16 pages • 32 minutes read
Maya AngelouA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Depictions of the Earth are a recurring motif throughout the poem, acting as cornerstones that hold the key message together. In the opening stanza, the speaker invites the reader in by saying “We, this people, on a small and lonely planet / Traveling through casual space” (Lines 1-2). They frame Earth as something small and insignificant within the universe. Each refrain that repeats this construction echoes this idea with slight changes in the exact image of the isolated planet presented: “We, this people, on this minuscule and kithless globe” (Line 49), “We, this people, on this mote of matter” (Line 52), “We, this people, on this small and drifting planet” (Line 59), and “We, this people, on this wayward, floating body” (Line 68).
In each case, the people populating the Earth remain consistently the same, but while the speaker offers us different ways of looking at our world, the descriptions never waver: Our planet is tiny, alone, and meaningless in the greater scheme of existence. In other words, to make meaning of our existence, all we have is each other. The perceived slights between individuals, cultures, or countries can only detract from what should be our greater project—creating whatever importance we can as human beings inhabiting the same miraculous chunk of rock.
By Maya Angelou
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes
Maya Angelou
A Song Flung Up to Heaven
Maya Angelou
Caged Bird
Maya Angelou
Gather Together in My Name
Maya Angelou
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
Letter to My Daughter
Maya Angelou
Mom & Me & Mom
Maya Angelou
Mother, A Cradle to Hold Me
Maya Angelou
On the Pulse of Morning
Maya Angelou
Phenomenal Woman
Maya Angelou
Still I Rise
Maya Angelou
The Heart of a Woman
Maya Angelou
The Lesson
Maya Angelou
9th-12th Grade Historical Fiction
View Collection
American Literature
View Collection
Beauty
View Collection
Black History Month Reads
View Collection
Diverse Voices (High School)
View Collection
Equality
View Collection
Memorial Day Reads
View Collection
Military Reads
View Collection
Order & Chaos
View Collection
Politics & Government
View Collection
Short Poems
View Collection
Teams & Gangs
View Collection
The Future
View Collection
War
View Collection