Woman Work By Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was an African-American writer and poet. Born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States of America, Maya was her brother's nickname for her. She moved around a lot and had many different jobs, including as a cook, dancer, actor, and cable-car conductor! However, she eventually became a writer and activist, who worked for the betterment of African-Americans and women. She often wrote about these issues in her stories and poetry. Maya Angelou died in May 2014.

I've got the children to tend

The clothes to mend

The floor to mop

The food to shop

Then the chicken to fry

The baby to dry

I got company to feed

The garden to weed

I've got shirts to press

The tots to dress

The cane to be cut

I gotta clean up this hut

Then see about the sick

And the cotton to pick.

Shine on me, sunshine

Rain on me, rain

Fall softly, dewdrops

And cool my brow again.

Storm, blow me from here

With your fiercest wind

Let me float across the sky

'Til I can rest again.

Fall gently, snowflakes

Cover me with white

Cold icy kisses and

Let me rest tonight.

Sun, rain, curving sky

Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone

Star shine, moon glow

You're all that I can call my own.

1.
Are the following statements true or false? If they are false, explain why. If they are true, say which line of the poem gives you this information.
1. The lines in this poem end with rhyming words.
2. The speaker is a woman who works all day, from morning to night time.
3. The speaker does not do any work outside of the home.
4. The speaker does not have children.
5. The speaker is not tired by all the work she has to do every day.
2.
The first stanza is longer than the others. Why do you think this is?
3.
"Shine on me, sunshine
Rain on me, rain
Fall softly, dewdrops
And cool my brow again."
1. Who is the speaker in these lines?
2. Why are sunshine and rain important to this person?
3. What else does the speaker wish for in this stanza and why?
4.
Make a list of the jobs the woman has to do in addition to housework. Where do you think these jobs must be done?
5.
Count the number of times the word "rest" appears in the poem. Why do you think this is?
6.
Which line in the poem tells you where the speaker lives? Based on this, and the other information in the poem, do you think the speaker was well off or not?

7 more answer(s) available.

ActiveTeach Lighthouse Coursebook 4

Sanghamitra Dasgupta, Pearson

Chapters

Woman Work

Maya Angelou

Available Answers