Close Reading: a Sentimental Journey

Nevertheless, in the poem ‘Nesting time’, Stewart interprets a personal experience in first person of the appearance of a bird that lands upon his daughter and forgets the thought of the harsh world. Stewart’s descriptive language repeatedly explains the poem as if seen in his viewpoint, beginning with an interjection, ‘oh’ communicating of his incredulity of an ‘absurd’ bird. Symbolizing the bird with strong coloured imagery its ‘mossy green, sunlit’, described to be bright and joyful, with sweetness shown with the type of bird, ‘honey-eater’, Douglas Stewart takes the time to describe its admiration juxtaposed to the dangerous world surrounding it. While visualizing the birds actions, ‘pick-pick-pick’ of alliteration and repetition of its

This expanded definition of freedom is one that deserves to be considered, and it is one that Lambert dedicates a significant portion of text to. Birds are an obvious choice in nature to represent what freedom looks like because they are not bound to the earth in the way that men

This is a very important part of the book because it shows the reader that the

Maya Angelou talks about a caged bird and a free bird in her poem “Caged Bird.” When Maya Angelou talks about a caged bird and a free bird I think she is describing people, like the caged bird is a person who is stuck by others opinions about him/her and

In the story the father didn’t understand his daughter which made their relationship rocky. In the text it says ‘‘...watching him get out of the truck and walk toward me, noticing that there was no smile on his face but still feeling my body move toward him, my arms opening for an embrace, something rising in my throat. My father stopped and held out his right hand.’’ This quote shows that the father had a hard time showing his emotions to his daughter. In the end of the story they bonded over a bird and the father began to understand his daughter.

To start off, we will start to talk about Who is the caged bird and why. I think that according to the story, “The Long Walk Home”

Since the beginning of time all human beings have had a fascination with human flight. Watching a bird soar through the air, one cannot help but desire the same capabilities. Imagine the point of view of the bird that flies high above the trees, among the mountains, over the ocean, and high in the air, far away from the clamor of everyday life on the ground. To have the freedom and power to release ones self from the tribulations experienced with two feet on the ground, and spring up and away into the peaceful, blue sky is a common human desire. Since ancient times, flight has represented the

Because of the supposed similarities between humans and birds, birds are a useful tool for authors wishing to symbolize human emotions or thoughts. Mynott offers that birds are often “distinguished partly by the different human emotions they seem to be revealing” (Mynott 282). He references several examples of the use of human-specific traits in the description of birds, such as “kind,” “stern,” and “astonished” (282). It is not such a huge leap from the attribution of such human characteristics, to “anthropomorphic misdescription” (282). The birds in The Ant of the Self are said to be looking “as though they [had] placed bets” on who would lose Spurgeon’s and his father’s confrontation. While Spurgeon is taking a stand against his father by ordering him out of the car and onto the shoulder of the road, the birds’ curious glances are exposing Spurgeon’s own thoughts. The birds, a symbol for Spurgeon, wonder whether he or his father will “go down in flames” (Packer 95). The caged birds, which are so capable of human expressions, are expressing Spurgeon’s thoughts. ZZ Packer endows the birds with a look of human quizzicality, having them glance from the nervous Spurgeon to his angered father. Spurgeon wonders whether he or his father will win, and the birds, as his symbol, express this.

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” depicts two birds which are used as metaphors to express the state in which the two classes of people live. In one description the poem describes the standard of living of a bird of privilege which alludes to the lives of whites. Then it describes caged birds whom of which are crying out for freedom, and are meant to represent African Americans during this time. It describes the feeling of being trapped and calling out for

At the bird’s appearance and apparent vocal articulation, he is at first impressed, then saddened. He compares this evening visitor as only another friend which will soon depart, just as “other friends have flown before” (58). But the raven again echoes quite aptly his one-word vocabulary, thus leading the man on to think more deeply about the possibilities that exist at this juncture. Somewhere deep inside him, he has realized that it doesn’t matter what question he poses, the bird will respond the same.

The reason why the children at the market couldn’t understand the bird’s pleas for release was that

As the bird is entrapped, his wings “clipped”, and his feet “tied” by racism, he attempts to express himself by singing, the only form of freedom left in a society filled with racism.As the bird is entrapped, his wings “clipped”, and his feet “tied” by racism, he attempts to express himself by singing, the only form of freedom left in a society filled with racism.As the bird is entrapped, his wings “clipped”, and his feet “tied” by racism, he attempts to express himself by singing, the only form of freedom left in a society filled with racism.As the bird is entrapped, his wings “clipped”, and his feet “tied” by racism, he attempts to express himself by singing, the only form of freedom left in a society filled with racism.As the bird is entrapped,

This shows how selfless the girl was, deciding to let the bird go instead of having the bird stay with her to keep her

The first stanza of the poem introduce the free bird. Angelou uses words such as “leaps . . . and floats” (Line 1-3) in description of this character’s movements. These actions relate directly to moving without restrictions. The words leaped and floats are contradicted immediately in the second stanza as Angelou brings the caged bird into the picture. Angelou uses diction that complements confinement

In the end, the man accepts his dungeon and comes to think of it as a second home. When the time comes for him to be released, he is unable to enjoy his freedom. He would have been unable to enjoy whether the bird had come or not. The bird was an attempt to get him to grasp back on to hope and freedom, but the dungeon had successfully taken away the man's desire to be free. Therefore, when the prisoner was released, he was being punished by what should have been the end of his suffering, because he learned to accept his situation instead of holding on to faith and