An Exploration of African American Experience A Study of the Select Poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks Maya Angelou Lucille Clifton and Nikki Giovanni

Abstract

Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou, Lucille Clifton and Nikki Giovanni have newlinebeen the prominent voices in African American literature and in American literature, newlinetoo. They ably explore shades of existence and experiences of people of African newlinedescent in their works; these works would also serve documents to re-understand the newlinesocio cultural history of African American lives. It has been viewed that literary newlinegenre like poetry is analyzed by applying euro-centric theories. As the poetry of newlineblack women is different kind of literary expression, which has been shaped out of newlinevarious factors including, gender, class, sexuality, nationality and race. Being newlineoppressed dually by whites and black male counterparts, black feminist perspective newlinegain immense importance in the assessment of the genre. African Americans face newlineproblems on account of racial hatred . There are housing, unemployment, drug newlineaddiction, poverty, crimes and other issues existing sill in African American society. newlineThe research explores African American experience reflected and echoed in their newlinepoetry. The first chapter would give a brief outline of the research work. It also deals newlinewith the historical survey of African American literature with special reference to newlineAfrican American women s writing. Both these aspects are the integral part of the newlinework. Therefore, the opening chapter tries to give the general background about the newlinework. The second Chapter is devoted to the assessment of Poetry of Gwendolyn newlineBrooks. She depicts the complexities and variety of experiences. She depicts newlineaspirations, sorrow, joy, anger and pains of the urban black world in America. The newlinethird Chapter deals with the poetry of Maya Angelou whose poetry dwells on the newlinethemes of love, painful loss, music, discrimination, racism and love for freedom. She newlinewas remarkably successful in transforming the personal experiences into sociopolitical newlinediscourse. Her poems are personal but connote a protest against the newlinevii newlinehypocrisy of society. The fourth chapter deals with of Poetry of Lucille Clifton. newlineCelebrati