Question

What is a quote from Phenomenal Woman that uses irony?

Answer 1

Answer:

"The span of my hips",

"The flash of my teeth",

"The swing of my waist",

"The stride of my breasts".

Explanation:

The poem "Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou is a poem about a woman confident of her looks and doesn't care about what other people may think or say. She is happy with herself, contented and confident of her own uniqueness.

Irony is a literary figure of speech where what is said differs from what is actually meant. The actual meaning of the thing meant is opposite to how it was said. She uses irony in the poem to assert the fact that beauty is just skin deep, no matter what the perception may be. By refuting the theory that beautiful women are born in a specific way, she asserts that all women are beautiful in their own ways. They just need the confidence to accept that. Contrasting to the normal norms of  beautiful woman being fair skinned and tall and thin, Maya exclaims that she, even though an African-American, is beautiful too. This is seen in the lines "The span of my hips", "the flash of my teeth", "the swing of my waist", "the stride of my breasts" etc. She is confidently refuting the perception of a beautiful woman as a thin, tall, fair body.