Answer:
Assuming this is Maya Angelou....
In Maya Angelou's poem "Life Doesn't Frighten Me," the speaker does not specifically state whether she believes her sense of humor is necessary. Nonetheless, throughout the poem, comedy is utilized to face and conquer anxiety, indicating that the speaker regards humor as a coping tool.
In the opening verse, for example, the speaker states, "Shadows on the wall / Noises down the hall / Life doesn't terrify me at all" - the term "at all" lends a sense of comedy to the sentence, as if the speaker is defying life to attempt to frighten her. Similarly, the speaker asserts in the third stanza, "I go boo / Make them shoo / I make fun / Way they run" - here, the use of humorous language and rhyme shows that the speaker is using humor to establish her authority over things that might otherwise fear her.
Subsequently, although the speaker does not explicitly mention that she believes her sense of humor is vital, the speaker's use of humor throughout the poem shows that it is an important weapon for her in confronting anxiety and establishing her power.
Source
- Angelou, Maya. "Life Doesn't Frighten Me." In The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou. New York: Random House, 1994.