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Analysis of a Poem Written by Maya Angelou, a “Phenomenal Woman”
Allison M. Carlo
ENC1102: English Composition II
Mr. George Cabanas, MBA
April 26, 2023
Analysis of a Poem Written by Maya Angelou, a “Phenomenal Woman”
For my rhetorical analysis I have chosen “Phenomenal Woman,” a poem written and published in 1978 by Maya Angelou (Angelou & Gauguin, 2000). Maya Angelou was a well-known American writer and poet, singer, actress, professor, Civil Rights Activist, New York Times Bestselling Author, and Grammy Award Winner, just to name a few. (Angelou & Gauguin). She published her first autobiography in 1969, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and then went on to write another six autobiographies which came together in a book called, Mom & Me & Mom, in 2013. Pulitzer Prize-nominated, “Just Give me a Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie,” was just one of many poems and essays Maya would go on to write (Spring & Brandman, 2017). And these are just some of the author’s extraordinary accomplishments.
Maya was said to have been inspired to write “Phenomenal Woman” because of how she saw the women in her life treated by men, how women were expected to behave (Study.com, n.d.). In “Phenomenal Woman,” the author’s goal appears to be one of inspiration. A poem written for all women who may be struggling with insecurities shaped over the years by society’s definition of what is beautiful. I understand the intention to be two separate things: to challenge the social expectations of femininity and what real beauty really “looks” like, and to remind all women that we are all beautiful in a variety of different ways.
The text flows logically for me. First, it feels like she is addressing all those that she considers “pretty women,” exposing her differences immediately with, “I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size” (Angelou & Gauguin). Maya Angelou includes the lines at the very beginning of her poem, “but when I start to tell them, / they think I’m telling lies.” This illustrates that our definitions of beauty are so ingrained in women that they struggle to believe any other perspective. By adding these lines to her poem, Maya scratches the surface of a women's rejection of the truth. It also suggests that there is a huge psychological impact that society has conditioned in women regarding body image and how they perceive themselves.
In the following two stanzas, the author turns her attention to her male audience:
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
They swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
The author expresses her own confidence while describing the spectacular reaction she causes when entering a room. The poem continues with:
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
It seems that Maya is expressly defining all kinds of things that make her a phenomenal woman:
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
All those elements are what contributes to a woman’s dynamic and omnipotent nature, requiring a man to look deeper past the superficiality of her form. This feels somewhat challenging, almost as if the author is questioning if a man is capable of really seeing a woman at her essence.
The poem’s concluding stanza explains to the audience that they should now understand why the author is the way she is. She is confident and strong and beautiful in all the ways that are profoundly important to her, so there is no need for her to “bow her head” or “shout or jump about.” There is no need for her to “talk real loud.”
Is Maya Angelou talking to all women when she states, “It ought to make you proud?”. Maybe she is talking to men. Maybe she is talking to a younger version of herself. It’s a bit difficult to discern, but the text resonates with me, as I imagine it does for many others. As a woman, we are often objectified, and the author seems to be using pathos to appeal to this objectification.
Maya Angelou paints a picture you can not only envision, but can “hear,” when she writes, “It’s in the click of my heels.” The audience can “hear” this phenomenal woman’s heels as she struts into a room. Powerful. A force to be reckoned with.
The audience can “feel” what she means when she describes “the need for my care.” The description feels appropriate at the end of this poem because the author has taken the reader or listener through a journey already. The reader should feel connected and understand exactly what kind of impressive creature this woman really is.
At the end of each stanza of the poem the author states, “I’m a woman phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, that’s me.” The first time it’s used as an adverb, “I’m a woman phenomenally,” and the second time, it’s used as an adjective, “Phenomenal woman, that’s me.” I think this helps reiterate Maya Angelou’s point after each stanza, ensuring the audience never loses focus on the author’s intention.
Through it all, each line feels like a device used to show the reader or listener that there are many different kinds of women in the world, and each and every single type can and should be viewed as beautiful. In addition, I believe it was received as the author intended, and does a good job challenging the social expectations of femininity.
(OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, 2013)
References
Angelou, M. & Gauguin, P. (2000). Phenomenal woman. In Phenomenal woman four poems celebrating women (Vol. 3.1, pp. 10–14). essay, Random House. Retrieved from https://broward.overdrive.com/. (Original work published in 1978)
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. (2013). Dr. Maya Angelou Recites Her Poem "Phenomenal Woman". YouTube / Dr. Maya Angelou Recites Her Poem "Phenomenal Woman". OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. Retrieved April 22, 2023, from https://youtu.be/VeFfhH83_RE.
Spring, K. A. (2017). Kappa Omega Literary Book Club - April 2020 - Maya Angelou: Using the soapstone method. Goodreads. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/21335945-using-the-soapstone-method.
Study.com. (n.d.). What inspired Maya Angelou to write 'Phenomenal Woman'? Study.com. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://homework.study.com/explanation/what-inspired-maya-angelou-to-write-phenomenal-woman.html#:~:text=Angelou%20was%20inspired%20to%20write,to%20be%20weak%20or%20quiet