Woman Work by Maya Angelou

"I've got 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 can 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 brown 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."

Maya Angelou on courage: 

Rationale for piece: I would like to pair this piece with Kincaid's "Girl" for the classroom. I think that it would be interesting to take both of these poems about female gender stereotypes and compare and contrast them. Angelou has many poems that would be fitting for a literature classroom learning about multicultural literature, but I was focused on finding content that I could connect with one of the other works. This work contributes to "Girl" in many different ways. The voice, content, and tone are all different. This would help students really work on their analytical skills to be able to notice and document those differences, and what they did for the works. It would also be beneficial to talk about rhyme scheme and what each of these poems do that use the rhyme scheme to their advantage. Doing these two different poems on the same day would be ideal. I added the video in about courage, because I think that it really shows Maya Angelou's style and manner of speaking. That makes it easier for students to relate to her, and they can picture who wrote the poem they are reading. This video is a great way to introduce Maya Angelou and show what an inspiring author she is.