Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou

Questions about her and her poems

1.       Angelou says that the bird sings for freedom. The bird wants to get out of its cage and experience a world he belongs to, but he never got to know. He heard about the stories, about the wonders and all the things that are outside waiting to be discovered by him. It means that nobody wants to be captured or caged, since everyone wants to have the freedom to do what is in his or her mind. It’s a characteristic for humans to reach for absolute freedom. In a for many of us ideal world there are no barriers. There is another story who describes this very well. It is the story of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve live in the perfect paradise. However, there is one tree that has fruits, which they are not allowed to eat. It is the one rule they have, the one thing that limits their freedom, but still they can’t resist. We are no different. Why do companies give us unlimited texting? It is because it feels good to be able to text or call someone as much as you want.

3. I think she is right with her statement that talking about bad dreams gives them too much power. Sometimes it may help to talk with a trustful person such as a friend, a parent, or a psychiatrist to talk about problem what can also include bad dreams. However, never the bad dreams should win the overhand over the thoughts. It’s helpful to talk about them to find solutions or sharing the sorrow, but after that you should be done with it. One reason for that is that the human power of imaginary is stronger and worse than most things that happen. How Poe already stated, the closed door is much more terrifying that what is behind. Therefore it is important that nightmares don’t take control over our mind. We have to go on and remember the happy moments we experienced and dreamed about. People tend to criticize the status quo. Sometimes it can help to think about all the things we got from God and just to be thankful for that. Many people think they are in a bad situation, and they should try to think, how it could be worse. After that forget these bad thoughts and concentrate what is and enjoy it.

5. Angelou is not the first person I heard about that decided to or could not speak after a traumatized experience anymore. It has been always something unbelievable for me not to speak for years, months, weeks or even days. I definitely could not live this way. It’s not a secret that I’m pretty shy when I first meet people and it needs a whole bunch of time for meet, to get more open, even when it got better.  However, not too speak is something I never could imagine. I just like it to talk with my friends or my parents and tell them about things I did or saw. Of course if you do not talk you have more time to listen and concentrate carefully on what was said. Sentences that seem to mean nothing and are said quickly could mean more to you if you think about them including the danger to interpret too much in them. Probably not to speak helps to understand the people better, maybe even without be able to ask any questions but just by looking at them and observe their reactions in conversations with others.

6. Since I’m from Germany German is my native language and of course the one I’m most comfortable with. Additionally to German I can speak English. I think it improved well since I came here, and I hope that it still gets better. One target would be to be finally able to speak English perfectly and avoid grammar mistakes. In Germany I also learned Russian and Latin. I really like it to be able to speak other language but I’m not a big fan of learning vocabularies. I had Russian for 2 two years and I’m already forgetting most of it, for I never took this subject very seriously. Latin I had for 4 years. This is a language the normal person does not speak. It is very difficult to learn and even the teachers are just able to translate it. However, there are people who are able to speak Latin and it would be awesome if I could do that, too, since I think it’s one of the most beautiful languages.

7. She probably means with that that truth and fact is not always the same. E.g. when I talk to someone and tell him what I think is so to be, I’m truthful. I do not lie. But it may be that these are not the facts. When one person says to another, “You are beautiful.”, then this might be the truth regarding the person’s opinion. Nevertheless, it’s not a fact, since the definition is an opinion based on personal criteria. Believes are not always a matter of fact but of may be of truth.