Critical Essay Travis Dessaure ENG 311 August 20‚ 2012 Critical Essay for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou) In "I know Why the Caged Bird Sings"‚ Maya Angelou shows us a dark side of American history and how racism and discrimination can affect people‚ but she also shows us the power of the human spirit in our ability to overcome negativity and succeed in spite of great difficulties in life. One of the earliest examples of race relations in the book symbolizes the major
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girl during the years of 1930 - 1950? Maya Angelou shares her childhood‚ being both joyous and painful‚ in her autobiographical novel‚ I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings and how she has confronted challenges in her life such as racism and segregation‚ sexism‚ violence‚ loneliness‚ and more. She has written it in the first person‚ as most traditional autobiographies‚ and provides a summary of her life in chronological order during the years covered. All the stories Maya has shared as a child has had a great
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Triginhall Mrs. Teacher Honors English 10 18 November 2012 Response to Literature “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
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Phenomenal Women The Poem I have chosen is Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou. I chose this poem because it not only emphasizes the pressures society places on women but how one may overcome them. The poem helps recognize that one does not need only the stereotypical beauty that society portrays in order to feel confident. The begging of the poem begins almost in a reverse fashion‚ with a pretty women asking a potentially "normal" women where her secret to happiness lies. The poet uses the
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the autobiography of Maya Angelou. I find it to be a rather interesting novel‚ since it is based on a true story. It also helps the reader understand how black people lived and felt during that period. In the novel‚ there is a wide range of themes‚ from family ties‚ to rape‚ and even literacy. In Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‚ the three main themes are racism‚ prejudice and the roll of black women. The first and most visible theme in the novel
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In the autobiography‚ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‚ Maya Angelou writes fondly of her mother Vivian Baxter. Maya writes about her mother with admiration of her beauty and grace. In one instance‚ Maya and her brother Bailey compare their mother to the Caucasian actress Kay Francis because of her magnetic personality. The praise Maya gives to her mother is similar to the praise Bee gives to her mother Bernadette in the novel‚ Where’d You Go‚ Bernadette? by Maria Semple. In the novel‚ Bee shows
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Encounterʺ‚ Angelou is telling how to survive in a world of racism and being strong in many aspects in life. I definitely think that if you want to be treated with respect and dignity‚ you should follow this wonderful example that is momma´s Encounterʺ. Maya Angelou expressed her personal experiences about a home rutine with momma and the punishments if this rutine was not followed. How momma was strong to not let the powhitetrash kids (as she called them) made her feel inferior. Angelou understood
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After returning to Stamps Maya meets Mrs. Flowers who is a well-educated African American woman who is everything that Maya wants to be when she grows up. Maya states‚ “Her skin was a rich black that would have peeled like plum if snagged‚ but then no one would have thought of getting close enough to Mrs. Flowers to ruffle her dress‚ let along snag her skin. She didn’t encourage familiarity. She wore gloves too” (Angelou 93). In other words‚ Maya seen for the first time in her life what is was to
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the autobiography of Maya Angelou’s life. She tells the story of her life in Stamps‚ Arkansas as well as her life moving from place to place. She deals with many problems including prejudice in many forms. Because of this prejudice‚ Maya must deal with the extremely influential actions of segregation‚ racism‚ and sexism. One of the largest factors that affected Maya’s upbringing was segregation. Segregation is the separation of white people and African American people. Maya is forced to do everything
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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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