The definition of protest literature is fluid and varies according to perspective. For example, social critics could insist that protest literature must include a specific political purpose. A feminist critic may look to protest literature to promote (or avoid promoting) a gender bias. The deconstructionist who is concerned only with language and definition and not…
Tag: Woman Work
Woman Work by Maya Angelou – Literary Devices – Tone
Rhyme Rhyme is a technique that often lends a singsong quality to a poem. Angelou’s use of rhyme in much of her poetry is one aspect critics tend to criticize because they believe it makes her poetry sound juvenile. Angelou’s use of rhyme in the first 14 lines of ‘‘Woman Work,’’ however, is appropriate and…
Woman Work by Maya Angelou: Themes
Slavery Upon first read, ‘‘Woman Work’’ may seem like a poem written about any woman with a family to care for. Lines 11 and 14 clearly change that impression because most women in modern America do not cut (sugar) cane or pick cotton. These two chores indicate that the woman is a slave. Considered in…
Woman Work by Maya Angelou: Summary
Lines 1–14 This first stanza of ‘‘Woman Work’’ is the most important in the poem because it is here the reader could infer that the woman speaking is a slave. Lines 11 and 14 talk about crops that need tending. These are not just any crops, but those grown in the Deep South and traditionally…