Maya Angelou's I Know Why The Caged Bird

Have you ever considered how a young, insecure, black girl growing up in the South during the 1930s dealt with physical and verbal discrimination directed toward her African American race? This may not seem like a big deal at first, but consider that this was a time before the African American Civil Rights Movement; a time during which racism and segregation were a fact of life. It was a daily struggle for blacks to live in a society that clearly and openly did not accept them as equal people. They were frequently ridiculed and disrespected just because of the color of their skin. Since they were evidently treated

In Angelou’s memoir I know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she reminisces on her past childhood experiences and memories of growing up in the south. She gives specific examples on how the world was then and how poorly her people were treated. She explains how and what she had to do to overcome various obstacles that crossed into her life and how it affected her in the long run. She also provides many examples of her positive and negative traits growing up and with these, she has learned many life lessons that contributed in developing the herself as an adult.

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 great poet Maya Angelou once said in her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you” (Maya Angelou Quotes.) Angelou’s autobiography and words have inspired many readers and rape victims. One victim, fourteen-year-old Melinda Sordino, a fictional character from Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, is inspired by Angelou after her own tragic date rape and subsequent depression and silence. Melinda relates to Angelou and is inspired by Angelou’s power to speak and to seemingly conquer her rape. Melinda has a poster of Angelou and uses it as an example and inspiration. Due to Maya Angelou’s rape experience as a young girl, understanding Maya Angelou’s life gives readers insight

Angelou was born in Missouri in 1928. She spent most of her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas, pre Civil Rights Movement with her grandmother and her older brother. Angelou is most known for writing the poem Caged Bird. In the first stanza about the caged bird, Angelou declares that the bird, “can seldom see through/ his bars of rage/ his wings are clipped and/ his feet are tied/ so he opens his throat to sing”(Caged Bird). Angelou uses the bird as a metaphor for oppressed African Americans during this time period; the bird is held back by a barrier, just like African Americans were held back by unjust laws, a corrupt legal system, and their white peers who saw them as inferior. Similar to the bird, Angelou felt held back by others, but she did not let the “bars of rage” hold her back from her potential so, like the bird, she “opened her throat to sing” and used her voice to protest for herself and those who could not advocate for themselves.

“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

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.

After the abolition of slavery the South became racially segregated and set many restrictions on African Americans. In the poem Sympathy by Paul Laurence Dunbar and Caged Bird by Maya Angelou, these authors portray a caged bird trying to break free from their cage. The authors use this bird as a metaphor to show the oppression and restrictions against blacks. The symbol of the caged bird is important because it shows the reality for oppressed black people and reveals their resistance to racism.

In Maya Angelou’s poem, “Caged Bird”, She explains how a bird is trapped inside of a cage and can not escape from thick metal bars that hold it back. It imagines and signs of having freedom. People believe this is about a bird, but what if it isn’t. I believe that this is talking about a person who can’t make the decision if they want to keep fighting to do free.The bird can’t decide if it wants to fight to soon wear the bars of the cage down so it can finally fly away as well or to give up and use its voice and imagination to be free rather than to truly feel what it's like.I feel like the decision to give up or keep trying is a choice too difficult to be chosen and wears down this bird day after day. Maya Angelou writes, “But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage, his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.” Perhaps the bird wants to escape yet the decision scares it off.The bird seems full of rage that he can not set himself free.In Maya Angelou’s writing “The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is

Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya shields herself against the confusion of St. Louis by reading fairy-tales and telling herself that she does not intend on staying there anyway. Vivian works in a gambling parlor at night. Maya pities Mr. Freeman because he spends his days at home waiting for Vivian to return. Maya begins sleeping at night with Vivian and Mr. Freeman because she suffers from nightmares. One morning after Vivian has left the bed and the house,

Hate and prejudice. Are they justifiable? The memoir of Maya Angelou, titled, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, attempts to answer this question and many others. This novel focuses on the life of Marguerite Annie Johnson, a girl who lives in Arkansas with her brother, Bailey, their grandmother who goes by Momma, and Uncle Willie. Throughout her life, she struggles with many issues.

There have been many injustices throughout history, like slavery and discrimination; this is the time where two poems take place; “Sympathy” and “Caged Bird”. Maya Angelou and Paul Laurence Dunbar describe how it is like to be discriminated and separated, through their poems “Sympathy” and “Caged Bird”. However, they did not convene to generate these poems. Dunbar innovated the metaphor of a caged bird and discrimination. In her poem “Caged Bird” debuted in 1969, Maya Angelou writes about a character that is a caged bird who cannot fly and is separated from other birds. Paul Laurence Dunbar also writes of the struggle of a caged bird, who cannot become free even after eating the bars of his cage, in his poem “Sympathy” broached in 1889. Both writers explain the situations of caged birds and their desires to be free. In the poems “Sympathy” and “Caged Bird”, caged birds both sing for freedom, however, one is more confined than the other; “Caged Bird” is more meaningful, because the bird is unable to fly, and is emotionally affected by that.

Religion is the backbone for stability when things are going wrong. It can be used as comfort for the future and can be a moral way of living life. In the novel “I know why the caged bird sings” by Maya Angelou, in this autobiography, it reveals the childhood or Maya Angelou and the hardships of growing up. She was abandoned by her parents when they had sent here and her brother to stamps Arkansas to live with their grandmother. From the beginning to end we see a growth in her character and this essay will explain how religion help shaped her into the person she became. In this paper, you will see the various places where religion is brought up and explained the significance of the event to the growth of Maya Angelou and her environment. This

The poem “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou tells the story of two birds: one bird has the luxury of freedom and the second bird lives its life caged and maltreated by an unknown tyrant. Maya Angelou wrote this poem during the Civil Rights Era, the period when black activists in the 1950’s and 1960’s fought for desegregation of African Americans. This poem parallels the oppression that African Americans were fighting during this time period. In “Caged Bird”, Angelou builds a strong contrast that shows the historical context of discrimination and segregation through the use of mood, symbolism, and theme.

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.