Poem Analysis Essay

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Poem Analysis Essay

In this essay, we will be analyzing the inspirational poem Phenomenal Woman written by Maya Angelou. She published her poem in 1978, and since then it is used as a reference and inspiration for the women around the globe who have been facing the criticism on their shape and color. In this poem, the poet describes her qualities which make her a phenomenal woman. The phenomenal word used in the poem means remarkable, exceptionally beautiful or stunning qualities of a woman. Poet thinks that the color of the skin cannot judge beauty and it's a wrong concept that only those woman are Phenomenal who have fair skin and attractive figure. As the poet herself does not have a fair skin hence throughout the poem, she gives many arguments to prove herself as a phenomenal woman regardless of her skin color or body shape. The primary argument that has been touched in this poem is the backward thinking of our society. People think women with perfect body shapes and beautiful tone color, only they are considered to be phenomenal, but this is not the case, every woman whether she is fat or have a dark tone color they all are regarded as phenomenal women.

In the first stanza of the poem, the poet calls the pretty women of the society who have fair skin. The poet uses the words that pretty women wonder that how I am beautiful without fair skin and beautiful shape. The poet says the secret of her beauty is in her womanhood. The way she stretches her arm, her style of taking long steps or the curves of her body and lips makes her beautiful. The lovely and mesmerizing smile of the poet makes her Phenomenal and an attractive woman. In the second stanza of the poem, the poet refers to men metaphorically as the hive of honey bees. She says whenever I walk into the room men bend down on their knees or watch me with admiration. She says it's like I am the queen honey bee and all the other bees are following me. The poet reveals that her sparkling or passionate eyes, a flash of her smiling white teeth, her swinging waist or the rhythm in her feet makes the men follow her. All these features make the poet beautiful and attractive than the fair skin pretty ladies. Americans today tend to believe that women with fair skin color or perfect body shapes are phenomenal, but actually, it's the womanhood and the traits of every single woman which contributes in making her mesmerizingly exceptional.

In the third stanza poet entirely talks about the typical men of our society who cannot see the inner mystery of the poet. Here this word is used as the reference to the inner beauty of the heart. The poet says that these typical men are like the pretty ladies of our society and they cannot see the attraction or beauty of my inner soul. They cannot touch or understand it. In the final stanza, the poet concludes that now the pretty ladies have understood very clearly that what makes me attractive or beautiful. The poet says that now they have come to know that why my head’s not bowed because she is fully confident about herself, her body or her color. She does not have to jump or make noise to gain the attraction of the men. Her palms shape, her beautiful hairstyle, the sound of her heels and her beautiful soul is enough to make her phenomenal. Yet the careful analysis of the poem reveals that the thinking of our society is backward. We tend to see the outer beauty of the women instead of her womanhood and attractive inner soul ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1yg8IJqu","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Febiyanto)","plainCitation":"(Febiyanto)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":68,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/6hWtnKoy/items/2QAGKWJB"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/6hWtnKoy/items/2QAGKWJB"],"itemData":{"id":68,"type":"book","title":"The idea of black feminism in Maya Angelou's Still I Rise and Phenomenal Woman","publisher":"Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University","author":[{"family":"Febiyanto","given":"GATOT HENDY"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2010"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Fabiano).

The poem Phenomenal Woman is a challenging and thought-provoking. Which helps the readers to change their thoughts and standards of beauty. The poem mainly attacks the traditional concept of attractiveness and clearly states that every woman is beautiful because of their unique traits and body features, which makes them Phenomenal Women. In short, with its transformational concepts, this poem can easily change the minds of the reader and our present society. Women are not limited to their body parts only they are much more than that they are enigmatic and are capable of defining their own unique beauty ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"WtDVEa0O","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Permatasari)","plainCitation":"(Permatasari)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":67,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/6hWtnKoy/items/UHHQ6IX2"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/6hWtnKoy/items/UHHQ6IX2"],"itemData":{"id":67,"type":"article-journal","title":"AN ANALYSIS OF FEMINISM IN MAYA ANGELOU’S POEMS BY USING HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACHES","container-title":"JIBS (Jurnal Ilmiah Bahasa dan Sastra)","page":"152-172","volume":"3","issue":"2","author":[{"family":"Permatasari","given":"Indiani Eka"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Permatasari).

Works Cited

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Fabiano, GATOT HENDY. The Idea of Black Feminism in Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise and Phenomenal Woman. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University, 2010.

Permatasari, Indiani Eka. “AN ANALYSIS OF FEMINISM IN MAYA ANGELOU’S POEMS BY USING HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACHES.” JIBS (Jurnal Ilmiah Bahasa Dan Sastra), vol. 3, no. 2, 2016, pp. 152–72.