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Index
Adams, Henry, 60, 118
Adday, Comfort (Ghanaian beautician), 142, 149
Africa: and ancestors, 151, 156; concept of darkness, 154–55; and contemporary poets, 17, 18, 49–50; identification with, 49–51, 53, 151–55; romanticization of, 50, 179; and slave narrative, 157–58; theme of motherhood, 140–41, 153, 154; and travel narratives, 49–51
“The African” (Ghanaian lover), 10, 25, 60, 161, 166, 168, 170, 171, 176
Ailey, Alvin, 7
All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes: alternative reading (signifying), 156–59; character development, 143–53; narrative point of view and structure, 138; plot development, 140–43; setting, 139; style and literary devices, 55–56; thematic issues, 53–55; title of, 138
Alternative readings: deconstructive, 113–15; feminist, 76–79; psychological/feminist, 134–36; reader-response, 174–76; signifying,156–59; womanist, 96–98
Angelos, Tosh (Maya’s first husband), 5, 8, 24, 45, 99, 104
Angelou, Maya: birth of, 4; birth of son, 7, 79; childhood of, 59–60, 64–65, 68, 72, 73–74; death of, 4, 177; departure from Africa, 137, 142, 150; education of, 15–16; funeral of, 177–78; honorary degrees, 4–5; poet laureate, 21–22; residence in Africa, 126–28, 137–43, 149–52, 154–56; special awards, 33–36, 179; theater and television work, 31–32; work in film, 32–33. See also All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes; Even the Stars Look Lonesome; Gather Together in My Name; I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings; Mom & Me & Mom; Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas; A Song Flung Up to Heaven
Autobiography: and black literary tradition, 41–42, 45–46; and collectivity, 52–53; and contemporary narratives, 54–56; and gender, 45–46, 54; and literacy, 52; and literary autobiography, 49; and prison narratives, 46–47; and serial autobiography, 41–43; and the spiritual, 57–58; and success narratives, 47–49; and travel narratives, 49–51; and truth, 43–45, 82–83, 100
Baldwin, James, 1, 4, 10, 49, 59, 161, 168–70
Baxter, Vivian (Maya’s mother and a major character), 4–6, 11–12; absent mother, 86, 136, 164; caretaker of grandson, 103–6, 165; in conclusion of autobiographical series, 170–73; death of, 12, 28–29, 180; and Malcolm X, 164; Maya’s ambivalence toward, 27–28, 164–65; and Tosh Angelos,104. See also Mom & Me & Mom
Berlin, 152–53
Bildungsroman, 39, 81
Black Elk Speaks, 40, 100
The Book of Negroes, 55
Brent, Linda (Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl): and collectivity, 61; compared to male slave narratives, 54; and confinement, 157–58; and motherhood, 157–58; and signifying, 157
Brew, Kwesi (Ghanaian poet), 17, 18, 150, 166
Brooks, Gwendolyn, 45, 50
Cabaret for Freedom, 1, 8, 32, 48, 118
“California Prodigal” (poem), 19
Cambridge, Godfrey. See Cabaret for Freedom
Carson, Dr. Ben, 48
Churchill, Winston, 61
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, 177–78
Circularity, 164
Cleaver, Eldridge, 46, 81, 168
Clidell, Daddy (Angelou’s step-father), 16, 62, 86, 88
Clifton, Lucille, 21, 24
Clinton, Hillary, 21, 178
Clinton, William (U.S. president), 5, 20, 43, 153, 177, 178
College Language Association Journal, 20, 179
Commemorative posta
ge stamp, 36
Cultural Association for Women of African Heritage (CAWAH), 77, 132
Dark Continent, 154–55
Davis, Angela, 47
Demeter-Persephone myth, 96
Dialectical method, 103
Dickinson, Emily, 17
Douglass, Frederick, 41, 52, 53–54, 55
Du Bois, W.E.B., 9, 47, 145–46, 147, 157
Du Feu, Paul (Angelou’s third husband), 11, 13–14
Dunbar, Paul Lawrence, 41, 73, 113, 133, 151, 178
Echoes of a Distant Summer (Guy Johnson), 13
Eliot, George, 39, 47
Equiano, Olaudah, 53, 54–55, 157
Even the Stars Look Lonesome, 11, 21, 22, 24–25
Fauset, Jessie, 16, 17
Feminism, 76–79, 135
Flowers, Bertha (Mrs.), 16, 64, 69, 79
Franklin, Benjamin, 60, 118
Freeman, Mr. (rapist). See Rape, theme of
Friedan, Betty, 98, 172
Frost, Robert, 20
Gates, Henry Louis Jr., 48, 53, 156–57
Gather Together in My Name: alternative reading (womanist), 96–98; character development, 85–89; compared to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 81–83, 86, 87; employment in, 7, 80, 93–94; fragmentation, 83, 84, 86–88; lesbianism, 87; narrative point of view, 81–83; plot development, 84–85; structure, 83–84; style and literary devices, 94–96; thematic issues, 90–94; title of, 82–84; and truth, 82–83
Gender, 104–05
Genre. See Autobiography
Ghana, 151, 156, 158, 161–63, 166; Angelou’s ambivalence toward,155; Angelou’s departure from, 137, 150–51, 169–70; Angelou’s search for roots, 155–59; and Pan-African Movement, 142; and setting in All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes, 139, 145–46; and slavery, 155; University of, 9, 142, 150, 165
Giovanni, Nikki, 46, 86, 178
Golden, Marita, 50–51
Graham, Shirley (wife of Du Bois), 146, 148
Great Food All Day Long (cookbook), 30–31
Guy, Rosa, 10, 132, 167–68
Hallelujah! The Welcome Table (cookbook), 30
Hamer, Fanny Lou, 26
Hampton, Lionel, 112
Hansberry, Lorraine, 73
Harlem, 114, 161, 172
Harper, Frances, 15, 16
Hawaii, 103, 108, 116, 164
Heart of a Woman: character development, 120–28; narrative point of view, 117–19; plot development, 120; setting, 128–29; structure, 119–20; style and literary devices, 131–36; thematic issues, 131; title of, 133–34
Hellman, Lillian, 42–43
Henderson, Annie (paternal grandmother and major character), 5, 6, 7, 25, 26–27; in Gather Together in My Name, 84, 87–88; in Hallelujah: The Welcome Table, 30; in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 65–68; in Letter to My Daughter, 26–27; in Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas, 101, 106–7
Henderson, William (Uncle Willie), 2, 66–68
Hitler, Adolf, 152
Holiday, Billie, 1, 132, 134–35
hooks, bell, 46
Hughes, Langston, 49–50, 138
Hurston, Zora Neale, 41, 110, 161; Dust Tracks on a Road, 45, 61, 86; and the spiritual, 56–57; Their Eyes Were Watching God, 156, 157, 158–59; and use of metaphor, 158–59
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: alternative reading (feminist), 76–79; censorship of, 76–77; character development, 64–71; compared to Gather Together in My Name, 81, 83, 86, 87; film version, 66–67, 71; gender, 69–70; and links with A Song Flung Up to Heaven, 164, 168, 172, 178; literary style, 72, 74–75; narrative point of view, 60–61; plot development, 63–64; racism, 70; setting, 71–72; and slave narrative, 55–56; structure, 62–63; thematic issues, 72–75; title of, 73–74; white characters in, 70–71
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. See Brent, Linda
Jackson, George, 47
Jacobs, Harriet. See Brent, Linda
Jazz, 1, 84, 93, 112, 144
Johnson, Bailey Jr. (Maya’s brother and a major character), 5, 11, 27, 28, 84, 85, 88, 91; death of, 11; in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 59, 61, 63, 65, 67–8, 72; in A Song Flung Up from Heaven, 164–65, 170
Johnson, Bailey Sr. (Maya’s father), 5, 6, 67, 68, 72
Johnson, Georgia Douglas, 15, 17, 40, 133
Johnson, Guy (Maya’s son and a major character), 9, 11–13, 16; birth of, 6; car accidents, 116, 135, 137–39, 145, 149, 158, 164–65, 178; and childhood, 88, 90–91, 95; and death of Maya Angelou. 177, 178; and health, 13, 103; and independence, 153–54; as novelist, 12–13; as student at University of Ghana, 150, 165
Johnson, James Weldon, 39, 40, 47, 61
Johnson, Rose, 2
Journey, 25, 50, 138, 160: and change, 101–02; and fragmentation, 83–84; and narrative line, 62; and self-discovery, 55–56, 143; and slave narrative, 51–56, 61, 112, 157–58
Life Doesn’t Frighten Me (children’s book), 29–30
Kerouac, Jack, 119, 134
Kincaid, Jamaica, 60
King, Coretta Scott, 26
King, Martin Luther Jr., 9, 32, 40, 48, 116, 118, 180; assassination of, 1, 2, 160–61; march on Washington (1963), 146; and passive resistance, 146–47
Kojo (African houseboy), 148, 154
Lesbianism: and Beatrice and Johnnie Mae, 87–88, 94; and Billie Holiday, 132, 135; and fear of, 73
Lessing, Doris, 42
Loomis, Robert, 160
Make, Vusumzi (“Vus,” Angelou’s second husband), 8, 9, 24–27, 134–35, 150, 166, 169
Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz), 9, 10, 40; Angelou’s allegiance to, 147–48, 169, 180; assassination of, 1, 3, 160, 170, 173, 179; protest strategy, 125; trip to Ghana, 132–33; and vignette, 132–33
Marshall, Paule, 56
Martin, Troubador (lover), 80–81, 89, 95–96, 112
Mayfield, Julian, 10, 145, 149
McBride, James: The Color of Water, 55; The Good Lord Bird, 54–55, 57–58, 60
McKay, Claude, 4, 75
McPherson, Dolly A.: as character in A Song Flung Up to Heaven, 157, 160, 161, 166–67, 168, 170, 172; as literary critic, 2, 10, 11, 12, 43, 70, 84, 86, 108, 119, 151
McQueen, Steve (director), 12 Years a Slave, 44
Mid-passage, 159
Millay, Edna St. Vincent, 17
Miss Calypso (recording), 179
Mom & Me & Mom, 27–29. See Baxter, Vivian
Monroe, Marilyn, 135
Moody, Anne, 45–46, 81
Morrison, Toni, 56, 178
Musings: Even the Stars Look Lonesome, 24–25, 26; Letter to My Daughter, 26–27; Mom & Me & Mom, 27–29; “My Grandson Home at Last,” 22; Rainbow in the Cloud, 29; Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now, 22–24
Nketsia, Nana (African leader): in All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes, 150, 151, 154; in A Song Flung Up to Heaven, 160, 166–67
Nkrumah, Kwame (president of Ghana), 150, 151, 169
Noah (Old Testament), 163, 170–71
Northrup, Solomon (author), 12 Years a Slave, 54
Obama, Barack (U.S. president), 34
Obama, Michelle, 177, 178
The Odyssey, 51, 95
Oedipus complex, 135, 136
“On the Pulse of Morning” (poem), 19–21, 176
Owens, Jesse, 152
Parker, Dorothy, 17
Persona, 18–19
“Phenomenal Woman” (poem), 18–19
Poetry: and the blues, 18; censorship of, 76; and influences on, 16–17; and oral performances of, 21–22; and song, 16; and topics in, 18; and the use of a persona, 18. See also “California Prodigal,” “On the Pulse of Morning,” “Phenomenal Woman,” “Still I Rise,” “When Great Trees Fall”
Porgy and Bess (musical), 8, 24, 59, 102–5, 108, 115
Purple Onion (cabaret), 108, 115
Rape, theme of, 6, 28, 63–64, 69, 74, 78, 163
Religion: in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 65–66, 69, 73; in Letter to My Daughter, 26–27; in Singi
n’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas, 104–7
Rent parties, 115
Ringgold, Faith, 2
Roots (Alex Haley), 19, 32, 154–55
Sanchez, Sonia, 97
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 15, 20, 35, 36–37, 163, 169, 174, 178
Senghor, Leopold, 17
Sexual Revolution, 172
Shakespeare, William, 40, 166, 170
Sheikela (African lover), 150, 166
Simile, 112
Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas: alternative reading (deconstructive): 113–15; character development, 103–9; conflict of opposites, 103–4; narrative point of view, 100–101, 102; plot development, 102–3; structure and setting, 101–3; style and literary devices, 111; thematic issues, 109–11; title of, 113–14; use of simile, 112
Slave narrative, 51–56, 61, 112, 157–58
Slavery: in Africa, 142, 155–57; in America, 25, 155–56
Smiley, Tavis, 179
A Song Flung Up to Heaven: alternate reading (reader-response), 174–76; and links to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 164, 168, 172, 178; narrative point of view, 160–62; plot development and character development, 164–69; setting, 169–70; structure, 162–64; style and literary devices, 172–74; thematic issues, 170–72; title of, 163–64; use of metaphor, 173–74
Son-Jara (African epic), 51
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), 8, 116, 124
Spencer, Anne, 16, 17
Spielberg, Steven, 141
Spiritual, 19, 20, 22, 25, 40, 55, 56–58, 61, 105, 138, 156, 163
Standing at the Scratch Line (Guy Johnson), 12
Stein, Gertrude, 39
“Still I Rise” (poem), 19, 179
Tolbrook, L. D. (lover), 88–89, 92–93, 98
Two Fingers Mark (lover), 26, 28
Vignette, 132–33, 146, 172–73
Wake Forest University, 2, 5, 34, 36, 166, 177, 178
Walker, Alice, 56, 97, 98, 141
Watts (Los Angeles), 161
Westboro Baptist Church, 177
“When Great Trees Fall” (poem), 19, 179–80