MAYA ANGELOU

HER LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE

• Born on April 4, 1928 in the city of Saint Louis in Missouri and died on May 28, 2014 in Winston-Salem, North Caroline
• Her parents split up when she was really young, so sent to to live with aunt in Stamps, Arkansas
• Her childhood was rough, with her getting raped at just the age of 7. But the uncle killed the man who did this to her.
• She study dance at the California Labor School.
• At 16 she had a son named Guy.

HER LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE

• She was on the Broadway in 1957 with shows like Porgy and Bess
• Then in the 1960s she moved aboard to Egypt and Ghanna
• In 1969 she wrote the memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, it being about her young and early adult life
• Her memoir was historical for being the best-seller for an African American woman
• Throughout her life she wrote many autobiographies, totaling 2 autobiographies

HER LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE

• She won 1 Tony Award and 1 Emmy Award
• She wrote many autobiographies including A Song Flung Up to Heaven
• published many collections of poetry, including Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die, which was published in 1971
• Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize
• She did many other things like recite a poem at a presidential inauguration, write many inspirational works, and writing cookbooks

STYLE OF POETRY OR PREDOMINANT MESSAGE

• Her style of poetry was persuasive and descriptive
• Then her Predominant style seems to be racism

HARLEM HOPSCOTCH

The One foot down, then hop! It's hot.
Good things for the ones that's got.
Another jump, now to the left.
Everybody for hisself.

In the air, now both feet down.
Since you black, don't stick around.
Food is gone, the rent is due,
Curse and cry and then jump two

All the people out of work,
Hold for three, then twist and jerk.
Cross the line, they count you out.
That's what hopping's all about.

Both feet flat, the game is done.
They think I lost. I think I won

ANALYZING HARLEM HOPSCOTCH

• This peom is about what life was like if you were black
• Now let's stay talking about what it is about

THIS POEM IS ABOUT.....

• The life of African Americans back in 1971
• And how they weren't welcome almost everywhere and had to fight for themselves
• It is about the hard life they faced. Including how it doesn't matter if you have no food but you must pay the rent. The poor ness doesn't stop there it's all around, that is the life they lead, society does not expect us to come around.
• Society thinks we have nothing, but we have it all

WHAT CAN I MYSELF TAKE AWAY?

• Writing about an important historical event, like the Harlem Renaissance
• Doing my poems to a certain beat
• Poetry can be free verse and still be effective