Nikki Giovanni Biography

There are very few books that cover the topic of depression that are hysterical while triggering my hypothalamus emotion center. Her self-awareness is what really drew me into her writing. One of the most profound moments was when she spoke about the silent war that those suffering from mental illness face on a daily basis and the silent victory that no one knows about. The hidden nature of mental illness is what creates a barrier. You cannot judge from mere appearance how loud and loaded their brains truly

Nikki Giovanni was a poet and a writer that was born within as Yolande Corneila Giovanni Jr., Giovanni was a prominent poet and writer that had first caught the publics attention as a being part of the Blacks Arts Movement back in the late 1960s. Giovanni was also a civil rights activists and a television personality.

Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes are both African American poets that have made tremendously positive names for themselves in the literature department. Their significant signature in the poetic community has been made by their passion and commitment to produce poetry that speaks to the emotions the public faces on a daily basis. Maya Angelou was brought into this world on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas (Maya Angelou Biography 1). Sadly, Ms. Angelou left the earth on May 28, 2014 (Maya Angelou Biography 1), but still made sure that her works would be adequate enough for the public to enjoy her works past her time. She was not just a poet, as she wrote books, memoirs, taught, produced, acted, made films, and was an activist in the civil rights movement. (19 1). Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri (Langston Hughes 1). Langston was able to make himself known in the public eye during the Harlem Renaissance.

When a person grows up, they are in constant search of their identity, of who they are. Yet, the identity of a person is too complex for anyone to form assumptions about it because it involves more than one factor. The assumptions themselves may be insulting to others who truly know what their marginalized group has. According to the poem Nikki-Rose by Nikki Giovanni, “I really hope no white person ever has cause to write about me” (73). People can never enter the minds of others, they can only speculate from what they have seen or heard. Giovanni states that she does not want anyone to write about her, which shows that she believes they will not receive correct information. People may have honest intentions when they produce a comment

refering directing it for women. The poem comes off as sexual. its hard to tell weather she is

In 1963 on a cold winter day of February 11th, Sylvia Plath ended her life. She had plugged up her kitchen, sealing up the cracks in doors and windows before she was found with her head inside of her gas oven inhaling the dangerous fumes. She was only thirty years old, a young woman with two small children and an estranged ex-husband. A tragic detail of her life is that this is the second time she had tried to commit suicide. Plagued with mental illness her whole life, which is evident within her poetry. She would write gripping, honest portrayals of mental illnesses. Especially within Ariel, the last poetry book she wrote, right before she took her life. Although it’s hard to find a proper diagnosis for Sylvia Plath, it is almost definite that she at least had clinical depression with her numerous suicide attempts and stays in mental hospitals undergoing electroshock therapy. Sylvia Plath is now famously known for her writing and the more tragic parts of her life. Such as the separation from her husband, Ted Hughes, mental illness, etc… Plath may not have intended for her life and art to become inspiration to many people but that has become the end result. Sylvia Plath writing shows symptoms of her suicidal thoughts. To study specific moments in Sylvia Plath’s life, it can be connected to certain writing’s of her’s, such as “Daddy”, The Bell Jar, and “Lady Lazarus”.

In the poem Ego Tripping, Nikki Giovanni uses the voice of a woman speaker who is strong, proud and independent.The word “ego- trip” describes an act of behaving in a self-seeking manner(“Ego- Trip”). Therefore, this is one of the main messages the poem tries to send across to its readers.Although Giovanni targets this poem at an audience of men and women of color, she also aims this poem at herself. She tries to see the good inside of herself. Giovanni inculcates the themes of Religion, Identity, and Africa into her poem. Although Nikki Giovanni penned this poem in 1972, when racial discrimination was at its peak, its messages are still very useful to us even today. The world today, is not much different from 1972.

In this essay we will look into her life through three of her poems in

Emily Dickinson’s reclusive life was arguably a result of her proposed bi-polar disorder. This life and disorder unduly influenced the themes of her poetry. She chose not to associate herself with society and volumes of her poems, published posthumously, examine this idea as well as the themes of nature and death. The clearest examples of these themes are presented in the following analysis of just of few of her

Historically, surveillance came in the form of a watch tower, designed to watch out for danger in order to protect citizens. In a more recent context, the implementation has evolved now to supervise the citizens in order to watch out for danger. The modern “watch tower” does not occupy the same physical space as its predecessor and does not impress by its height, but rather, impresses by its seemingly omnipresent eye in all channels of society and its reach into the lives of individuals, but that reach is only enough to protect very specific dangers. Although mass surveillance portrays itself as proficient in preventing threats to a collective, Nikki Giovanni’s “Surveillance” reveals her mother’s physical abuse and, as a result, the dissonance

Emily Dickinson was famously known for being a recluse, a questioner of her faith, and having an interesting poetic form. Throughout her works she displayed themes of immortality, life, and death. Harold Bloom, a literary critic, once stated her themes were either relatable or inventive for the time she lived in (Grabner, Hagenbuchle, and Miller 191). These themes crossed over into how she wanted her writing to be perceived with both her style and technique. She used dramatic dialogic structure and a constant persona that always questioned her existence. Dickinson’s style was mostly influenced by her, “willingness to serve, her different point of view of nature, extreme self-discipline, and the contemplation of immortality” (Connors 92). Although she was able to perfectly master the art of poetry, her life as recluse deeply affected the process

Sylvia Plath, a great American author, focuses mostly on actual experiences. Plath’s poetry displays feelings and emotions. Plath had the ability to transform everyday happenings into poems or diary entries. Plath had a passion for poetry and her work was valued. She was inspired by novelists and her own skills. Her poetry was also very important to readers and critics. Sylvia Plath’s work shows change throughout her lifetime, relates to feelings and emotions, and focuses on day to day experiences.

Emily Dickinson is one of the most interesting female poets of the nineteenth century. Every author has unique characteristics about him/her that make one poet different from another, but what cause Emily Dickinson to be so unique are not only the words she writes, but how she writes them. Her style of writing is in a category of its own. To understand how and why she writes the way she does, her background has to be brought into perspective. Every poet has inspiration, negative or positive, that contributes not only to the content of the writing itself, but the actual form of writing the author uses to express his/her personal talents. Emily Dickinson is no different. Her childhood and adult experiences and culture form

Poetry is oftentimes associated with the subjects of love and romance. Poets throughout the ages have used this medium to express their deepest emotions in the most eloquent of ways. Whether the poet is a man or woman is irrelevant. Poets of both genders have succeeded in expressing a heartfelt love to another with a poetic language that speaks volumes in a relatively short amount of text. Two poets from two separate eras each wrote a poem with just such a theme. Anne Bradstreet in “To My Dear and Loving Husband” and Edgar Allan Poe in “Annabel Lee” created magic by writing these poems that express a love for another that transcends time and place.

By just reading Sylvia Plath’s works of writing, it is apparent that she had an infatuation with portraying negative and brutal thoughts. For example, her poem “Daddy,” she clearly expresses her rage towards her deceased father. The poem is full of contradiction and the interpretation is up the reader. Pieces like this gives insight into Sylvia’s mental sanity, which was questioned at times. In her early