Exploring Maya Angelou's 'Woman Work'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explore Maya Angelou's 'Woman Work' with a focus on its structure.
Key learning points
- Presenting the experiences of women, particularly Black women, was very important to Angelou.
- Many of Angelou's poems explore sexist attitudes, whilst also observing women's resilience despite this discrimination.
- 'Woman Work' sees a Black woman explain how she has to complete hard, manual labour for no reward.
- When exploring a poem’s structure, a good place to start can be to compare its beginning to its end.
- In this way, you can consider any shifts in tone from the beginning to the end of the poem.
Keywords
Structure - how something is put together; how it is organised and arranged
Resilience - being able to cope, withstand and recover from difficult physical or mental challenge
Grace - elegance, dignity, poise, self-possession
Analysis - in English, to look at a writer’s work carefully and make a comment on why it was written in that way
Tone - the attitude of emotion of your voice - written or verbal
Common misconception
Comparing a poem's beginning and end doesn't count as analysis. It's too simple to be interesting.
At its most basic (and often most powerful), a text's structure is its beginning, middle and end. Commenting on the journey - emotional or physical - that a writer has taken us on is a great way to start exploring structure.
Teacher tip
Consider if your pupils might need an additional example (outside of 'Phenomenal Woman') to engage with the idea of a poem's structure more fully in Learning Cycle 2. You could select another Angelou poem ('Still I Rise' or 'Equality' could work well).
Equipment
You need access to a copy of 'Woman Work' by Maya Angelou published by Penguin Random House in 1978 and 'Phenomenal Woman' by Maya Angelou published by Penguin Random House in 1978.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Depiction or discussion of sexual content
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match each word to its definition ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou').
unjust treatment of someone based on their sex
unjust treatment on the basis of the colour of your skin
unjust treatment, and the limiting of power, of an individual or group
unjust treatment of people based on a certain category e.g. ethnicity
Q2.What is the term for the attitude of emotion of your voice? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
Q3.How might we describe the speaker's tone in Maya Angelou's 'Phenomenal Woman'? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou').
Q4.In 'Phenomenal Woman', how does the speaker think we should feel if we see her walking around? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
Q5.Match each poem to its focus ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou').
an assertive speaker explains why she is so fantastic
despite being treated like "dirt", she will overcome oppression
Angelou uses an extended metaphor to explore freedom and oppression
a speaker demands justice so she can be "free"
a speaker lists many things that she is not scared of and tells us why
Q6.What was Maya Angelou's third volume of poetry called? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Maya Angelou wrote a poem called ' Work'. ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
Q2.Match these words to their definitions ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou').
how something is put together; how it is organised and arranged
the attitude of emotion of your voice - written or verbal
to look at a writer's work carefully and make a comment on it
Q3.When exploring the structure of a poem, what might be one of your first steps? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
Q4.Starting with the first, put these Maya Angelou poems in the order they were first published. ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
Q5.Which sentences use the word resilient correctly? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
Q6.Which sentences use the word grace correctly? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
To help you plan your 8 English lesson on: Exploring Maya Angelou's 'Woman Work', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 English lesson on: Exploring Maya Angelou's 'Woman Work', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 English lessons from the Single poet study: Maya Angelou unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.