I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Moving on was rough especially growing up in the 1930’s-1940’s deep within the south. Maya being the young child that she was expressed large amounts of resilience towards the “powhitetrash” living within her mother property. Not fully understanding just how racist people living in her time are. Maya at first commences are as static character, showing complete hatred to those she deemed “trash” and believed that by if she “pinched it” things would get better. So in a sense that she would cause a revolution. Maya remain static throughout a majority of the story until she faces the main

Maya Angelou was a civil rights activist, author, and poet. She wrote many books and poems that conveyed the vivid experiences in her life. Maya Angelou’s works are well known and she is an eminent writer. One poem in particular that is well known is “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” written in 1969. In this work she described racial inequality, and the lack of freedom African Americans experienced in the 1930’s and 40’s. Maya Angelou uses many Rhetorical strategies and literary devices to describe the lack of racial freedom in the world at this time.

The novel is described as a coming of age story starring a young, insecure black girl. Living in the south and in California during the 1930’s and 1940’s, Maya was exposed to the harsh and limiting effects of racism. As young kids, Maya and Bailey struggle with being abandoned by their biological parents. For some time, their grandmother is the only influential figure in their lives. Their grandma, who is eventually called “Momma” runs a general store in Stamps, Arkansas. Maya spends time at her Momma’s store, watching the cotton-pickers travel to and from the working fields.

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

Maya Angelou is terrific performer, singer, filmmaker, and civil-rights activist. She is a phenomenal woman, one thing that she does best is writing. She is still living today, I believe her legend will never die. If one would talk to her, he or she would think she has lead a normal, happy life. Her life is blissful now, it was not always perfect. Maya beard enough emotional stress in a time frame that most people do not experience in a lifetime. Her experiences and the lessons learned encouraged her to help others become strong. Maya Angelou is one of the best examples of someone overcoming rape, being mute for several years, and having a child at a young age to achieve success of becoming an accomplished

She raises Bailey and Maya as if they are he own kids. Through the novel Maya never had a father figure, but she had Momma. An independent black woman. Momma owned her own store, took care of her crippled son and took care of her two grandchildren. She is a religious and a strong woman. Growing up Maya always questioned why Momma did some of the things the way she did, for instance one time some white children called Momma names and mistreated her, but she did not budge. Maya thought, “Who owned the land they lived on?... If there was any justice in the world, God should strike them dumb at once!” (23), Maya is thinking about retaliation, but does not realize that there can be serious consequences. Kinsolver exemplifies with this quote that society separates black and white and gives power to only the whites. Maya thinks otherwise, in that they should be equal and this is her first step of breaking societal expectations. As Maya matures she learns how to be more womanly and independent from

Maya’s upbringing as a child is very parallel to Taylor’s because she is raised by her grandma, whom she calls Momma, without an affective paternal figure in her life. As a child, Maya sees that her grandma successfully raised her and her brother on her own. Momma owns a shop in their town called, The Store and she runs it generally by herself. She makes an effort to protect Maya and Bailey from being mistreated in society because when the dentist refuses to attend to Maya’s needs, Momma tells the dentist, “I wouldn’t go press on you like this for myself but I can’t take No. Not for my grandbaby” (Caged Bird 189). Momma asserts her power in demanding service for her granddaughter and shows Maya that she is strong and possesses the power to be successful in society and overpower a male in some circumstances. Maya watches her grandma in this situation and instantly categorizes her as a powerful woman and looks up to her even more now. Maya visualizes her Momma as a form of a hero because, “Momma had obliterated the evil white man” (Caged Bird 191), because she stood up to the white dentist that is seen as evil in her family’s eyes. Maya then realizes that Momma is one of the more powerful black women in society that is able to stand up to the white race when the blacks are mistreated. Maya can then exert her

Maya Angelou, a mother, a dancer, a singer, an actress, a poet, an author, and a civil rights activist, has become one of the most influential women in the world. Growing up as an African-American in the most racial conflictive years, Angelou has faced many struggles throughout her life. Those struggles didn’t stop her from doing what she loved and standing up for what she believed in. Angelou never gave up and always fought for justice whether it was through writing, performing, or speaking. Maya Angelou’s life experiences have influenced how she writes and performs.

“I discovered that to achieve perfect personal silence all I had to do was to attach myself leechlike to sound I began to listen to everything” She became a state of introversion towards the people around her. In the article “From Darkness to Dawn” it described a girl’s experience with depression it read, “For her depression she underwent 20 electrocution treatments, took medication, and pursued talk therapy.” Some people handle depression their own way and need different outlets. Maya became her own person and started to make observations about her surroundings and the way of life. She did not go to Bailey a lot like she used to which also caused her to feel lost in her decisions.

This chapter marks a turning point because Maya is now a mother. She now has to genuinely care for someone other than herself; she needs to provide it with the love she never received. At first she viewed the pregnancy as a “nightmare,” that the air “had been sucked away in a monstrous inhalation.” She eventually takes responsibility, carrying the weight “on [her] own shoulders where they belonged.” The newfound motherhood finally gives Maya a title: mother. She no longer is displaced, lost among an Earth that rotates without her. Maya’s mother helps her come to this new understanding when she points out that the baby had fallen soundlessly asleep in the crook of her arm. She explains that if she is “for the right thing, then [she will] do

Maya feels caught in a trap when the attorney asks her whether there were any sexual incidents with Mr. Freeman prior to the rape. She fears rejection from her family if she admits to the previous incidents, but

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.

There are many themes associated with the novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings but I think the theme most present throughout the entire book is “Growing up black during a time of racial injustice can be very hard on someone emotionally and physically”. As Maya is raised in the southern town of Stamps, Arkansas, she is exposed to a vastly different society than in her hometown of St.Louis. The novel takes place during the depression time period so segregation in the south of course is one of the many injustices Maya faces in the novel such as when the dentist, Dr.Lincoln, refused to treat Maya’s toothache simply because she is a person of color. Maya begins to grow a fervor of hate towards the “powwhite people” that live on her grandmother's

Narrative therapy is a form of psychotherapy where the clinician is interested in hearing the stories that define one’s life (Cody & Lehmann, 2008). Postmodern narrative therapy suggests ideas such as adopting a collaborative, curious stance, generating alternative understandings, encouraging a supportive stance and searching for liberating traditions within each culture forming a culturally sensitive approach (Biever, Bobele & North, 1998). Within narrative therapy, the stance is that the person is the expert of their story. It seems as if within this quote Maya is communicating that she does not like the invention of herself. Using narrative therapy, we would explore

Maya is a woman that wants to be independent and take care of things, she has leadership. She is good at directing people, at making them listen to her without raising her voice. This is very helpful when she co-produce a revue, the Cabaret for Freedom, with Godfrey, because she is in charge of the event and the actors. Jack, a man working for the SCLC, tells her that she knows how to handle people and "We watched how you dealt with that cast. You kept order; and if anybody knows, I know the egos of actors. You never raised your voice, but when you did speak everyone respected what you had to say". (i.) Because of that character trait, and because she is reliable, she was chosen to replace the coordinator of the SCLC after he left. She is also