Life Doesn't Frighten Me: Maya Angelou

Product Information

To conclude, the use of imagery, repetition, personification, and magical elements in the poem helped the writer convey a message of fearlessness and confidence in facing life’s challenges. The poem takes the reader into the mind of a child who has, or so she asserts, found a way to overcome fear in her life. She repeats the refrain“Life doesn’t frighten me at all” several times in these lines. It reminds the reader, and also reminds the speaker herself, what she’s trying not to feel. The speaker takes the reader through many of the normal things that might scare a child and dismisses each one. It is at the end of the poem that one might start to doubt the speaker’s honesty. Perhaps she is hiding a bit of the real fear she has in her heart. Multiple choice, short answer questions, and writing questions - you can print the unit along with the poem The poem’s speaker is determined not to let these things scare her, and she uses her imagination to make fun of them, saying that she dares to make them disappear. She also has a magic charm that keeps her safe, giving her the power to walk the ocean floor and never have to breathe. This is a metaphor for her inner strength and confidence to overcome obstacles.

In the twelfth stanza of ‘Life Doesn’t Frighten Me’, she explains that she has a “magic charm” that keeps her from being scared. It’s always “up [her] sleeve”. It allows her to pass through life without giving in to the fear that strikes other children. The last four lines of the poem repeat the refrain twice and then reemphasize it with the line “Not at all” twice. The fifth stanza is the longest of the poem with seven lines. It is followed by the sixth stanza which only has one line. When the speaker comes upon the things she mentioned in the first four stanzas she scares them off. She says “boo” and they “shoo”. They run when she makes fun of them and they fly away when she doesn’t cry. She stands up to everything custom-made to scare her. The following single line is a repetition of the refrain “Life doesn’t frighten me at all”.

Angelou herself was a major figure in the civil-rights movement and a clandestine understanding between the two distinct personalities seems to span a generational and personality-gap, which is highlighted through the blending together of both of their works. The third and fourth stanzas are similar to the two that came before them. Angelou speaks on “Mean old Mother Goose,” making this poem feel even more like it is meant to resemble a nursery rhyme. She also uses alliteration to declare that the “Lions on the loose” do not frighten her either.

Basquiat grew up in prosperous home but ran away at 15 and commenced his life of sex n drugs n ... rap. He was a grafitti artist, defacing or enhancing New York with his spray paint under the name of SAMO. He became associated with several galleries and patrons, most famously Andy Warhol's Factory. He'd always lived up on drugs and alcohol, but limited means bought limited supplies. The bounty that was fame brought money enough for excess, and at 27 he died from a heroin overdose. Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” by Maya Angelou is a symbolic poem. Maya Angelou, an iconic American writer, poet, and activist, catalogs the things that do not scare her. In fact, the poem is a declaration of strength and courage, with the speaker confidently stating that she is not afraid of the various things that might scare others. Maya Angelou is an American author and poet. She has published seven autobiographies, five books of essays, and several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning more than fifty years. She has received dozens of awards and over thirty honorary doctoral degrees. Angelou is best known for her series of autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, tells of her life up to the age of seventeen, and brought her international recognition and acclaim. Angelou's list of occupations includes pimp, prostitute, night-club dancer and performer, castmember of the opera Porgy and Bess, coordinator for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, author, journalist in Egypt and Ghana during the days of decolonization, and actor, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. Since 1982, she has taught at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she holds the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies. She was active in the Civil Rights movement, and worked with both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Since the 1990s she has made around eighty appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration, the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. more… The marginalization and trauma experienced by Maya’s early life and the urban-decay that so fascinated Jean-Michel in the 1970s and 1980s also comes to epitomise the hardships and difficulties faced by people across all demographics. Alliteration occurs when words are used in succession, or at least appear close together, and begin with the same sound. For example, “Bad,”“barking,” and “Big” in lines one and two of the second stanza and “Mean” and “Mother” in line one of the third stanza.The reference to the ocean floor and not having to breathe is a masterstroke: note that she doesn’t say she can walk the ocean floor and still be able to breathe, but that she doesn’t have to breathe at all. This invites a seed of doubt into the poem: is it akin to holding one’s breath until a danger has passed, or is believed to have passed? Or should we take it at face value as an unequivocally positive image? Hear Angelou read the poem herself, which she says she wrote “for all children who whistle in the dark and who refuse to admit that they’re frightened out of their wits”: In the final stanza, the speaker adds a touch of magic to her fearlessness by mentioning a “magic charm” she keeps up their sleeve and her ability to walk the ocean floor without breathing. This use of magical elements adds a sense of fantasy and wonder to the poem and further reinforces the idea that the speaker is not afraid of anything. Conclusion His paintings, all his mixed-media art, reflected his harsh view of the world. The poem is very typical of Maya Angelou and reads especially well out loud. I don't think though it is a good pairing with the paintings, but that said, it's a wonderful art book, 5 stars. Life Doesn't Frighten Me" review activity printable - print all section questions at once (options for multiple keys)