Caged Bird Sings Stereotypes

In “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, Maya Angelou uses her personal experiences growing up as an African American female to present her primary claim that even in trying times there is something to be grateful for. Angelou’s secondary claims are mainly comprised of stories from her upbringing as well as the description of her grandmother’s attitude even though they are living through times of extreme poverty. In Each of the stories she speaks of one circumstance that seems completely unbearable but yet ends with some sort of light at the end of the tunnel. This structure can also be seen in her description of her grandmother’s outlook on life. By formatting her essay in this way, Angelou is able to develop pathos as well as ethos with the audience.

Maya Angelou is a leader by example, she sets the standard by her actions and the stories she tells teaches the audience a lesson. Majority of her work is to inform us of the past and she wants us to learn from her experiences in life; she is a life teacher. The purpose of this poem was to inform us of the history of our country. The poem is titled “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” and her purpose of writing this is to teach the reader why the caged bird sings. Maya Angelou wants to put the reader in her shoes to get the ultimate experience of racial inequality but instead by taking the role of a caged bird or a free bird.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Specifically it will discuss the themes of racism and segregation, and how these strong themes are woven throughout this moving autobiography. Maya Angelou recounts the story of her early life, including the racism and segregation she experiences throughout her formative years. With wit, sincerity, and remarkable talent, Angelou portrays racism as a product of ignorance and prejudice. However, she finds the strength to rise above this crippling condition.

Maya Angelou tells of her life experiences and struggles in her book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” that gives us insight about Maya’s life as a young black girl growing up in a time of racism. The novel discusses various forms of oppression that she had to face as well cope with them. Robert A. Gross wrote an analysis for Newsweek about the book and claimed that Angelou’s book is not only an interesting story of her own experience, but also a portrayal of a Southern black community, thus being a historic reference of the 1930’s. Joanne Megna-Wallace backs up Gross’s claim in her critique of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and also stresses the importance of the novel as a historic book, and also discusses how Maya Angelou intended the autobiography to target the historic circumstances of the time period. However, these two analyses portray the novel in two completely different ways. Robert Gross views the novel as a well-written story that was cleverly thought out and racism has a slight impact on the main character’s life. He views the autobiography as being a beautiful story that portrays the warmth and understanding within the black community, whereas Wallace argues that Maya Angelou’s autobiography is way of exposing the horrific racist conditions that made up her childhood. She focuses on Maya Angelou’s struggle and the tragic events that made her the woman she is.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, an autobiographical novel written by Maya Angelou, was published in the year 1969. The novel follows Maya as a young girl facing challenges such as racism and sexism following the civil rights movement. While reading the book, the reader is introduced to events in history such as the Great Depression and World War II.

In the book, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, by Maya Angelou the main character is Marguerite Ann Johnson (Maya). She is portrayed as a mature young girl suffering from the traumatic events associated with being a black female in America. She is said to be a smart and imaginative person. Maya felt that people judge her unfairly due to her awkward appearance. She fantasized that she actually was a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl trapped in a “black ugly dream” and would soon wake up and reveal her true identity. She faced three obstacles in the south white prejudice, black inability, and female subjugation.

The memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiography written by Maya Angelou as she grew up in the mid-20th century, where being a black girl and facing racial issues in society, had to overcome many problems that show the larger issue of the time period. I chose this book over the other nineteen memoirs because of the strong recommendations I received from my fellow class mates, and because of my interest in racial issues during the terrible times of segregation. Life was not fair, and Maya Angelou had to face a lot during the 30’s and 40’s in order to try to live a normal lifestyle and become a confident person. Maya shares her story with us to increase our knowledge of racism, prejudice, unequal treatment of women, and sexual

Her people endlessly toil to support their families and make ends meet despite working from dawn to dusk. Starting at a young age, she gradually learns about the hostility between white and black people. Marguerite must fight against oppression and the struggles of being a minority to survive. Maya Angelou writes, “If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult” Also, on page 4 of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: “Wouldn’t they be surprised when one day I woke out of my black ugly dream, and my real hair, which was long and blond, would take place of the kinky mass that Momma wouldn’t let me straighten?

Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” is an emotional coming of age autobiography set in the nineteen thirties – forties, focusing on her struggle with self-acceptance, insecurities, and prejudices. This journey is vastly explored throughout the United States such as, Arkansas, St. Louis, California, and even outside of the U.S. like Mexico. She travels with her brother to visit different members of their family, with each location having a story to tell. When she is three years old, she and her brother, Bailey, are sent to stamps with their grandmother after their parents got divorced. Notoriously in the South, segregation and racism is omnipresent. Here Maya is brought up by “Mama”, her grandmother. The siblings understandably feel abandoned by their parents after realizing they weren’t dead like they’d coaxed themselves to believe.

Growing up in the South during the years of segregation as a young black girl was difficult. As we will see in a short story written by Maya Angelou, having someone to look up to can make a lasting impression and encourage young girls to make better choices in their lives. There are too many girls, both now and then, that have no role model to look up to. For some, they have no one to set good examples. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, it is evident what a good role model can do to someone's life. By analyzing this text, we will take a deeper look into not only what the text says but what I feel is the underlying meaning behind the words Angelou wrote. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has 36 chapters as well as the prologue. In this paper,

As an African American women living in the segregated era. She became involved in the civil right movement alongside Dr. Martin Luther king. As an activist to civil right movement, she many of her works express the frustration of the oppression of African American were dealing with in a prejudiced world by speaking about the issue through her writing, like many great leaders. Maya can connect with her reader with from her writing. Maya is writing give hope for those who suffer from in the past of segregation. In her autobiography, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings she talks about the anger of watching her grandmother staying silent until a disrespectful white girls, because she was raised to believe children should respect elderly and act properly. As a child, she could not understand why black people treated as a second-class citizen to the point where they could not eat a certain color ice cream on a certain day even if they hold a higher standard in the community. She speaks of her experiences of seeing her uncle hiding in the potato bin because the fear of being Lynch by angry racist seeking revenge. She dealt with being called out her name by employee who doesn’t acknowledge her and dined medical treatment by a man her grandmother help because he rather touch a dog mouth then an n*gger. As a child her grandmother teach bailey and her the proper way to behave but it anger her

“You are a piece of the puzzle of someone else life. You may never know where you fit, but others will fill the holes in their lives with pieces of you” (Bonnie Arbon). In the novel, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou, the protagonist, Maya Johnson, started off as a young African American girl who was diffident and self hating, and who later transforms into a confident, grown young women. There are various reasons that cause characters change however the most common are due to the additional characters/ people they choose to surround themselves around throughout life. Maya Johnson goes through this grand transformation based on the values that her “Mama” (Annie Henderson), brother (Bailey Johnson Jr.) and her mother (Vivian

Maya Angelou employs the use of narrative elements, such as conflict, setting, and plot to develop a theme of identity in her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou utilizes elements of conflict to illustrate Maya’s sense of individuality and background, creating a theme of identity. For example, as Maya goes to work for Mrs. Cullinan, her employer renames her, much to Maya’s discontent. Maya’s individuality stands out well in these series of events, as she declares, “My name wasn’t Mary,” shortly after performing a rebellious act (Angelou 111).

All three characters in Their Eyes Were Watching, Huckleberry Finn, and Caged Bird discover, and become conflicted with their true identity throughout their different adventures. This impacted the characters growth and development as they encountered societal expectations and as a result, self acceptance is what each character embraced towards the end of their adventures. In Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya’s biggest problem while growing up was acceptance and identity. She went through many different situations throughout her life that helped to shape who she was.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is a novel by Maya Angelou, where she writes about her childhood and her experiences while growing up. This non-fiction novel illustrates Maya Angelou’s childhood, being tossed around by her parents, and having to experience different cultures. Maya struggles particularly in finding friends, she is reserved, and will only open up to Bailey, her brother. Maya moves a couple of times to different places, which may contribute to her not having friends. The novel revolves around Maya Angelou, Bailey, and her grandmother, evolving through life from being a child to a teenager. This novel is set in the “South”, in America.