understandably jealous of my beauty‚ had turned me into a too-big Negro girl‚ with nappy black hair‚ broad feet and a space between her teeth that would hold a number-two pencil” (Angelou 2-3). This quote from Maya Angelou’s memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings acts as an example of how racism had already made its way into Maya Angelou’s life‚ despite her being such a young age. Maya Angelou portrays this theme of racism throughout her book. Within her memoir‚ she explains the racism she faced throughout
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Not a lot of students enjoy the readings because they cannot relate to the stories. We are given books that may have been popular in the 20th century‚ but mind numbing in the 21st century. In “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read”‚ by Francine Prose‚ she shares her opinions on the books that are currently being read at school and how they are being taught. Francine states that “high school is where literary tastes and allegiance are formed; what we read in adolescence
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I chose Dr. Lincoln because he shows how racist people were before in that time and how they could be given a lot and still not help them if they were black. I came across Dr. Lincoln in chapter 24 in a book called I Know Where The Caged Bird Sings. Dr. Lincoln is a man that went through school to get a degree to get a dentistry. Dr. Lincoln looks like a normal or in other words common white guy. He is a normal white guy because he has brown hair‚ blue eyes. He wears a white jacket because he is
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In “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read” Francine Prose confronts this plummeting interest in literature among teenagers. The United States has been afflicted with this disinterest for some time—young students are instilled with passion for math and science yet care little for English and literature. Attempting to explain this disparity‚ Prose argues that mediocre literature options and shoddy teaching methods leave students without any connection to the material they read. Unfortunately‚ while
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Book Report Pt. 1 Mr.Welch—English Name: Alex Montenegro Period: 1 Title: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Author: Maya Angelou Setting: Stamps‚ Arkansas; St.Louis‚ Missouri; San Francisco‚ California Protagonist: Maya Angelou Antagonist: Growing up; Being African American Describe the relationship between the protagonist and Antagonist. Being an African American‚ Maya grew up around racial segregation and discouragements
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Ling Jiang Pd 6. Independent Reading Assignment I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is an autobiography detailing evens in her life from when she was just five years old to when she has her first child at the age of 16. As I read the novel‚ I felt as though Angelou wrote it so that she could shine a light on the racism in America. Even though Maya Angelou is “black” and I am “yellow‚” I was able to relate to her story on a very personal level. Although I have never been sexually
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In 1969 segregation and racism were separating the people of America‚ not only physically but also emotionally. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‚” written by Maya Angelou‚ captured the separation and unfairness of society. This poem is an accurate representation of the pain and hardship of the African American community. Marguerite Ann Johnson‚ now known as Maya Angelou‚ was born on April 4‚ 1928 in St. Louis Missouri. She was a civil rights activist as seen in many of her poems. Angelou experienced
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overall become a strong‚ integrated part of society. In our english classes more specifically‚ we are taught to be these people through the morals that are instilled in the pieces we study. In Francine Prose’s essay on education‚ I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read she inaccurately claims that the importance our teachers set upon those values squanders any appreciation built for the quality of an author’s diction and syntax. In english‚ much more than any other class‚ students are given invaluable
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Francine Prose’s‚ I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read‚ proves many points about literature and the effect it has on students. I agree with Prose in such a sense that I believe students should read literature‚ not to get a better understanding of the “behind-the-scenes” of the story‚ or because it was assigned to them‚ but because they want to read it and that they will actually read the story thoroughly‚ understand it‚ and apply it to themselves and their life. I have taken English classes where
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In the novel “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” Maya Angelou describes her life as a young awkward black girl in the American South during the 1930s and subsequently in California during the 1940s. when Maya is only three her parents divorce and ship Maya and her older brother‚ Bailey‚ to live with their paternal grandmother‚ Annie Henderson‚ in rural Stamps‚ Arkansas. Annie‚ who Maya and Bailey call Momma‚ runs the only store in the black section of Stamps and becomes the central moral figure in
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