The idea in question is the biography of Maya Angelou who is a renowned memoirist, singer, civil rights activist, and poet. She is an inspiration to the literature world because of the contributions she made as a writer and as an activist.
Research and Record
Terms
Reception and Legacy- Reception refers to the action or the process of receiving something inflicted, given or sent (Oxford dictionary). Legacy is a period or an event of history which is a direct result and continues to exist even after it is over (Collins dictionary).
Linguist- Someone who studies the development and the structure of language. Someone who knows many languages (Cambridge dictionary)
Memoirist- Someone who writes memoirs. A memoir is a narrative that is composed of personal experience (Collins dictionary)
Autobiography- The story of a person’s life as written by the person. Autobiography relates to the story of someone’s life but it is written by someone else.
Questions
1. How did Maya Angelou manage to write her autobiographies at a time when African-American female writers were marginalized and undermined? The only explanation to this question is that Maya Angelou was a civil rights activist; she was bold and advocated for the rights of African-American writers. Therefore, she wanted to set precedence and inspire confidence in them.
2. How did Maya Angelou manage to make a name for herself despite the numerous challenges that African-American women faced? Maya Angelou wanted to show the world that African-Americans could also present themselves in their literary works and that they had the freedom to make an identity for themselves.
3. How did Maya Angelou beat all odds and emerge as triumphant in her own area of specialization? Angelou was confident and determined in everything that she did, and was not intimidated by the challenges that she faced.
After reading her biography, I learned that Maya Angelou was passionate about literary work. Angelou presented her childhood without fear as she narrated her escapades therein. Additionally, she did not conceal the difficulties she underwent as a child and was bold enough to let the world know and learn from them. As a civil rights activist, Maya Angelou advocated for the rights of the African-Americans with emphasis that everyone was equal before the law. Maya became the spokesperson of the black community and defended the black culture relentlessly. Accordingly, she was honored as an icon and a figure to emulate.
The information on other internet sites was in harmony with that of Wikipedia because it highlights the important details about Maya Angelou. Specifically, the fact that she presented her literary skills to the best of her ability has been addressed in both cases. Moreover, these two sources compare because they affirm that her first autobiography received both praises and criticism in equal measures.
The sources from the internet were credible more so because they addressed the most essential information about Maya Angelou. However, the article that was more reliable is the one written by ‘The Encyclopedia Britannica’ entitled ‘Maya Angelou.’ Also notable is that the information in Wikipedia seems to be deeper than in other sources because it looks into the life of Maya Angelou in chronological order; it highlights the sequence of her life from childhood to adulthood. The article that was questionable regarding its credibility is the biography on the ‘Caged Bird Legacy’ which appeared to be shallow as it does not reveal everything that the reader would need to know. The idea that stood out is the fact that the different sources have different versions of the story although they intend to serve the same purpose of informing the reader.
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