...I know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiographical account of Maya Angelou that demonstrates how love for literature and having a strong character can play a significant role in overcoming racism and distress. In the course of the story, it is evident that Maya changes from being a casualty of racism to become a young woman with self-dignity and identity that helps her to overcome prejudice. The context of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings focuses on the problems associated with racism that was prevalent in the southern states. Racist oppression is a common theme in the book that is portrayed by all the major characters; in fact, all the other themes in the book are closely related to racism, identity and segregation. In addition, the style and genre, and the structure of this literary work make significant contributions towards its thematic development, which focus on resistance to racism, the significance of the family, self-identity and definition and independence. Walker (95) argues that I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings is characterized by thematic unity, which is achieved using the structure adopted in the text that takes more of a thematic form rather than a chronological form. In addition, Angelou managed to emphasize on the universal ideas in her literary work irrespective of its periodic quality. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou used the major characters of the book to facilitate its thematic development identity, racism and literacy throughout the text...
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...Elisabeth Schauer Mary F. Lyons LCS 360 A March 4th 2014 The Importance of Religion throughout African Americans in the 1900’s Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing” and Solomon Northrup, “Twelve Years a Slave” are two memoirs with similar themes that encompassed their societies. These literally works depicts many life stories in which thematic concerns of religion, racism, chauvinism, education, poverty and seclusion carry an American dream. One quickly notices that they both relate in the way they pass out their different themes especially the theme of religion in this case. Religion is the main concern in this article considered for literary analysis. Therefore, the two authors used religion as part of their larger story to bring out a more or less the same thematic concept. Maya Angelou composed a stunning and energizing personal history titled “I know why the caged birds sing” of her hardship in her growth as a dark young woman in the southern states of America. Set in the 1930's the place the legacy of subjection remained. One thing, which made this literature work so fascinating to peruse, was the way that this book had such a variety of topics, which are both relative and imperative to us today like the absence of equivalent chances, prejudice, bias, training, neediness, seclusion, religion and The American Dream. On the other hand, in his work Solomon Northrup’s, “Twelve Years a Slave” shows the pain and ill-use encountered by Solomon Northrup in...
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...Freeing the Caged Bird: Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as a Call for Revolutionary Action Maya Angelou’s memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, exhibits the connection between cultural structures, such as language, religion and art, and the modern capitalist hierarchy of modern American society. Her portrayal demonstrates the need for revolutionary action over silent or reformative protest by explaining the failures of the latter. Overall, she argues that in order to end injustice, the oppressed must freely develop individual identities and perspectives, each subjective, but in total encompass an objective truth. Caged Bird explores the intrinsic connection of language and class, defining power as the ability to force another to conform to one’s own dogmata. For instance, Marguerite disdainfully observes that “Momma persistently [uses] the wrong verb” (94) while in the presence of the comparatively upper-class Mrs. Flowers, such criticism, one...
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...Throughout "I know why the caged bird sings", Maya Angelou portrays her experiences with adversity, as well as the experiences of many others, how she copes with them and how she rises above them. Maya exposes the reality of adversity in all its forms and by the end of the novel we are able to learn what overcoming adversity truly means. One of the social issues seen is that Maya is not getting the attention she needs from her caregivers. The author uses literary devices to explore the issue when she says "she was like a pretty kite that floated just above my head. If I liked I could pull her to me by saying I had to go to the toilet or by starting a fight with Bailey." This simile helps to show that Maya's mother takes care of her basic needs but fails to give her the actual care and attention a child needs. The issue contributes to the text as a whole by demonstrating how Maya might act in certain situations. An example of this is when she liked the attention she was getting from Mr. Freeman at first, although she knew it wasn't right. Overcoming this adversity helped Maya to grow as a person and become more independent. As Maya goes through life she often encounters racism such as when she gets a toothache and Momma takes her to the white dentist. During this time we are able to see discrimination against blacks come to life in front of Maya. The quote "Annie, my policy is that I'd rather stick my hand in a dog's mouth than in a nigger's." is used to portray the discrimination...
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...Experiences shape everybody, causing them to have different views on what is best to be done for their loved ones. People who grow up in rural areas will have different opinions than city dwellers simply by virtue of their upbringings. In I Know Wlhy the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Maya spends the first portion of her life with her paternal grandmother (called Momma) and then moves to live with her mother, Vivian, in New Orleans. Later, she moves back to Momma in Arkansas. Due to their respective experiences, Maya’s two maternal figures impress different values upon her and treat her in different ways. First, Momma and Vivian raise Maya to value different things based on what they have been taught to believe. Momma, who lives in a sleepy,...
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...“She doesn’t talk much. Her name’s Margaret.” […] “Well, that may be, but the name’s too long. I’d never bother myself. I’d call her Mary if I was you.” This is a scene where we see Maya’s core identity, her name, being wiped out and tempered with. Throughout ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’, we realize the protagonist, Maya, faces several identity crisis in her life and is thus left to write a biography of the culmination of incidents that have occurred throughout her life and hence that have shaped her identity today. Those around her mold Maya’s identity. Her relationships are what define her. There are no two ways about it; Maya’s rape calls her identity into question. Suddenly, she is portrayed as both a woman and child but she feels like neither. Thus, she is left with spending the rest of the book trying on different identities...
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...Both Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou explores the topic of discrimination. Of Mice and Men tells the tale of the unlikely bond that forms between protagonist and antagonist, George and Lennie. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" is a poem that used different types of birds to symbolize opposites in society. This poem can be interpreted as the black race being restricted from the privileges that white people acquire. Of Mice and Men and "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" illustrates the theme that people should not be hindered from any form of success because of who they are. In Of Mice and Men, the theme is conveyed through the most obvious form of discrimination depicted in the novella,...
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...A name is something personal, that give someone, his or hers identity. The way you are addressed starts all the way from the beginning, from the first day you open your eyes till the last day you close them. Names have the power of giving you a personality, it can tell you where you came from and about your heritage. In the book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, as her autobiography names have had a sirtuin affect and meaning. Throughout life we all have a person in which we can trust and look up to. Someone that we end up having a great relationship. And people have the costume of giving them nicknames. In the book Maya Angelou speaks about Bailey referring to her mother as Mother Dear (68). With that name that she gives...
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..."Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar and the poem "Caged Bird" by Maya Angelou the theme is freedom. The authors writings are similar but not quite the same. These two poems are similar and different in many ways because they share the same theme but the authors convey differently. "Caged Bird" and "Sympathy are very similar poems. In both poems the man character are birds. "I know why the caged bird sings." (Dunbar 21) " The caged bird sings"( Angelou 15) Both birds are being tantalized by where the poems are taking place, and are pouring their feelings about freedom into songs. Also, the theme in both poems is freedom. "... he would be free" (Dunbar 17) "sings of freedom"(Angelou 21) In both poems the main theme is freedom and the cage is a symbol of an internal or external conflict. The two poems may be similar but Dunbar conveys being caged and wanting freedom in his own way. In Dunbar's poem the bird is beating its wings and is physically hurting itself. " When his wings is bruised and his bosom is sore/ When he beats his bars"(Dunbar 12-13) The bird is really trying to get out of its confinement and is willing to hurt itself to achieve it. In "Sympathy" the bird isn't singing with joy. "Not a carol of joy or glee/ But a plea, the upward to heaven he flings."(Dunbar 18-20) The...
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...Angelou. In “I know why the caged bird sings” by Maya Angelou, the idea of freedom is explained through the use of metaphors and imagery. To begin, the metaphors used compare two perspectives of life. The poem itself is one large extended metaphor with other metaphors dispersed throughout. The main metaphor explains the lives of two barricaded races; “The caged bird” representing those who lacked freedom and “The free bird” representing those with freedom (Angelou). A caged bird could be a metaphor for any group of people facing oppression while the cage represents physical barriers. The freedom appointed to the free bird is opposite to that given to the caged bird. To show how the caged birds dealt with this segregation Angelou writes, “The caged bird sings/with fearful trill of the things unknown/but longed for still/and is tune is heard/on the distant hill for the caged bird/ sings of freedom” (Angelou). The caged birds “fearful trill” represents the bird’s worry that it will never have a chance to experience that same freedom. Though he’s fearful and his ambition is unmet, the bird's song represents the bird’s true self that longs for something greater in life. Even though each bird is treated differently, the caged bird takes what he can get and continues to believe in his own freedom. Moreover, Angelou uses imagery to reflect the emotion and freedom the two birds experienced. Through the contrasting physical appearance of the caged bird and the free...
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... • Caged Bird, by Maya Angelou • “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke • The Means to an End, by Kara Walker Intro cont.. Caged Bird ► Author Maya Angelou ► Discipline of literature ► Form of poetry Intro cont. “A Change is Gonna Come” ► Singer/Songwriter Sam Cooke ► Discipline of music Intro cont. The Means to an End ► Artist Kara Walker ► Discipline Visual Art ► Silhouette Portraits Humanities in Healthcare Understanding Diversity in Cultures Roles of Nurses ► Non-bias or opposing self-interest on patients. ► Understanding and acceptance of any and all cultures/ethnicities. ► Equal treatment of all patients ► Not conforming to stereotypes Humanities in Healthcare cont. ► Broadening your exposure to different cultures and through the arts and artifacts presented, you become more aware and better prepared to give quality healthcare amongst the diverse communities. ► The 3 works being presented will display the perseverance, struggles, and some history of the Black American ethnic group. The Literary Work Objective Analysis ► Caged Bird by Maya Angelou A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wing in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing. The caged bird sings ...
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...Just as a runner pounds the ground with his feet, trying to get better with every step, an author puts his\her feelings in forms of figures of speech. Maya Angelou, the author of her autobiography, “I know why the caged bird sings”. The author uses style, a tone of admiration, and a mood of aspiration to get the message across. This running style by Maya Angelou shows the good and evil side of people. An effective autobiography does a lot more than tell a story, it creates detailed account of life. Through figures of speech, Maya exposes Bertha Flowers, her teacher who had a huge part in molding Maya as she ran her way into young adulthood. Maya Angelou writes “she was our sides answer to the richest white woman in town” (p.42). Mrs. Flowers was Maya’s role model growing up as a black woman in racist times. She had witnessed the discrimination against black people living in Stamps, Arkansas. Mrs. Flowers represented a need for change. Maya described Mrs. Flowers as a woman worthy of praise. Without the effective writing style that Maya encompasses, the reader would be exhausted and fatigued to all the life lessons Mrs. Flowers throws to her. Tone is the writer’s attitude for a subject. The tone is used to show Maya’s admiration for Mrs. Flowers. Maya writes “For nearly a year, I sopped around the house, the store, the school and the church, like an old biscuit, dirty and inedible” (p.41). Maya is describing herself as an “old biscuit, dirty and inedible” referring about her...
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...I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the 1969 autobiography about the early years of African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a seven-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 16. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice. Angelou was challenged by her friend, author James Baldwin, and her editor, Robert Loomis, to write an autobiography that was also a piece of literature. Reviewers often categorize Caged Bird as autobiographical fiction because Angelou uses thematic development and other techniques common to fiction, but the prevailing critical view characterizes it as an autobiography, a genre she attempts to critique, change, and expand. The book covers topics common to autobiographies written by Black American women in the years following the civil rights movement: a celebration of Black motherhood; a critique of racism; the importance of family; and the quest for independence, personal dignity, and self-definition. Angelou uses her autobiography to explore subjects such as identity, rape, racism, and literacy. She also writes in new ways about...
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...Compare-Contrast Essay The thought of doing an essay for most people can at be quite intimidating because of the need to be technically proficient, following the mandatory expectations outlined and some might find them boring because they feel like it is too restrictive in nature. That is merely just a common misconception though, there are several different styles of essays and the two that are going to be discussed are descriptive and narrative essays. The narrative essay's main purpose is to tell a story using characters and a plot, where perhaps a problem is given, and the events that unfold eventually explain a solution to the problem or issue presented. In contrast the descriptive essay can be very powerful in the fact it is written using the five senses (visual, audible, taste, tactile sensations and smells) this allows the author to bring a scene or object to life in the mind of the reader. While narrative essays are almost like a movie that is played out in the judgment of the reader, the descriptive essay paints a vivid photograph or place the reader can experience and this is why descriptive essays are the superior of the two styles. One of the best qualities that narrative essays are able to offer over descriptive essays is they are structured to appeal to the simplest of mankind's urge to share a good story. There are various forms in which we can find a narrative writing example such as a poem, play, novel and the obvious essay. There are times...
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...past, which made her a better person. “ The Caged Bird Sings” and “Still I rise “ have themes of not giving up and staying hopeful. In the Caged Bird sings you can tell it connects to her life because the free bird represents the Caucasian race and the caged bird represents the African American race, “for the caged bird sings of freedom” shows that even though you are held back, you can still hope. Also, Maya Angelou’s poems had a constant theme of freedom and standing up to people mainly because she was a civil rights activist, and not used to getting things easily. This is best shown in the poem “Equality”. I know this because according to Ellen Labrecque (page 53),” Maya was inspired by Dr.King’s words of peace and equal rights for everyone.” So, as you can tell her themes actually were shaped by her life. Maya Angelou had many different poem styles. She constantly uses powerful diction to showcase the theme. Two pieces of evidence are, “Life doesn’t frighten me at all,” and “still like dust I’ll rise,” both of which have powerful diction. A common mood in Angelou’s poems are encouraged or inspired. An example of this is from the poem, “Equality”, “though I stand before you boldly...trim in rank and marking time” and from “On The Pulse Of The Morning”, “ But do not hide your voice.” Maya Angelou hardly ever uses similes, there are mainly just metaphors. Read the whole poems “When the Great Tree falls” and “the caged bird sings”, you won’t find a single simile! She probably...
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