Singin'+Swingin'

(Maya Angelou plays pat-a-cake with Elmo) || **"I came to love Tosh because he wrapped us in a cocoon of safety, and I made no protest at the bonds that were closing around my existence" (32).** Maya lets Tosh run her life because she is not used to feeling safe and protected all the time. She lets him run her life, but she is ok with it because she gets security, which she hasn't had before. ||
 * Maya Angelou || Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas ||
 * Maya Angelou was born April 4,1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her real name is Marguerite Ann Johnson; Maya's brother gave Maya her nickname. She was raped at the age of eight by her mother's boyfriend.Maya is an african american woman who has lived through many different things, but in this book, she marries a white man; she feels the reprecusions of her actions from the stares of people. Maya has written many autobiographies. Maya has a son who plays a huge role in her life. Maya is a Christian woman who attends church on Sunday. She marries a man named Tosh, but the relationship doesn't last long. She looks for jobs and ends up being a "shake" dancer. This job lands her a singing career at a local popular night club. Her next job was dancing with //Porgy and Bess.// Maya toured all over the world with this group, but she missed her son too much and then Maya and her son moved to Hawaii. Maya has been on many Public Broadcasting Systems as a guest and has written play writes. She is still living today. || [[image:http://www.swisseduc.ch/english/readinglist/angelou_maya/icons/angelou.jpg width="244" height="280" caption="angelou" link="http://www.swisseduc.ch/english/readinglist/angelou_maya/icons/angelou.jpg"]] ||
 * media type="youtube" key="PfXOHElPV84" height="344" width="425"

​Maya allows Tosh to control her life, but his control is starting to annoy Maya a bit because she cannot do anything. Maya doesn't stand her ground, and anything Tosh said went.
 * [[image:http://newsitemstoday.today.com/files/2009/03/young_maya_angelou.jpg width="304" height="390" caption="young_maya_angelou" link="http://newsitemstoday.today.com/files/2009/03/young_maya_angelou.jpg"]] || "**I made no protest, gave no confession-just stood silent. And allowed a little more of my territory to be taken away" (40).**

Maya seems to always think of her ancestery and the slaves. She thinks she has betrayed her fellow african americans by marrying this white man. She feels awkward walking in public with Tosh because everyone stares at them. ||
 * "Unadmitted was the sense of stragulation I had begun to feel, or the insidious quality of guilt for having a white husband, which surrounded me like an evil aura when we were in public" (45).**

Maya is fed up with Tosh and his safety. Maya is ready to live her own life and leave Tosh. She was not going to be the house wife who does whatever her husband want. Maya was not going to let herself be controlled any longer.
 * [[image:http://www.achievement.org/achievers/ang0/photos/ang0-003a.gif caption="ang0-003a" link="http://www.achievement.org/achievers/ang0/photos/ang0-003a.gif"]]​ || **"I was no longer the dutiful wife ready with floors waxed and rugs beaten,with my fingers between the pages of a cookbook and my body poised over the stove or spead-eagles on the bed" (48).**

Maya ends her relationship with Tosh, and she felt better about herself. She found out that not everything turns out to be perfect and that it takes time to build a relationship that is enjoy-able. She knows, now, that Hollywood endings were few and hard to find. ||
 * "When our marriage ended completely, a year later, I was a saner, healthier person that the young, greedy girl who had wanted a men to belong to and life based on a Hollywood Film, circa 1940" (49).**

"Maya Angelou (American poet) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia." //Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia//. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. []. Maya., Angelou,. //Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry like Christmas//. New York: Random House, 1976. Print. "Maya Angelou -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Web. 18 Nov. 2009. []. "YouTube - Sesame Street - Maya Angelou plays pat-a-cake with Elmo." //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// Web. 30 Oct. 2009. . "angelou" Web. 30 Oct.2009 <[]> "young_maya_angelou" Web. 18 Nov. 2009  "ang0-003a" 18 Nov. 2009. Web. [] ||  ||
 *  ​ Maya Angelou has lived a life unlike anyother person. She has had many obstacles she has overcome through out her life, and she has made a great life for herself. She has shown that a person can grow from nothing into a person who can appreciate everything that has passed through her hands. Maya has grown as a person both mentally and physically through out her life time, and she continues to do so through out her life today. She is a person who can work with what is given to her and she turned her life around because of her family support. ||  ||
 * Work Cited: