Maya Angelou’s tumultuous childhood in the South and the struggles that come with being black are the basis for her autobiographies such as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Through her rich, insightful literature she is able to record the black experience and ultimately the black struggle. She “[is] always talking about the human condition – about what we can endure, dream fail at and still survive.”(Matzu 23) Angelou’s early life was full of hardships; making her strong and ready to fight for her rights. As a young child she, along with her brother Bailey and their parents, moved from her birth place St. Louis to Long Beach. After her parents struggles there, she and Bailey were shipped off to Stamps, Arkansas; the starting point for Caged Bird (Phelps 4). When she was very young she became trapped within herself and would not speak. Not speaking opened up her ears, and she learned how to listen, a valuable tool as a writer. As a child she had fallen in love with the......

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Title: Maya Angelou
Approximate Word Count: 856
Approximate Pages: 4 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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