Taste Of Freedom

Whether you’re an animal in a cage or a boy on the last day of school, freedom is important. This is the theme of the passage from Boy’s Life written by Robert McCammon and the story “Emancipation: A Life Fable” written by Kate Chopin. The passage is about a boy named Cory who is in class on the last day of school, so eager to be free and “A Life Fable “ is about an animal who was born in a cage which eventually is opened and the animal leaves and realizes it's happier than before. These two stories both come to the same theme of how important freedom is, but in different ways. These two stories seem so different, but they have some similarities on how they come to the conclusion of freedom.

“The free bird thinks of another breeze….a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams…” The two literary works “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou and Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” can be seen as mockingbirds that have flown over fields of prejudice and repeat what they have seen for all to hear. Jem Finch, a young boy and lawyer’s son from “To Kill a Mockingbird” clearly symbolizes a mockingbird because of his youth and innocence, and because of his innocence he cannot fully understand the racism in the story. Jem also has many similarities to the caged and free birds in “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, whether it be Jem’s

n my mind this means in you can grant someone with freedom, do not worry about getting it yourself you do not deserve it. These two stories affected me because I value having my freedom. All the similarities and differences are related to the way the society runs and it’s lack of freedom. Within this essay, I am going to tell you about how the book Anthem and the movie The Island are similar and different.

The definition of freedom, according to Dictionary.com, is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. In the declaration of independence, American citizens are given freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to vote, right to a fair trial, and freedom of assembly to name a few. These rights that we have enable us to form communities and have our voices heard regarding issues that negatively impact us as a whole or prevent us from moving towards a brighter and hopeful future because that is what freedom is. It is about hope. It is about being your own person without hesitation, without judgement. “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin and “A&P” written by John Updike encounter two very

Freedom has been strived for, for years. An example to why freedom is important is so people have the same rights and so every citizen is equal. Rosa Parks

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most successful and most legendary speeches in United States history. Martin Luther King Jr. was a masterful speaker, who established a strong command of rhetorical strategies. By his eloquent use of ethos, logos, and pathos, as well as his command of presentation skills and rhetorical devices, King was able to persuade his generation that "the Negro is not free" (King 1). His speech became the rallying cry for civil rights and lives on as an everlasting masterpiece.

Every individual has their own definition of freedom.  Depending on time, place, religion, or race, this definition varies, but essentially comes back to one point: all men, regardless of anything, are created equally, and therefore have a right to be free.  "The Declaration of Independence," by Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" are two works addressing this concern.  Although Jefferson and King led extremely different lives over 150 years apart, both faced issues of human equality that drove them to write two of the most influential works in American history.

Deep in the forest of Frederick Douglass’s autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the caged bird sings on. The singing slaves in Douglass’s narrative are the caged birds of Maya Angelou’s famous poem, filling the air around them with desire: desire for a freedom so far out of reach—for “things unknown but longed for still.”

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.

“Refuge in America” by Langston Hughes draws a picture of freedom as an event to be celebrated. “There are words like Freedom/ Sweet and wonderful to say./ On my heart-strings freedom sings/ All day everyday”(Hughes 907). Freedom is a privilege to have, valuable to many, and desired by those who are not fortunate enough to have it. We should not take for granted what is given to us by those who fought for it. For example, Martin Luther King,Jr. went to jail for protesting racial segregation in Alabama and was a public influencer when it came to events rallying people together in support. While there he wrote a letter in response to a newspaper article saying,”We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom”(King 1109). He was bold in pursuit for freedom and became a major reason why everyone in America is equal today. The opportunities we are given would not be available without the freedom we were

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck portrays a story about human dignity. Maya Angelou's poem "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" displays a caged bird who deeply yearns for freedom. Both texts share a common theme: The feeling of being unloved is the most terrible hardship.

In the two poems both show the caged bird of the black race. “ But a bird that stalks/down his narrow cage/can seldom see through/ his bars of rage…”(M.A 8-11). Although the message is very subtle, it means that blacks are the caged bird

For example, Othello marries Desdemona even though her father disapproves. He is a general in the army even though he is black. He is well respected for his actions not the color of his skin. However because Iago considers himself above Othello, he thinks that he will be able to manipulate Othello easily. Iago succeeds in controlling Othello not because Othello is black, but because Iago is a master of deceit. Considering the how potent racism is, Othello does not let this racism stop him from achieving a high social status before he dies. Othello attains these things while African-Americans in the United States during the 1950’s could not even dream of mixed marriage. Angelou wrote “Caged Bird” in response to the Civil rights movement. Therefore it makes sense that the caged bird represents African- Americans. Angelou uses contrasting paragraphs between the free bird and the caged bird to show injustice. In the free bird’s stanzas, he is soaring in the gorgeous nature oblivious to the caged bird’s struggle. Angelou utilizes a vivid imagery and words with positive connotation s to show the luxury of being free i.e. white. In the caged bird’s stanzas, the caged bird does not know what freedom is like but he sings about it anyway. Angelou employs cacophony in “shadow shouts on a nightmare scream” (Angelou 28) to show how passionately the bird is pleading for justice. At the end of the poem the caged bird remains

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.

However, in the poem “Caged Bird” Maya Angelou characterizes the free and caged bird as, one bird symbolizing imprisonment and limitations while the other symbolizes freedom, which further develops the theme of inequality. The line “And dares to claim the sky” shows how unaware the free bird is and further develops the idea of its freedom. This piece of evidence shows how unaware the free bird is by exaggerating the extent of its freedom compared to the caged bird. In