2:2: Maya Angelou – ‘Mom and Me and Mom’ Flashcards
What is the purpose?
Inspiring others
A recount that reflects how her career and personal life developed
To reflect and inform of her life
What is the audience?
Fans of Maya Angelou
Single mothers
People who have read her prior autobiographies
Those interested in autobiographies and literary non-fiction
What is the genre?
Autobiography - a recount about her mother
Literary non-fiction
CONTEXT: Maya Angelou
- 1928-2014
- Abandoned by her mother at three years old and lived with her grandmother.
- When she briefly visited her mother at age 7, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend - after this, she suffered from mutism.
- Called her mum “Lady”.
- Civil rights activist
- When war broke out, Angelou applied to join the Women’s Army Corps but was rejected.
- She was determined to gain employment, and after much persistence, she was the first African-American woman streetcar conductor.
- Poet as well
- Wrote 7 autobiographies, redefining the genre even.
VOICE: Angelou’s voice
- Angelou’s voice in this text is incredibly nostalgic and homely. For example, the repeated use of food imagery creates a voice of nostalgia and wistfulness, as it reflects the feeling of being nurtured.
- A very intelligent and mature voice is created too, as Angelou reflects on even the small details like what her mother was wearing and such, which aligns with the fact this is a recount from many years later.
- It is also slightly bitter in the sense her mother has a life she could only dream of. For example, there is some business imagery when talking of meeting up, and it is all very formal.
- At times, a very humourous voice is created, like when describing the food they ate at home.
Semantic field of food (gustatory language) - “spaghetti”, “restaurant”, “meals”, etc
- Food may be symbolic in this case of Maya Angelou’s past.
- It can be representative of family and coming together, which reflects the events of what is occurring in this extract, where she meets with her mother.
- It becomes a symbol of the good relationship between her and her mother.
Symbolism of “the Red Rice Day” and the “red rice”:
“revealed a tall mound of glistening red rice (my favourite food in the entire world) decorated with finely minced parsley”
- The use of the attributive adjective “glistening” gives not only a sense of luxury but perhaps even magic, suggesting the dish is so wonderful that it is magical.
- This may also go into the magical nature of food, of how one bite of a meal from someone’s childhood can transport them back many years.
- The “finely minced parsley” also connotes wealth and luxury.
- More about symbolism on further quotes…
Vivian Baxter’s character and wealth:
“…my mother was dressed beautifully. Her makeup was perfect and she wore good jewellery.”
- Angelou uses Vivian Baxter’s clothing and presentation as a clear symbol of her wealth and character.
- The use of the predicate adjective “perfect” brings emphasis to the word, as well as being almost hyperbolic, showing the admiration Angelou had for her mother.
- The suggestion “her makeup was perfect” is interesting, as you could argue makeup is a symbol of deception or being something you’re not, which may link to the context of Angelou’s mother, where she wasn’t always good to Angelou.
- “Good jewellery” has clear connotations of wealth and status.
Vivian Baxter’s character and wealth:
“My mother had moved into another large Victorian house, on Fulton Street, which she again filled with Gothic, heavily carved furniture.”
- “another” - adjective. Shows that this isn’t the first time, again emphasising her wealth.
- “again” - adverb. Once again, this repetitive idea of wealth and excess almost.
- “filled” - emphasises this abundance of money if she can afford so much furniture.
Vivian Baxter’s character and wealth:
“upholstery on the sofa”, “carved furniture”, “oriental rugs”, “helper”, “formal dining room”
- Semantic field of interiors. This conveys wealth, as in order to have so many possessions, one must have a lot of money. A contrast to Angelou’s lack of wealth.
“By the time I was twenty-two, I was living in San Francisco. I had a five-year old son, two jobs, and two rented rooms, with cooking privileges down the hall.”
- Conventional start.
- Use of temporal discourse marker - convention of the genre.
- “five year old son, two jobs, and two rented rooms” - use of tricolon and listing in order of importance — she listing also demonstrates how little she has. A juxtaposition to her mother’s wealth, showing how separated they are.
- “privileges” - cooking isn’t usually a privilege. Once again emphasises how little she has.
“My landlady, Mrs. Jefferson, was kind and grandmotherly.”
- A juxtaposition to how Vivian Baxter is presented.
- Also, with context and how Angelou was raised by her grandmother, this shows how highly she thinks of Mrs. Jefferson.
“Spaghetti at her table, which was offered at least three times a week, was a mysterious red, white, and brown concoction. We would occasionally encounter an unidentifiable piece of meat hidden among the pasta.”
- Humour, creating a light-hearted tone.
- “red, white and brown” - triad. Makes it seem less like food and more like a messy picture.
- “concoction” - unlikening it to food. Creates a humorous voice.
- “mysterious”, “encounter”, “unidentifiable”, “hidden” - semantic field of mystery.
- “occasionally” - temporal deixis.
“There was no money in my budget for restaurant food, so I and my son, Guy, were always loyal, if often unhappy, diners at Chez Jefferson.”
- The use of parenthesis creates a very conversational voice.
- “diners at Chez Jefferson” - making it sound very wealthy and posh like her mother. A clear mockery at this wealth. Once again serves to show how her and her mother are not of the same standing.
- Sets up the idea of food and relationships.
“Mother picked up Guy twice a week and took him to her house, where she fed him peaches and cream and hot dogs, but I only went to Fulton Street once a month and at an agreed-upon time.”
- Bitter voice begins.
- “peaches and cream and hot dogs” - polysyndetic listing, emphasising how much she has. Very sweet and good food. This is a juxtaposition from the prior food.
- “Mother” - a fairly formal, cold name.
- “Fulton Street” - formality in the sense of using the proper noun rather than calling it “her home”.
- “An agreed-upon time” - almost business-like, a juxtaposition to the relationship between Guy and Vivian.
“we walked through her formal, dark dining room and into the large, bright kitchen”
- There is a use of juxtaposition here.
- The use of the possessive pronoun “her” regarding the dining room vs “the” regarding the kitchen shows that Angelou only feels truly welcome in one of the two settings.
- The juxtaposition of “dark” and “bright” clearly separates the two rooms. You could suggest that because the kitchen is where the food is made that this goes back to the food symbolism, where the food represents the positive parts of Angelou’s childhood.
- The kitchen is where something is made. The dining room is where you put the final result. Therefore, the dining room is the facade, whereas the kitchen is where the true experiences lie, such as the complicated relationship between Angelou and her mother.
“Much of lunch was already on the kitchen table.
Vivian Baxter was very serious about her delicious meals.”
“much of lunch” - assonance, emphasising this idea of abundance.
- One sentence paragraphs.
- “Vivian Baxter” - the use of the proper noun conveys food is who she is, or at least what Angelou associates her with.
“On that long-ago Red Rice Day, my mother had offered me a crispy, dryroasted capon, no dressing or gravy, and a simple lettuce salad, no tomatoes or cucumbers. A wide-mouthed bowl covered with a platter sat next to her plate.”
- “Red Rice Day” - she has named it with a proper noun. This shows how important it is.
- Semantic field of food - we have learnt food is symbolic of relationships. Therefore, this semantic field really emphasises what a bonding moment this is.
- “covered with a platter” - it’s hidden. Builds tensions.
“She fervently blessed the food with a brief prayer and put her left hand on the platter and her right on the bowl.”
- Plosive - harsh feel, building tension for the reveal.
“revealed a tall mound of glistening red rice”
- The climax of the piece.
- “Glistening” - connotations of magic and wealth.
- “tall mound” - emphasises this idea of abundance.
“The chicken and salad do not feature so prominently in my tastebuds’ memory, but each grain of red rice is emblazoned on the surface of my tongue forever.”
- “tastebuds’ memory” - personifies the tastebuds, emphasising the significance of food.
- “each grain of red rice is emblazoned on the surface of my tongue forever” - metaphor. Hyperbolic, but rightfully so.
- “Emblazoned” - connotations of warmth.
- “forever” - adverb of time, emphasising the effect of the red rice.
“‘You are very kind and very intelligent and those elements are not always found together. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, and my mother—yes, you belong in that category. Here, give me a kiss.’”
- Compares her to very powerful women of the time.
- “very” - quantifier, as if she is measuring Angelou’s worth.
- “give” - imperative. There is still a certain power imbalance.
“ I thought, ‘Suppose she is right? She’s very intelligent and often said she didn’t fear anyone enough to lie. Suppose I really am going to become somebody. Imagine.’”
- Optimistic voice.
- “Imagine.” - an imperative to herself. She is imagining.
- “Suppose she is right?” - the use of a question builds this idea of a realisation. It creates this hope.
- “suppose” - still, there is this lack of surety. However, this could be hinting at her potential rather than doubting. The repetition emphasises this idea of potential.
- use of present tense - has an immersive effect. We are experiencing this moment with her.
“At that moment, when I could still taste the red rice, I decided the time had come to stop my dangerous habits like smoking, drinking, and cursing. Imagine. I might really become somebody. Someday.”
- “smoking, drinking, and cursing” - tricolon.
- “Imagine” - repetition with a minor sentence of imperative.
- “somebody” - pleasingly vague. Gives this sense of possibility and opportunity.
- “someday” - use of temporal deixis, giving a sense of inevitability.
