Exploring Maya Angelou's 'Woman Work'

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.