Of Those Who Influenced Maya Angelou

Joyce Morris

Professor Salsich

English 101

13 October 2010

Of Those Who Influenced Maya Angelou

From Two Essays

Maya Angelou credits many poets and authors for the direction of her writings.  Mary Jane Lupton who wrote “Mary Jane Lupton on the Poets Who Influenced Maya Angelou”, and Dolly A. Macpherson’s, “Dolly A. McPherson on Angelou’s Use of Comic Irony”, both reference authors who affected Angelou.  Both authors refer to connections Angelou had to authors from her past.  The writers that influenced Angelou came from many different races and backgrounds.

(TS)McPherson, in “Dolly A. McPherson on Angelou’s Use of Comic Irony” feels that Angelou’s “use of comic irony is a effective technique”, and her use of parody shows her love and admiration of black people.  (SD)A way she shows comic irony is in writing about her relationships with people.  (CM)At one time Angelou hires a hairdresser to give her a fancy hairdo.  In turn the hairdresser gives her, what Angelou calls a “pickaninnies” style hairdo.  (CM)Angelou feels the hairstyle was done to her to “teach her a lesson on her foolishness of trying to go native.”  (SD)Angelou’s technique of self parody was something that had not been done previously in black autobiography.  (CM)Angelou uses self parody in her work and it shows her own “youthful silliness, loneliness, pretensions, aspirations and instability.”  (CM)In her adulthood Angelou uses larger than life personalities to parody her younger days and gives the reader a view of herself in doing so.  (SD)McPherson feels that Angelou’s use of parody is not for laughter but to cover her own weakness. (CM)Through her work she is able to reveal painful aspects of her life with humor and irony.  (CM)Angelou’s work has an “empathy for people’s foibles and their efforts to retain some semblance of dignity” as they go through things in daily life that can sometimes be kind of hectic.  (CM)McPherson feels Angelou has a understanding of herself that leads to a kinship with humankind.  (CS)Angelou’s use of comic irony and parody in her works gives the reader a view into herself and what has made her the writer she is. (McPherson et al. 69-71)

(TS)In Lupton’s essay, “Mary Jane Lupton on the Poets who Influenced Maya Angelo” Angelou credits the influence of many different types of authors in her style of work.   (SD) Angelou acknowledges these authors and poets and quotes them in her work.   (CM)Lupton states that Angelou was influenced by black female poets such as Frances Harper and Anne Spencer.  (CM)In addition she was influenced by male poets Edgar Allan Poe and James Weldon Johnson. (SD)Angelou had stated she had “no idea African poets even existed early on.”  (CM)African poets were not published in the United States when she was growing up, as she grew older she was introduced to African and Asian poets.   (CM)Angelou admired Kwesi, and feels she is still influenced by his work. (SD)“As a child Angelou was affected by the ideas and rhythms of lyric poetry.”  (CM)Emily Dickenson’s work had lyrical qualities that Angelou enjoyed.  (CM)In mentioning Dorothy Parker’s work Angelou said they were “funny and wry.”  (SD)Angelou knew and enjoyed the works of Japanese and Chinese poets.   (CM)Her work was influenced by Haiku.  (CM)Angelou was more familiar with Japanese and Chinese work because it was available to her.  (CS)Throughout her life Maya Angelou drew from the styles of African, Asian, Japanese and Asian writers and brought it in to her own work.  (Lupton 30-31)

In Dolly A. McPherson’s “Dolly A. McPherson on Angelou’s Use of Comic Irony” and Mary Jane Lupton’s “Mary Jane Lupton on the Poets Who Influenced Maya Angelou” both authors state many poets and authors who influenced Maya Angelou.  The many facets of Maya Angelou’s style from irony to lyric form are directly drawn from poets and authors that Angelou admired.   Angelou had a love and admiration for many authors works and she honors them by imitating and quoting them in her own work.  Angelou’s works show part of herself to the reader and documents both her flaws and her accomplishments in her work, showing the reader what has made her who she is.

Works Cited

Lupton, Mary Jane, and Harold Bloom.  “Mary Jane Lupton on the Poets Who Influenced Maya Angelou”

                Bloom’s Major Poets: Maya Angelou (2001): 30-31.  InfoBase Publishing.

EBSCOhost.  Three Rivers Community College Library.  20 September 2010

<http://search.ebscohost.com/>.

McPherson, Dolly A.  “Dolly A. McPherson on Angelou’s Use of Comic Irony.”

Bloom’s Guides: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (2004): 69-71. InfoBase Publishing.  EBSCOhost.  Three Rivers Community College Library.  20 September 2010

<http://search.ebscohost.com/>.