Such a shame. How can people turn their backs to the events Angelou speaks of. Sure the sexual abuse is heartbreaking, but it's real. It's a true story, and it happens to so many women. Plus, I felt the way she tells the story is so fascinating. She tells it just as a 7-year-old would have experienced it. Especially an 7-year-old who had never been hugged. Who had faced years of abandonment from her parents. The guilt Maya feels after word was so frustrating for some of my students, but again her descriptions are so marvelous. You see right into the mind of a confused victim.
As she grows older her descriptions and her vocabulary matures. I doubt she even noticed the voice change. I also doubt she planned it. Such a testament to the wonderful writer she is. The sexual identity chapter is the only one I feel parents really have the right to question. But isn't it so much better that their children experience their introduction to these things through the power of words rather than the glorification of Hollywood and the media. I feel like if anything, this opens up the need for good communication skills between parents and children.
Maya's story needs to be told. Her experiences need to be talked about. Of course, the book should be read with caution, but if you are so close-minded you can't find beauty in her life and in her prose you are sheltered passed the point of damage control.
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