Bellringer

List five to ten fears that you have in your life.

Which of these would you like to overcome?

Maya Angelou Poem “Life Doesn’t Frighten

Me”

Maya AngelouDr. Maya Angelou is one

of the most renowned and influential voices of our time.

Dr. Angelou is a celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist.

Dr. Angelou has served on two presidential committees, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Arts in 2000, the Lincoln Medal in 2008, and has received 3 Grammy Awards.

President Clinton requested that she compose a poem to read at his inauguration in 1993. Dr. Angelou's reading of her poem "On the Pulse of the Morning" was broadcast live around the world.

Questions for Discussion:1. What kind of stance does the speaker take against her fears in life?2. How does she deal with them?3. Do you see her conquering her fears or denying that she actually

has them?4. If she is not afraid, why do you think this is so?5. Should she be afraid of the things listed in this poem?6. Why does she strongly refuse to be afraid of these things?7. Do you find it interesting or even surprising that these things do

not frighten the speaker? Why or why not?8. What is the speaker saying about girls and boys her age in the fifth

stanza? Should they frighten her? Do you think she fits in with them?

9. Besides her saying so repeatedly, what else can you point out as evidence of her fearlessness in the poem?

10. Would anything in this poem frighten you? Be honest!11. Did Angelou’s apparent fearlessness towards things in the poem

contradict what you think children are generally frightened of? Look at what you wrote down. Can you say exactly why she refuses to fear these things? Why must she let us know?

 

Life Doesn’t Frighten Meby Maya Angelou

LIFE DOESN’T FRIGHTEN ME By Maya Angelou

Shadows on the wallNoises down the hailLife doesn’t frighten me at allBad dogs barking loudBig ghosts in a cloudLife doesn’t frighten me at all.Mean old Mother GooseLions on the looseThey don’t frighten me at allDragons breathing flameOn my counterpaneThat doesn’t frighten me at all.I go booMake them shooI make funWay they runI won’t crySo they flyI just smileThey go wildLife doesn’t frighten me at all.

Tough guys in a fightAll alone at nightLife doesn’t frighten me at all.Panthers in the parkStrangers in the darkNo, they don’t frighten me at all.That new classroom whereBoys pull all my hair(Kissy little girlsWith their hair in curls)They don’t frighten me at all.Don’t show me frogs and snakesAnd listen for my scream,If I’m afraid at allIt’s only in my dreams.I’ve got a magic charmThat I keep up my sleeve,I can walk the ocean floorAnd never have to breathe.Life doesn’t frighten me at allNot at allNot at allLife doesn’t frighten me at all.

Maya Angelou Reading Life Doesn't Frighten Me

Student Sample #1People in the darkNoises in the parkLife doesn’t frighten me at allMice on the floorScreeching of the doorLife doesn’t frighten me at all.Mean bank robbers hereStrangers over thereThey don’t frighten me at allHurricane in the nightFire in the lightThat doesn’t frighten me at all.I go booMake them shoo…I make funWay they runI won’t crySo they flyI just smileThey go wildLife doesn’t frighten me at all.

Knocking on the glassShadows going pastLife doesn’t frighten me at allMan-eating sharksMen with tattoo marksNo, they don’t frighten me at all.Stared at in the eyesScreams that make you cryNever ending stairsPaths that lead nowhereThey don’t frighten me at all.Don’t show me snakes and spidersAnd listen for my screamsI will not be afraidI will stand straight and stayI’ve got a magic charmThat I keep up my sleeveI can stand so stillYou can’t hear me breathe.

Obsession taunting meUnable to be freeLife doesn’t frighten me at allLosing my dearest budBeing thought of as a dudLife doesn’t frighten me at all.Something killing all my petsBeing swallowed up by deathLife doesn’t frighten me at allLosing my gift of sightCausing everything to be whiteLife doesn’t frighten me at all.I go boo…My idols being fakeMaking a terrible mistakeLife doesn’t frighten me at allHaving a fatal diseaseBeing drowned in the seasLife doesn’t frighten me at all.

Being tortured by spiky things And cruel unusual stretching

thingsIn a cage up in a towerAs the pain’s increasing in its

powerThey don’t frighten me at all.Don’t show me angry dogsAnd listen for my screamsIf I’m afraid at allIt’s only in my dreams.I’ve got a magic charmThat I keep up my sleeveI can stand up for myselfAnd never have to leave.Life doesn’t frighten me at allNot at allNot at allLife doesn’t frighten me at all.

Student Sample #2

And Student Sample #3

Buzzing bumbling bugsAuntie’s giant hugsLife doesn’t frighten me at allPeople in a fightSqueaks and groans at nightLife doesn’t frighten me at all.Thunder and lighteningBooming and flashingThey don’t frighten me at allBeggars on the streetSitting at my feetThat doesn’t frighten me at all.I go boo…Big gray ocean sharksGetting conduct marksLife doesn’t frighten me at allThings under my bedGhost without its headNo, they don’t frighten me at all.

Those high cliffs up thereI look down and stareIt is much too highToo close to the skyThey don’t frighten me at all.Don’t show me teeth and clawsAnd listen for my screamIf I’m afraid at allIt’s only in my dreams.I’ve got a magic charmThat I keep up my sleeveI can walk on red hot coalsAnd never want to scream.Life doesn’t frighten me at allNot at allNot at allLife doesn’t frighten me at all.

Now YOU try it!

Using the poem by Maya Angelou, rewrite the lines that repeat “Life Doesn’t frighten Me”

You do not have to write the same number of verses as are in the poem but you must write at least 5 stanzas

The lines do not have to rhyme but try to create end rhyme when possible

Simply think of things that frighten you, but that you would rather didn’t