Exploring Maya Angelou's 'On Aging'
I can explore Maya Angelou's 'On Aging', with a focus on how she creates a complex voice through her poetic structures.
Exploring Maya Angelou's 'On Aging'
I can explore Maya Angelou's 'On Aging', with a focus on how she creates a complex voice through her poetic structures.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- 'On Aging' was first published in Maya Angelou's 1978 collection of poems, 'And Still I Rise'.
- In 'On Aging', the speaker admits that she has many of the stereotypical signs of aging in a self-deprecating way.
- Although the speaker admits to getting older, she rejects sympathy and help.
- Angelou's use of commands and her sentence structures help create a defiant voice.
- Arguably, the poem has a wider message about not judging others by their age or appearance.
Common misconception
The speaker in 'On Aging' doesn't think aging affects you.
The speaker lists some of the things that happen to you physically when you get older - she faces the reality. However, what she does want to change are people's reactions and perceptions of what these changes mean.
Keywords
Stereotype - a simple, general view of a particular category of people
Defiant - boldly disobedient
Self-deprecating - critical of yourself, often using humour
Equipment
You need access to a copy of 'On Aging' by Maya Angelou first published by Penguin Random House in 1978.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
orders
the purposeful recurrence of a word or phrase
a group of lines in a poem
the order of all the parts of a sentence