Maya Angelou - Vocabulary and Literary Devices

to become spread throughout all parts of

behavior that implies a close friendship

falling or flowing, like a waterfall

...my image of her would have been shattered like the unmendable Humpty Dumpty

ghosts

I waited for the ground to open up and swallow me...

Her skin was a rich black that would have peeled like a plum if snagged

continuously; nonstop

I sopped around the house, the Store, the school and the church, like an old biscuit.

the state of being experienced; maturity

A person held in high standing for superior tastes and manners

One summer afternoon, sweet-milk fresh in my memory

unpleasant; disagreeable

to strive in competition or rivalry with another; contend for superiority

to inject; to add to

Momma hadn't thought that taking off my dress in front of Mrs. Flowers would kill me stone dead

disrespectful toward a sacred person, place, or thing

a feeling or impression that something is about to happen, especially something evil

irrelevance, inappropriateness, or absurdity

the basic or most important quality

threatening

I took nice little lady-like bits off the edges.

a lack of ability to read and write

Very carefully and precisely

the unique but undefinable atmosphere that surrounds a person, an object, or an event