books and poems that have given her great success. If one would talk

to her, he or she would think she has lead a normal, happy life. Her

life is blissful now, but it wasn’t always perfect. Maya Angelou’s

sorrowful life experiences inspired her to write autobiographical

Maya Angelou was born April 4, 1928 as Marguerite Johnson in St.

Louis. She was raised in segregated rural Arkansas. She came from a

broken home. Angelou was raped at eight, and was an unwed mother at 16

years old (Williams 1). In spite of her tragic childhood, she still

managed to become one of the greatest black poets of the twentieth

Angelou is a poet, an author, a historian, an actress, a

playwright, a civil-rights activist, a producer, and a director. Ms.

Angelou began her career in drama and dance, and she married a South

African freedom fighter and lived in Cairo. Later she also taught in

Ghana. In the 1960's she said that being black, female, non-Muslim,

non-Arab, six foot tall, and American made for some interesting

experiences during her stay in Africa (Williams 1).

works to understand (Angelou 18). This poem doesn’t have a lot of

of the poem. She first talks about her mother being this perfect

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