Q 01/05

What was Maya Angelou's birth name?

A) Margaret Ann Baxter

B) Maya Louise Henderson

C) Marguerite Annie Johnson

D) Marguerite Vivian Angelos

Answer · why

C) Marguerite Annie Johnson

Her brother Bailey Jr. gave her the nickname 'Maya', from 'My' or 'Mya Sister'.

Q 02/05

In which city was Angelou born in 1928?

A) Stamps, Arkansas

B) Oakland, California

C) Winston-Salem, North Carolina

D) St. Louis, Missouri

Answer · why

D) St. Louis, Missouri

Her father was a doorman and navy dietitian, her mother a nurse and card dealer.

Q 03/05

Where did the nickname 'Maya' come from?

A) Her grandmother Annie Henderson's middle name

B) A name from her Mende ancestors in West Africa

C) Her older brother's way of saying 'My Sister'

D) A calypso stage name given by her manager

Answer · why

C) Her older brother's way of saying 'My Sister'

Bailey Jr. was a year older; the two were sent alone by train to Arkansas when she was three.

Q 04/05

In which Arkansas town did Angelou grow up with her paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson?

A) Stamps

B) Hope

C) Pine Bluff

D) Texarkana

Answer · why

A) Stamps

Her grandmother's general store prospered even through the Depression thanks to 'wise and honest investments'.

Q 05/05

For roughly how long did Angelou stop speaking after she was raped at the age of eight?

A) About six months

B) More than ten years

C) Just over a year

D) Almost five years

Answer · why

D) Almost five years

Her attacker was murdered days after his release, and she believed her voice had killed him.