Letter to My Daughter

What is the role of poetry in Letter? How does poetry help Angelou express certain ideas and thoughts? Think about different literary tools used in her poetry.

Pick a person who taught Angelou a valuable lesson. What did she learn from them and how? Did she have to cultivate a relationship with them to do so?

Refer to the National Spirit and Commencement Address. According to Angelou, the new generation must learn to question the authority of the state. What worries Angelou about the future of America? Why is the inclusion of a political message an important one? Is it possible to separate politics from art?

Angelou mentions that Black poets ceremonially paint “themselves with the substance of their ancestry” (54). Does Angelou “revel” in her race and heritage in the same manner she describes others doing? Should we critique Angelou’s somewhat more removed and muted analysis of race relations?

Gender dynamics underlie A Letter, from Angelou’s abusive relationship with Mark to her respect for the elderly African men in Morocco. Where else do we see these dynamics play themselves out? What commentary, if any, does Angelou offer concerning gender?

Pick a small anecdote from “To Tell the Truth,” “Vulgarity,” or “Violence” and expand upon it. How does it relate to larger themes in the letter?

Angelou writes, “For you were sustaining and being sustained by the arms of your beloved” (38). What does she mean here? How does this quote relate to the theme of dialogue and its healing nature? Must dialogue be spoken? How does one remain connected to past loved ones?

Think about the role of Christianity in the work. Why does Angelou define faith as a journey? How is Letter her own documentation of that journey?