Inspiration

“Phenomenal Woman” written by Maya Angelou is a poem that every woman can relate to. Angelou explains how she is a confident woman throughout each stanza. Harold Bloom states that “In this Hymn-like poem to women’s beauty, the self-confident speaker reveals her attributes as a phenomenal woman”. Angelou tries to show her confidence in every line of the poem and then states what parts of her body actually shows that confidence and inner strength. Vitality Kotyakov said that “Modern society highly values women’s beauty”(Analysis of Phenomenal Women By Maya Angelou). Women now put them selves down because they do not think about their inner beauty they only listen to what other people may say about them. This poem really explains how to have confidence in your self no matter how you look. In each stanza her confidence is shown by her inner strength through symbolism, tone, and imagery.

Angelou expresses how to be a confident woman through symbolism. She describes how she holds her head up even though she is not perfect. Angelou says “I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size”(line 2). Which shows her confidence in herself even though she is not skinny or tall or even as pretty as many she is still beautiful in her own way. Also, she states “It’s in the reach of my arms, The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips” (6-9). Every body part could stand for a different symbol her “arms” could be she reaches for everything she wants, her “hips” shows that no matter how wide her hips maybe she will hold confidence in herself because she knows how beautiful she really is. “Stride of my step” goes along with the “hips” that she will walk with confidence, “curl of my lips” means although she may be a quiet person and not loud when she does speak it has more meaning to it than most. In every move she makes others can see the beauty that she holds although she maybe different in a way from others. “Attractive personality is much more powerful...