Maya Angelou's Literary Analysis

As a teenager, Maya Angelou was driven to succeed in all aspects of her life which began with her move to San Francisco after winning a scholarship at San Francisco’s Labor School in 1942 (Wagner-Martin, 12). Later in her life at the age of 16, Angelou decided that she wanted to become a streetcar conductor. Determined to get the job Angelou visited Muni’s personnel department with the intention of placing an application--but was denied even receiving one. When asked by her mother why she did not get the job Angelou stated that it was because she was black, but she did not let this stop her. With persistence, every day Angelou went to the department before the secretaries arrived and would sit in the office reading books. Angelou would only
Baldwin along with Robert Loomis, who was a book editor for Random House, proposed that Angelou write an autobiography that could also be a piece of literature--and with that Angelou began to work on what would later be titled I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings (“Continuing”). Angelou accounts in the book that “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you,” hence this book tells the story of Angelou’s life in the early 1930s to the 1970s and gives a historical account on what life was like for blacks during the time frame it spans over. The book made history in its release as in 1970 when Random House had it published, there had been almost no autobiography published that was written by an African-American since the days of slave narratives and there was not yet a category that existed for domestic abuse non-fiction (Wagner-Martin, 3). I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings epitomizes how strength, determination, and a love for the arts can reach across division to conquer racism and the struggles of one's past. Remaining on The New York Times paperback bestseller for two years and inspiring many to this day, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a book that holds great significance to not only Maya Angelou herself but the rest of the world as well. In the years that followed, Angelou continued writing autobiographical narratives and I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings became the first of a seven volume series. With the publishings of her critically acclaimed autobiographical narratives and her continued successes in the field of the arts, Angelou continued to awe and influence Americans all over the world. Her works and her life story reached out to many and were soon to be recognized by two of America's leaders, and in these recognitions Angelou would get the opportunity of a lifetime to not only share her talents but