Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Formalism Approach
2. What is the word’s plot? How is its plot related to its structure?
5. How does the writer’s diction reveal or reflect the work’s meaning?
6. What is the effect of the plot, and what parts specifically produce that effect?
8. . Is there a relationship between the beginning and the end of the story?
9. What tone and mood are created at various parts of the work?
11. What are the time and place of the work – the setting?
Feminism Approach
Phenomenal Woman
BY MAYA ANGELOU
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. Men themselves have wondered
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size What they see in me.
But when I start to tell them, They try so much
They think I’m telling lies. But they can’t touch
I say, My inner mystery.
It’s in the reach of my arms, When I try to show them,
The span of my hips, They say they still can’t see.
The stride of my step, I say,
The curl of my lips. It’s in the arch of my back,
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me. The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
I walk into a room The grace of my style.
Just as cool as you please, I’m a woman
And to a man, Phenomenally.
The fellows stand or Phenomenal woman,
Fall down on their knees. That’s me.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees. Now you understand
I say, Just why my head’s not bowed.
It’s the fire in my eyes, I don’t shout or jump about
And the flash of my teeth, Or have to talk real loud.
The swing in my waist, When you see me passing,
And the joy in my feet. It ought to make you proud.
I’m a woman I say,
Phenomenally. It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
Phenomenal woman, the palm of my hand,
That’s me. The need for my care.
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
A Checklist of Feminist Critical Questions:
2. In line 30-31, Maya Angelou states, "men themselves have wondered what they see in me."
Explain the content of these lines.
4. What is pride?
7. How does the clothing women wear lead false judgement to men?
Reader Response Criticism
4. How is the informed reader’s response to the text shaped by the reader and the text?
5. Which of your personal experiences or memories is affecting your perceptions of the story?
6. What was the work’s original intended audience? To what extend are you similar or different
from that audience?
Marxist Approach
3. Why do the powerful have the power? Why are the powerless powerless?
6. What can you infer from the setting about the distribution of wealth?
10.What other conditions stemming from their class does the writer emphasize? (e.g., poor
education, poor nutrition, poor health care, inadequate opportunity