Maya Angelou: Wikipedia Proposal

Structural Edits

• Move poetry section to under the Works subheader, creating an autobiography and a poetry section
• Change name of subheader “Style and genre in autobiographies” to “Literary and Poetic Style”

Content Edits

• Add list of her poetry collection under Works subheader (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry_of_Maya_Angelou)
  • Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie (1971)
  • Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well  (1975)
  • And Still I Rise (1978)
  • Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing? (1983)
  • Poems (1986)
  • Now Sheba Sings the Song (1987)
  • I Shall Not Be Moved (1990)
  • The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (1994)
  • Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women (1995)
  • Poetry for Young People (2007)
• In Literary Style and Genre section, add analysis of liberation ideology and transcendence in her poems by Yasmin DeGout, who states that Angelou’s poems “elicit racial pride, disrupt false allegiances, provide healing community, create boundless affinity, yield individual consciousness, allow triumph, ensure survival, and serve as political intervention [sic].” DeGout further states that Angelou’s poems create a “community of healing,” by assuming that readers will relate to the subject, thus allowing the speaker to heal. Angelou uses poetic and literary devices such as “catachresis, ambiguity, personification, and hieratic style” to empower her readers.

Source: DeGout, Yasmin Y. (2009). “The Poetry of Maya Angelou: Liberation Ideology and Technique”. In Bloom’s Modern Critical Views—Maya Angelou, Harold Bloom, ed. New York: Infobase Publishing, pp. 121–132.