“I was really white and because a cruel fairy stepmother‚ who was understandably jealous of my beauty‚ had turned me into a too-big Negro girl‚ with nappy black hair‚ broad feet and a space between her teeth that would hold a number-two pencil” (Angelou 2-3). This quote from Maya Angelou’s memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings acts as an example of how racism had already made its way into Maya Angelou’s life‚ despite her being such a young age. Maya Angelou portrays this theme of racism throughout
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1 Nadia Lee English 2 Mr. List 19 January 2013 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings By: Maya Angelou 1. Before I chose this poem‚ I was thinking about choosing a couple of other ones when I finally realized that this poem caught my eye the most. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings helped me realize the benefits and consequences from both sides in life. I found this poem in Google under the category that said “poems that talk about life”. If you read this poem and take it literally‚ than it will mean
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6. Independent Reading Assignment I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is an autobiography detailing evens in her life from when she was just five years old to when she has her first child at the age of 16. As I read the novel‚ I felt as though Angelou wrote it so that she could shine a light on the racism in America. Even though Maya Angelou is “black” and I am “yellow‚” I was able to relate to her story on a very personal level. Although I have never been sexually molested as she
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shown in “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” and “Thank You M’am.” The character Mrs. Flowers in “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” reveals how kindness is important. “When Maya was about ten years old... She had become depressed and withdrawn.” (Maya Angelou 26) Then Mrs. Flowers came in to her life‚ and changed everything. She sacrificed her free time just for Maya‚ encouraging her to practice talking by reading aloud. As Maya remarked on page 29 “...She had made tea cookies for me and read to me from
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man is born equal. I disagree‚ however‚ some are born into more luxurious lives‚ some are born disabled with no way to recover‚ and some are born with a special “ticket” through life called talent. In fact‚ the only time that we are truly equal is in death. No one gets to buy‚ run‚ swim‚ jump‚ or debate their way out of death. This is a fact shown clearly to the reader in Maya Angelou’s book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings in Chapter 26 when she states‚ “... and all the way I communed with death’s
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In the novel “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” Maya Angelou describes her life as a young awkward black girl in the American South during the 1930s and subsequently in California during the 1940s. when Maya is only three her parents divorce and ship Maya and her older brother‚ Bailey‚ to live with their paternal grandmother‚ Annie Henderson‚ in rural Stamps‚ Arkansas. Annie‚ who Maya and Bailey call Momma‚ runs the only store in the black section of Stamps and becomes the central moral figure in
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Analysis: Chapters 1–5 The lines from the poem Maya cannot finish‚ “What are you looking at me for? I didn’t come to stay . . .” capture two of the most significant issues she struggles with in her childhood and young adulthood: feeling ugly and awkward and never feeling attached to one place. First‚ Maya imagines that though people judge her unfairly by her awkward looks‚ they will be surprised one day when her true self emerges. At the time‚ she hopes that she will emerge as if in a fairy-tale
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“Wouldn’t they be surprised when one day I woke out of my black ugly dream‚ and my real hair‚ which was long and blond‚ would take the place of the kinky mass Momma wouldn’t let me straighten? My light-blue eyes would hypnotize them ...” - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Colorism is a standard of discrimination by which people with lighter skin are treated more favorably than those with darker skin. Colorism mirrors white supremacy in that those with lighter skin are awarded privileges
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and wrong. In her autobiography‚ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‚ she leaves evidence of her personal guilt. Maya’s shameful childhood and ethnically unjust encounters contribute to her unclear sense of morals. In her early childhood‚ Maya identifies with several different parts of her family and adapts to new surroundings. At her age‚ assuming people are kind and warm-hearted is only natural. During an act of rape‚ Maya describes as such‚ “He held me so softly that I wished he wouldn’t ever let me
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The Darkest Struggles When Maya Angelou wrote the book “I know why the caged bird sings” she was speaking from her very on soul and pouring out the deep feelings she had felt when she was younger‚ all the way up until she was a young adult. African American women will always have more on their shoulders more than any other race especially white women will. No one really knows if all of the discrimination started because of the color of our skin or the attitude that lingers in our voice. Only
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