Maya Angelou

The writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit--for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally flags of hope and of emulation. I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectability of man has no dedication nor any membership in literature.

In Angelou’s first novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she examines how a bird (soul) that is caged (unfree) would still sing. I was curious about this and my main question after reading the story is how Angelou came to such a hopeful worldview despite her many horrific life experiences (poverty, racism, assassinations, divorce, etc.).

The roller-coaster life of Maya Angelou has included many ups and downs that have become the stuff out of which she has written a six volume autobiography, beginning with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and ending recently with the last installment, A Song Flung up to Heaven. Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri (Weaver G-10). Angelou’s life has been filled with chaos and despair

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hat living well is an art, one which can be developed through living right. In an Interview with David Frost, Frost asked Maya about her ability to escape from despair and disaster time and again in her life. While she does admit she has been able to achieve such an existence, Angelou responded to Frost by saying, “How the hell do you know I did escape? You don’t know what demons I still wrestle with. Is that right?” (Frost 2). Angelou is basically saying that living well is a right and a responsibility, one that takes hard work, sacrifice, and is basically a never-ending developmental process until death ends it. Angelou also reveals in this interview that courage is the main element necessary to overcome the fear and trepidations many of us experience in trying to develop the art of living, “Courage is the most important of all the virtues” (Frost 3). Angelou is considered a writer of hope and optimism, one who affirms life in all its glory and despair. Her main point is that in order to learn to live life one must use courage, hope and optimism to live to fight and develop another day. In the final installment of her autobiography, Angelou discusses her great despair and anguish at the assassinations of her good friend
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Approximate Word count = 1346
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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