I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

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.

An example of Maya facing racism is during her eighth grade graduation. Maya was so excited to graduate. The school she attended enrolled both whites and blacks. First of all during the assembly the blacks had to recite their own national anthem titled “ The Negro National Anthem”. The principal gave a speech the the students and instead of treating the kids equal, he proudly stated the new achievements the whites were going to have, and

What was the effect of the Black fighter, Joe Louis ' victory over his white opponent?

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

Dan’s mother, Diane, stayed home to take care of the kids. She also did the cooking and cleaning with help from the older kids.

In the memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou presents the theme: coming of age. This theme is shown throughout the book many times, especially when something big happens to her, changing the way that she reacts to things and the way that she sees things. Another way that this theme is shown throughout the book is the way that she words things in the beginning, vs the way that she words things in the end. The change in her writing style and her language shows this. Not only was she growing up mentally but she was also growing up physically, I believe that even though she was older when she wrote this book she did a good job portraying her younger self at the beginning and her older self at the end. Maya Angelou shows the theme coming of age in her book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, through the wording and structure of her writing, the events that happen to her in the book, and the way that she reacts to them.

“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

She reflects on the segregation in her small town, and what her life was like as a child. At this point in Maya’s life, she sees “whitefolks” (25) as something that she isn’t sure exist. She didn’t know what they looked like, and they didn’t live in her world on her side of town, so they weren’t considered people to her. Maya understood what other people were telling her, especially that people on the other side of town were something to dread because they had all of the power in the segregated world, and African Americans had none

Maya loves her brother immensely with full admiration and gratitude. She goes as far as to saying she wanted to “live a Christian life just to show God that I was grateful [for having Bailey].” She loves him not only because he was actually attractive, being “small, graceful, and smooth” with “velvet-black skin,” the opposite of her, but he provided the affection she had been lacking form other family members; he was the closest thing she had to a parental figure. Being the “pride of the Henderson/Johnson family,” Bailey received scarce punishments for his rambunctious antics, a factor that came in handy when aiding Maya. Dismayed at her appearance, the elders in Maya’s family would ridicule and undermine her. Seeing the hurt emanate from Maya,

Before David’s mother became an abusive mother she was a normal, caring parent who would have never been thought of to hurt her children even said by David himself he considered them similar to the “Brady Bunch” family.

After this momentous event, Maya thought “We were on top again... We survived. The depths had been icy, but now a bright sun spoke to our souls... I was a proud member of the wonderful, beautiful Negro race.” (Angelou, 184) After this moment, Maya felt as if her perspective of the world had changed, as well as mine.

For Maya Angelou in ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ dreams and aspirations were quite different from other children. " Wouldn’t they be surprised when one day I woke out of my black ugly dream, and my real hair, which was long and blonde, would take the place of the kinky mass that Momma wouldn’t let me straighten? My light-blue eyes were going to hypnotize them…” She embodied the idea that blonde hair was perfection and that she was an ugly, fat, black girl trapped in an endless nightmare. At the age of three, Maya and her four-year-old brother were turned over to the care of their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas.

Drawing attention to often misconceptions or tragic topics is important if you want to change the way the world perceives difficult topics. For me, this is something I have often done in my life, and it makes that much more sense that I would employ it in my art. Following this idea, I was able to create my piece “Caged Bird Sings”.

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.

Big Bailey Johnson: Big Bailey Johnson is Maya and Bailey’s father. He is selfish and stands out among other blacks because he speaks proper English and has flashy possessions. Big Bailey has no respect, never cared for, or connected with Maya.