Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou detailed analysis

 

Phenomenal woman

Maya Angelou

(1928-2014)

About the author

¨ Maya Angelou (born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American poet, singer, memoirist and civil rights activist.

¨ She has penned 7 autobiographies, 3 books of essays, several books of poetry and a number of plays, movies and television shows

¨ In her autobiographies, Angelou documents the discrimination and racism she experienced during her youth.

¨ Angelou continued to write and published her acclaimed autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in 1970.

¨ “On the pulse of morning” is the poem read at President Bill Clinton’s presidential inauguration. She became the second poet to do so.

Works

¨ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)

¨ Gather together in my name (1974)

¨ Singin’ & Swingin’ & Getting’ Merry like Christmas (1949)

¨ The Heart of a Woman (1981)

¨ All God’s Children need Traveling Shoes

¨ A song Flung up to Heaven (2002)

¨ Mom & Me &Mom (2013)

¨ And Still I Rise(1978)

¨ Phenomenal Woman (1995)

¨ On the Pulse of Morning (1993)

¨ Letter to my Daughter (2008)

¨ Life doesn’t frighten me (1993)

Phenomenal woman  was published the volume And Still I Rise (1978)

¨ Maya Angelou was proud of herself and wanted the world to see it, she was not afraid of speaking in the public, she used to offer talks to help the victims of racial  discrimination

¨ In the poem, Angelou speaks as a confident woman. She wants to show the world what makes her beautiful and she expresses it in various ways

¨ The poem rejects the narrow societal notion of women and proposes an alternative perspective on what defines real beauty.

¨ Confidence and comfort in one’s own skin the speaker insists are the markers of true beauty and thus the poem offers an empowering message for all women.

POEM

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.

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 for my care.

’Cause I’m a woman

Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

EXPLANATION

¨ Phenomenal Woman is a lyrical poem that sends out an important message to the world of convention and stereotype: empowerment comes from being confident in your own female skin, no matter if you are not seen as cute or fashionable by the masses.

¨ Maya Angelou published this poem in 1978 when it appeared in And Still I Rise, a collection of powerful poems that set many an oppressed woman free. 

¨ Phenomenal Woman is a direct and passionate poem the speaker's narration contains the seed of self-knowing, of self-confidence.

¨ Maya Angelou claims that “Beauty is even more than skin deep”. It comes with confidence and self esteem

Style and Theme

¨ Ballad in free verse

¨ No conventional rhyme

¨ Direct personal voice

¨ Themes  are individuality, self acceptance and self confidence.

¨ The poem can be considered as a discourse commenting on social outlook towards gender and sexuality, and is commonly regarded as a tribute to womanhood. The poet asserts that the looks alone do not define beauty, but it is the whole of human character and disposition that constitute for its parameters.

 

Figure of Speech

a.   Refrain: Repetition of  lines

b.   Imagery: Use of vivid descriptive language to add depth

c.   Irony:

d.   Asyndaton: A figure of speech in which one or several forms of conjunctions are omitted from a series of related clauses.

e.   Ephanophora:  a rhetorical device consisting of repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive sentences. The phrase beginning with ‘the’ is being repeated in the same position

f.     Epiphora: repetition of same word at the end of successive phrases/ clauses/ sentences. It is the counterpart of Anaphora. It is extremely emphatic device because of the emphasis placed on the last word in a phrase/ sentence.

g.   Metaphor

h.   Personification

Questions

¨ Real name of Maya Angelou

¨ Her famous autobiography

¨ How many  lines in the poem

¨ Fill in blanks: they try so much but they cant touch -------

¨ When was the poem published and in which volume of poetry

¨ Opening word of the opening line

¨ Theme of the poem

¨ What makes a woman phenomenal?

¨ What is the tone of the poem