ESCUELA NORMAL SUPERIOR DEL ESTADO DE
COAHUILA
CICLO ESCOLARIZADO
CICLO 2022 -2023
ESPECIALIDAD DE LENGUA EXTRANJERA:
INGLÉS
QUINTO SEMESTRE
ANALISIS DEL POEMA
NORA VICTORIA ALONSO MONTEMAYOR
ESTUDIANTE
ROSA DEL CARMEN AGUILAR ESPARZA
MAESTRA DE ANALISIS DE TEXTOS
SALTILLO, COAHUILA
18 DE NOVIEMBRE DEL 2023
•Who is the autor?
Poet, dancer, singer, activist, and scholar Maya Angelou was a world-famous
author. She was best known for her unique and pioneering autobiographical
writing style.
On April 4, 1928, Marguerite Ann Johnson, known to the world as Maya Angelou,
was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Due to her parents’ tumultuous marriage and
subsequent divorce, Angelou went to live with her paternal grandmother in
Stamps, Arkansas at an early age. Her older brother, Bailey, gave Angelou her
nickname “Maya.”
Returning to her mother’s care briefly at the age of seven, Angelou was raped by
her mother’s boyfriend. He was later jailed and then killed when released from jail.
Believing that her confession of the trauma had a hand in the man’s death,
Angelou became mute for six years. During her mutism and into her teens, she
again lived with her grandmother in Arkansas.
Angelou’s interest in the written word and the English language was evident from
an early age. Throughout her childhood, she wrote essays, poetry, and kept a
journal. When she returned to Arkansas, she took an interest in poetry and
memorized works by Shakespeare and Poe.
Prior to the start of World War II, Angelou moved back in with her mother, who at
this time was living in Oakland, California. She attended George Washington High
School and took dance and drama courses at the California Labor School.
Angelou died on May 28, 2014. Several memorials were held in her honor,
including ones at Wake Forest University and Glide Memorial Church in San
Francisco. To honor her legacy, the US Postal Service issued a stamp with her
likeness on it in 2015. (The US Postal Service mistakenly included a quote on the
stamp that has long been associated with Angelou but was actually first written
by Joan Walsh Anglund.)
In 2010, President Barack Obama awarded Angelou the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor. It was a fitting recognition for
Angelou’s remarkable and inspiring career in the arts.
•What was the context?
explores the dueling powers of humankind. Humanity may be able to destroy one
another, but the poem also acknowledges the 'startling truth' of humankind — the
power to create peace and a world free from violence.
Angelou wrote this poem in the late 1970s, during the Post-Civil Rights
Movement Era, and the black feminist movement was also gaining strength at
this time.
•When and where was the poem written? Time
line.
Maya Angelou wrote "A Brave and Startling Truth" in 1995. The poem was
written and performed for the United Nations' 50th Anniversary celebration and
later published in text form. What is the tone of the poem A Brave and Startling
Truth?
The author's tone is hopeful and peaceful. It seems she has realized this startling
truth that the asking everybody else to. This poem is very similar to many of
Angelou's others, as it comes just after World War II and speaks of love as a
universal.
•What was going on in relation to the
autor’s life?
The poem begins with the speaker alluding to a “truth” that humanity will
eventually arrive at. As we fly, small and lonely, throughout the universe, we exhibit
our worst and best characteristics. The speaker describes how humanity is
capable of acts of extreme cruelty and of creating experiences of the utmost
beauty. We are reaching for weapons while we are providing tender care and
creating elevating artistic compositions.
The speaker sees a world that will eventually come into being after humanity
reaches the “brave and startling truth” of the title. It will be free of war, racism, fear,
and hatred. It is one in which people live and die peacefully, children are free of
the nightmares of abuse, our sons and daughters are not buried in identical
unmarked graves in foreign lands, and all races are treated equally.
•What is she telling us?
The 'brave and startling truth' of the poem's title is Angelou's belief that humankind
can create a better world and one day arrive at the ultimate destination: "the day of
peacemaking." The other "wonders of the world," such as the Pyramids and the
Hanging Gardens, will pale in comparison.
