, and Men. Some of the diction that Angelou uses in these poems has an educated approach, a sassy approach, and an angry approach. The imagery she develops varies; in Phenomenal Woman she uses imagery to describe what the world may see as a perfect woman, and what she is. In Still I Rise she uses imagery to describe her life and the things she accomplishes no matter what happened to her or what the world may think of her. The question at hand is now, what narrative voice does Maya Angelou develop using diction and imagery, in Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise?
This research question is worth studying, because many people have different opinions on her writing and I intend to critic and actually understand the concepts that Maya Angelou’s develops that make her writing superior to prove my reasoning of her narrative voice. Some comments made about her narrative voice were that her poems were written in 1st person, and she doesn’t have a unique style. I believe that Maya Angelou’s poetry definitely has a unique style, and that it was written in 2nd and 1st person, because some of her poems inform readers on a different level, but some speak upon her life. Since, so many people have critiqued her poetry and stories I...