Cage Bird Sings

Blacks in the United States have had to persistently fight against torture, racism, and segregation and still do. For years, in the United States people of color were not given the same rights as white men. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., “Graduation” by Maya Angelou and “A Homemade Education” by Malcolm X, the authors discuss their experiences and fight against inequality. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Maya Angelou were just a few of the hundreds of thousands of blacks who restlessly fought for civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Maya Angelou showed that in the face of adversity to persevere you must always remain strong and steadfast if you wish to succeed. Even with Malcolm X and Maya

“Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.” In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Maya writes about how she is affected by cultural and contextual issues in that time period , in this book Angelou familiarizes her self as a caged bird because to Maya Being caged in society means to be trapped and unable to find your voice. “The caged bird sings with a fearful trill, of things unknown, but longed for still, and his tune is heard on the distant hill, for the caged bird sings of freedom.” Angelou wrote this book as closure for her life experiences. She wrote this book to have a voice that she once did not have. This book exposes the issues that African-Americans faced . Society viewed African- Americans differently then we do today. The 1930s was all about being prejudice against the black community even today that is less of

The minute someone loses innocence, it is lost forever. That is why growing up and becoming an adult is one of the hardest and most vital times in a young persons life. Maya’s innocence is forever lost after being left by her parents, oppressed by racism, and raped. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a captivating novel written by Maya Angelou who uses a poetic tone and an abundant amount of similes and metaphors in order to convey that growing up in the South oppressed by racism steals innocence and leaves an indelible mark on a young girls life. Angelou creates a beautiful and touching autobiography about a lost black-girl in Stamps, Arkansas that shows the readers the struggle of growing up as a black child in the South

The author, Maya Angelou, tries to grab the reader’s attention on how bad segregation was during that time era. This quote is important because it shows readers the effect of racism on a community.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is a famous autobiography by Maya Angelou who narrates her life. In the book, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, it teaches people how to overcome racism and sexism. Maya Angelou has experienced and struggled through these obstacles and this book shows how she overcomes each obstacle to becoming a strong and independent woman. At a young age Maya and her brother, Bailey have been sent off to Stamps, Arkansas because their parents had gotten a divorce. They were taken care off by their father’s mom, whom they called Momma, and their disabled uncle, Uncle Willie. Stamps, Arkansas was a heavily segregated town and this taught Maya how to act around the white folks in her town. Maya also faced many struggles getting

Maya Angelou’s poem is all about the theme of identity and prejudice. Some of the techniques Angelou uses are repetition of words, the words ‘I rise, I rise, I rise’ these words emphasise the strength and resolve of Angelou. The resilience of her personality is shown by repeating ‘I rise’ in contrast to the aggression of her opposition, Angelou is clearly emphasising that she will not be oppressed or dominated. Within the poem are the use of metaphors ‘Im a black ocean, leaping and wide’ this suggest that she is a black lady and that she

A theme in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is Angelou’s identity struggle as a black female. During this time in the country, colorism and a European standard taught that having black features was not only bad, but made a person ugly. In this quote, Angelou believes and internalizes those standards and puts herself down for not fitting that image. Angelou wished that she could change her identity and become a white female because she felt

Throughout her life, Maya Angelou was ridiculed for the color of her skin and was treated differently because of it. So many racist people lived in her town and used her and the black community as a doormat. African Americans were restricted to certain things and, “did not have the same rights and privileges as whites” (Agins 8). Racism was a big problem in Maya Angelou’s childhood, especially when she was eight. When Angelou was eight she helped her grandmother run the main store in Stamps. Momma rented out the house on the lot of her store to a poor white family. The girls would come by the store and demand things from Momma and Maya and would have to be addressed as “Miz”. One day when they went to walk up the steps they saw Momma standing on the porch with arms crossed and slippers on and started imitating her. Maya was infuriated and wanted to hurt the girls but Momma taught Maya to let it roll off her back, seeing as though racism would be a continuous thing throughout her life (Angelou 29-32). Maya felt that, “Being a product (is ‘victim’ a better word?) of southern Negro upbringing, I decided that I ‘would understand it all better by-and-by’” (Angelou 276). Angelou found it easier to be brought up through a segregated area where she was taunted and walked all over just for being black daily rather than finding it out later in life.

Growing up as a African-American girl in California and the south during one of the most segregated times in American history, the 1940s. Maya Angelou was faced with three main deterrents growing up in these times, the racism and

In the memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, late author Maya Angelou chronicles her experiences in the early stages of her life. The book explains the hardships, prejudices as well as the tragedies she went through as a child living in the deep South during the segregation era. Angelou gradually tells her life story in first person perspective as a child, tween, and eventual teen. Over the course of her life she gains knowledge and perspective which eventually leads to her desire to be become an author and poet.

In conclusion, ignorance and illiteracy, self-esteem, and racism are prominent motifs in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Ignorance is displayed by both Momma and Maya. Momma shows ignorance when she demonstrates that she doesn’t keep up with modern slang. Maya demonstrates illiteracy when she gets pregnant without knowing how or why. Self-esteem is also a motif shown

Maya Angelou grew up in a small, segregated town in the deep South where she had to learn to deal with racial hatred. Angelou was originally born as Marguerite Johnson in Saint Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928. When Angelou was three and her older brother, Bailey, was four, her parents sent them off to live with their father’s mother in the rural town of Stamps, Arkansas. Angelou’s parents were never truly happy around one another. So, her father “decided to put an end to their calamitous marriage, and [he]shipped Maya and Bailey home to his mother” (Angelou 6) Angelou does not remember most of her trip, but once they reached the deep South, things started to look up. “Negro passengers, who always traveled with loaded lunch boxes, felt sorry for ‘the poor little motherless darlings’ and plied Maya and her brother with cold fried chicken and potato salad” (Angelou 6). Throughout all of her work, Angelou

From what time frame this is, it addresses the racism from 1930s to the 1950s. Maya's view on the 'whitefolk' is that they seem to all be self-indulge, disrespectful, and can not keep their money in their pockets. She believes they talk in a way that they're talking above you and looking down at you. The 'whitefolk' view African American believe are undeserving of their time. They do look down on the African American and believe no matter their social or financial status, that African Americans are lower than them. We learn that an African American man was killed for sleeping with a white woman. Maya just keeps feeling like she is alienated from the Caucasians around her.

During the 1990’s Maya Angelou walked into a meeting filled with civil rights leaders to discuss the affirmative action and as she stepped through the doorway she simply stated, “The first problem is you don’t have women in here of equal status. We need to correct you before you can correct the country”. Maya Angelou was a woman of color whose talents stemmed far beyond being a writer, poet, actor, dancer, memoirist, filmmaker, mentor and civil rights activist. Despite her lack of influence with political power, her widespread inspiration and powerful truth will extend beyond her grave to generations to come. Many women of color can be seen making an impact on how we live our lives today, but Maya Angelou has a cumbersome amount of achievements

Maya Angelou’s 1969 novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, is an autobiography that revolves entirely around Maya Angelou, a black African American girl in the 1930’s-50’s, and her difficult journey through life. The novel circles the themes of racism, sexism, and the outcome of being raped. Angelou explains to the reader the different remonstrance’s she goes through every day and how she struggles to grow up without a mother or a father. The book begins with her explaining how her mother sent her and her brother Bailey off to live with their grandmother and uncle in Stamps and how her parents are divorced.