An Analysis of Maya Angelou’s "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" Julie Gibson Maya Angelou’s I Know Why Caged Bird Sings illustrates how an innocent and naive girl growing up in the midst of the Great Depression overcomes life’s many obstacles and becomes the powerful and influential woman she is today. Maya is a world renowned author‚ teacher‚ speaker‚ actress‚ and mother. Through this autobiographical piece‚ Maya’s use of figurative language and allusion compounds her thoughts‚ as she depicts
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings follows Marguerite’s (called "My" or "Maya" by her brother) life from the age of three to seventeen and the struggles she faces – particularly with racism – in the Southern United States. Abandoned by their parents‚ Maya and her older brother Bailey are sent to live with their paternal grandmother (Momma) and crippled uncle (Uncle Willie) in Stamps‚ Arkansas. Maya and Bailey are haunted by their parents’ abandonment throughout the book – they travel alone and are labeled
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Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings chronicles the early years of the author’s life - up to age seventeen. In the book‚ Angelou poetically describes the phenomenon that is growing up black‚ in the south‚ in the time before and during World War II. I believe that you are expected to interpret this as a memoir of overcoming the odds. I believe that you are expected to regard the happenings of this book with feelings of empathy and/or sympathy. You are also supposed to marvel at the way Angelou
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nice‚ intelligent‚ and elegant lady who shows a special interest on a young girl that had never been appreciated by anyone before. Marguerite is a young girl who feels lonely and sad; one example is where she states at the beginning “for nearly a year I sopped around the house‚ the store‚ the school‚ and the church like an old biscuit‚ dirty and inedible”. (Maya Angelou‚ pg. 390 of grassroots). Then she met Mrs. Flowers‚ the women that would change her life completely. Mrs. Flower’s personality and
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The Caged bird in”The long Walk Home” In the poem “I know why the caged bird sings‚”by Maya Angelou‚ is about when she lived during the civil rights movement.She uses this poem as a metaphor to relate it to people who had less freedom at her time.Her poem talks about how African Americans had no freedom and couldn’t have that many opportunities as whites did.She refers the caged bird to to African Americans because the caged bird couldn’t fly around like a free bird.Such as how African Americans
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June‚ 2011 The Presence of Exemplar Male Figures as an Approach to the Representation of Marguerite Johnson’s Weakness in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings “My head was up and my eyes were open‚ but I didn’t see anything.” Using this line in the prologue of her autobiographical novel‚ Maya Angelou introduces the lack of power of the main character of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‚ Marguerite Johnson. This phrase introduces to the reader a vulnerable girl who attempts to recite a poem in front of her Church in the Black section of the
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"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" Maya Angelou‚ in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‚ tells her story of how and when she grew up. In Arkansas at the time of Maya Angelou’s childhood‚ many things were looked upon as bad or unfavored. Maya’s problem was that she was black and a woman. Her novel depicts her life in rural Stamps‚ Arkansas with her grandmother and in St. Louis‚ Missouri‚ where her mother resided. At the age of three Maya and her four-year old brother‚ Bailey‚ were turned over
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I Know Why the Caged Bird sings is the autobiography of Maya Angelou. She tells of the hardships she experienced in her youth‚ beginning with her parents’ divorce when Angelou was only three years old. As a result of the divorce‚ Maya and her older brother are sent to live with their grandmother in a small‚ Arkansas town. Here‚ she experiences the horrors of racism and learns to hate herself for not being white. When she is eight‚ Maya goes to live with her mother in St. Louis. There‚ she is sexually
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I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings‚ by Maya Angelou‚ is an autobiography that opens in 1931‚ Stamps‚ Arkansas‚ and follows Marguerite Johnson (Maya Angelou) throughout her years of growing up. Starting when she first arrived to live her grandma‚ to when she moved to San Fransisco to be reunited with her mother‚ She encounters many experiences‚ good and bad‚ that mold her into who she is in adulthood. This book is more than just the outward journey of her life‚ it involves what she instinctively knew
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“I saw only her power and strength...Her voice was soft only because she chose to keep it so¨ (Angelou 46). This person who Maya Angelou is referring to in her autobiography‚ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‚ is Annie Henderson‚ Angelou’s southern grandmother. She is also known as Momma. As we follow Angelou’s coming-of-age story living back and forth between her divorced parents and Momma in Stamps‚ Arkansas‚ Momma unfolds to us as being strong on the inside without having to use words to convey
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