I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings follows Marguerite’s (called "My" or "Maya" by her brother) life from the age of three to seventeen and the struggles she faces – particularly with racism – in the Southern United States. Abandoned by their parents‚ Maya and her older brother Bailey are sent to live with their paternal grandmother (Momma) and crippled uncle (Uncle Willie) in Stamps‚ Arkansas. Maya and Bailey are haunted by their parents’ abandonment throughout the book – they travel alone and are labeled
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Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings chronicles the early years of the author’s life - up to age seventeen. In the book‚ Angelou poetically describes the phenomenon that is growing up black‚ in the south‚ in the time before and during World War II. I believe that you are expected to interpret this as a memoir of overcoming the odds. I believe that you are expected to regard the happenings of this book with feelings of empathy and/or sympathy. You are also supposed to marvel at the way Angelou
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woman of her health and age would have been expected to carry the paper sacks home in one hand‚ but Momma said‚ ‘Sister Flowers‚ I’ll send Bailey up to your house with these things.’” (lines 61–63) “She appealed to me because she was like people I had never met personally.” (line 46) Unit 2 Grade 9 83 Reading Skill: Analyze Perspectives Though autobiographies are written in first-person point of view‚ they often reflect two different perspectives. • the perspective of the writer
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In the poetries‚ “Sympathy” and “Caged Bird”‚ the authors express how the bird symbolizes persistence‚ bravery‚ strength‚ patience‚ motivation and rebelling. The caged bird symbolizes many significances and reveals the theme which is‚ imprisonment has a major effect on the soul. The authors use theses symbols to help the reader relate to the implied theme of the poem and to help create an eerie/dark mood for the poem. Both authors went through confinement because of race and oppression‚ which allowed
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one controls the other’s (or others’) words and actions. This sort of behavior lowers self-worth. This topic has such an undertone of confidence or lack of confidence that it seemed the only choice for me to write about to go along with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. When young and naïve‚ our self-esteem and self-worth can by affected by our physical appearance or intelligence‚ which is rather unfair. At the time period this book covers‚ the black population was made to think that they were literally
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nice‚ intelligent‚ and elegant lady who shows a special interest on a young girl that had never been appreciated by anyone before. Marguerite is a young girl who feels lonely and sad; one example is where she states at the beginning “for nearly a year I sopped around the house‚ the store‚ the school‚ and the church like an old biscuit‚ dirty and inedible”. (Maya Angelou‚ pg. 390 of grassroots). Then she met Mrs. Flowers‚ the women that would change her life completely. Mrs. Flower’s personality and
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I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Survivors of great trauma often display psychological‚ emotional‚ and physical effects. In children‚ these effects are often heightened due to their fragile psyche. Angelou demonstrates the effects her trauma has on her by not speaking and viewing herself as worthless. In the first of Maya Angelou’s autobiographical pieces‚ I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings‚ she recounts recovering from extreme trauma at a young age. Suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
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Triginhall Mrs. Teacher Honors English 10 18 November 2012 Response to Literature “The free bird thinks of another breeze….a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams…” The two literary works “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou and Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” can be seen as mockingbirds that have flown over fields of prejudice and repeat what they have seen for all to hear. Jem Finch‚ a young boy and lawyer’s son from “To Kill a Mockingbird” clearly symbolizes a mockingbird
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‘I know why the Caged Bird Sings’ by Maya Angelou is an interesting‚ one of the most classic African American novel I have ever come across. While reading the novel‚ in the narration of the female child protagonist‚ the most distinct feature of the novel was its color imagery. Margaret‚ the female protagonist‚ whose point of narration the novel is written in‚ is a Negro. The time period the novel is set is when racism was still prevailing in the States. It is in her narration we find she uses
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poems “Sympathy” and “The Caged Bird” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and Maya Angelou‚ the authors do a great job expressing their feelings about Jim crow laws by using an image of a caged bird. These poems are a very popular because they relate to the Jim crow laws‚ the authors‚ Paul Dunbar‚ and Maya Angelou create such meaningful themes describing the feelings of being trapped that it gives strength in knowing why we keep moving forward. Both the poems “Sympathy” and “Caged Bird” use a bird as their
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