I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Theme Reflection In the story‚ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‚ there are many themes. Two of them include racism and displacement. At a very young age‚ Maya met the effects of racism and segregation in America. She had been told about the differences between blacks and whites‚ which developed her belief that only blonde hair is beautiful and that she is a fat black girl stuck in a nightmare. However‚ Stamps‚ Arkansas‚ was so segregated that as a child Maya never
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The purpose of authors writing literary works is to teach specific values and themes that they deem essential to put across to their readers. Francine Prose‚ the author of the excerpt I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read‚ is just by being skeptical of using literary works to teach values because of the way many English classes target the values of the author rather than the literary work itself. By using the two examples of the novels Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by author Maya Angelou‚ is a gripping tale of a young girl‚ Maya‚ and how her world is evolving around her. The book is an extreme tale of racism and abuse‚ two concepts that would make one forget that this novel is non-fiction. Reading through it‚ I constantly have to remind myself that this is someone’s life story. This book has multiple strong characters who show archetypal characteristics which makes this easy to examine from an archetypal perspective. We see
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about the piece; “ This testimony from a black sister marks the beginning of a new era in the minds and hearts and lives of all black men and women…. Her portrait is a biblical study of life in the midst of death”. Newsweek stated‚” [I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings] quietly and gracefully portrays and pays tribute to the courage‚ dignity‚ and endurance of the small‚ rural community in which she spent most of her early years in the 1930’s.” After publishing this book Maya began to settle down and
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you? In the story‚ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings the author proves a point that our name matters‚ we are our name‚ our name makes us. Maya Angelou discusses the power of names. She doesn’t tell us exactly what she was referring to when she stated “the power of names” meant‚ but Maya proved an important point. In the book‚ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‚ everyone reacted differently with their names. I personally‚ had a problem when people with could not pronounce my name when I was younger. Which
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She says that every time they passed her the would say negative things such as negative slurs. After the 2 weeks of sitting outside the office the man comes out of his office and tells her to come here and why she wants to work as a streetcar driver and she simply said “I like the uniforms‚ and I like people.” And then she got hired. In her older days ahe was named one of America’s “National Treasure”. “She has been a writer in residence and a professor at numerous universities
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In the first six chapters of “I Know Why The Caged Birds Sing”‚ many events happen. One event in particular was the poor white children‚ also known as the “powhitetrash” children‚ disrespected Momma. When Marguerite was ten-years-old‚ three “powhitetrash” children approached the Store. As they walked closer‚ Momma told her to head inside. The children mocked Momma by imitating all her body gestures and stance. They also referred to Momma by her first name‚ which was very disrespectful considering
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In the autobiography I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings by Mary Angelou‚ the chapter “Graduation” includes symbols and literary devices that portray segregation and prosperity throughout the story. Furthermore‚ the vigorous symbols and literary devices expose the emotions and limitations of segregation. Moreover‚ these devices reveals the feelings of contentment. During the 1940’s‚ segregation depresses the African American people and composes them to feel dispirited. Particularly‚ the white schools
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Thomas Lim December 9‚ 2010 English 2 Professor Padilla Themes of Racism and Segregation in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou The purpose of this paper is to introduce‚ discuss‚ and analyze the novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Specifically it will discuss the themes of racism and segregation‚ and how these strong themes are woven throughout this moving autobiography. Maya Angelou recounts the story of her early life‚ including the racism and segregation
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I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings In the autobiography‚ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‚ Maya Angelou shares the story of her life living from Stamps‚ Arkansas‚ through San Francisco‚ California in the time of the 1930s. She shows how she overcomes a great burden that prevented her from a better life. We focus on Angelou with her family and life that displays how one thing in our lives forms everything leading afterwards. In the book‚ we see the young Angelou as a curious‚ smart girl who is just
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