I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - 1159 Words

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou is an autobiographical coming of age story set in the midst of the racially charged era of the Jim Crow Laws. Angelou’s novel explores the enormously influential first seventeen years of her life, as she struggles to overcome the seemingly insurmountable personal and societal adversities such as rape, race, instability, and insecurity. Angelou’s powerful depictions of the events of her early life immediately immerses her readers in the fact that life as a black woman in the 1930’s and 1940’s, meant forging a place in society that was not created for you. Angelou depicts her young life lacking stability and having a revolving door of people, both good and bad coming in and out of it. However,†¦show more content†¦Her savviness led to her families’ survival throughout the Great Depression during which she was able to lend money to both black and white people. Guided by her faith, Momma rises ab ove the circumstances around her such as the racially charged climate of the South. When three young â€Å"powhitetrash† girls come into her store, mimicking her physical appearance, rather than respond Momma begins humming hymns. Maya, enraged by Momma’s subservient response to this disrespectful treatment thinks of shooting the girls. In this moment Maya becomes furious with Momma, believing that she â€Å"allowed† the disrespect, not understanding that Momma didn’t believe those white girls were better than her but feared any potential the backlash their actions could have on her family or the store. Momma’s actions showed Maya the powerless position of even the most esteemed black folk, and taught her a sad but necessary lesson, black women must be survivors, and survival could not be prideful. â€Å"Momma intended to teach Bailey and me to use the paths that she and her generation and all the Negroes gone before had found, and found to be saf e ones† (47). After Bailey witnesses, a group of white men with the dead body of their black victim he and Maya are sent out of the South to live with their mother in San Francisco. â€Å"To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in it’s perfect power,† (59) Vivian Baxter Bailey was the beautiful, exciting,Show MoreRelatedI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings1482 Words   |  6 Pages Maya Angelou tells of her life experiences and struggles in her book â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings† that gives us insight about Maya’s life as a young black girl growing up in a time of racism. The novel discusses various forms of oppression that she had to face as well cope with them. Robert A. Gross wrote an analysis for Newsweek about the book and claimed that Angelou’s book is not only an interesting story of her own experience, but also a portrayal of a Southern black communityRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings1555 Words   |  7 Pages28th o f May 2014, she was an Activist, acclaimed American poet, storyteller and autobiographer. However, all her accomplishments were born out of abuse, violence, neglect and pain, that she wrote about in her autobiographical novel, I know why the caged bird sings which was published in 1969. In the book, she wrote not only about the conflicts that plagued her for much of her life but also how the role they played in her life. Particular problem areas discussed include, the difficulties she experiencedRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings1445 Words   |  6 PagesPresentation I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a self-portraying record of Maya Angelou that shows how cherish for writing and having a solid character can assume a huge part in conquering bigotry and misery. Throughout the story, it is clear that Maya changes from being a setback of bigotry to end up distinctly a young lady with self-nobility and character that helps her to conquer partiality. The setting of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings concentrates on the issues connected with bigotry thatRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings948 Words   |  4 PagesAngelou is a poet and award-winning author known for her acclaimed memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and her many poetry and essay collections. So many things happen to Maya Angelou but she was amazing and a brave woman too not everyone would be same after what happen to her. Maya Angelou has become the most amazing singer, dancer, actress, poet and writer she is even an author of autobiography â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Singsâ₠¬  a book that tells the things that setback and helped Maya to be who sheRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings1126 Words   |  5 PagesMaya Angelou was a gifted woman with one of the greatest voices of African American literature. Previously known as Marguerite Johnson, she was one of the most important women of our time. She was best known for her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Not only was Maya Angelou able to overcome all the racial discriminations and interferences that she endured growing up, she was also able to prove to many people what a successful African American author and activist she was. She was a womanRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings2695 Words   |  11 Pages I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings According to Willard Scott, â€Å"Positive Feelings come from being honest about yourself and accepting your personality, and physical characteristics, warts and all; and, from belonging to a family that accepts you without question.† Maya Angelou illustrates this in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, an autobiography on herself. It illustrates Maya Angelou’s struggles of accepting herself because of some cruel experiences in her life. Maya was an African American girlRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Essay1097 Words   |  5 Pagesministry. She wrought a best-selling auto biography â€Å"I know why the caged bird sings†. Trough-out her legacy she continuously created poems promoting civil rights from her personal and social views. â€Å"still I rise â€Å"is one of her earlier working but is still consider one of the greatest poems on discussing the social views at the time of tis publishing and still hold value to todays current events. This text wil l be Analysing the poem â€Å"still I rise† But first discussing the experiences that Maya AngelouRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings2495 Words   |  10 PagesIn the memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou presents the theme: coming of age. This theme is shown throughout the book many times, especially when something big happens to her, changing the way that she reacts to things and the way that she sees things. Another way that this theme is shown throughout the book is the way that she words things in the beginning, vs the way that she words things in the end. The change in her writing style and her language shows this. Not only was sheRead MoreEssay on I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings1319 Words   |  6 Pagesstreet cars 5) Key Statements About the Character amp;nbsp;a) â€Å"Ritie, don’t worry ‘cause you ain’t pretty. Plenty of pretty women I seen digging ditches or worse. You smart. I swear to God, I rather you have a good mind than a cute behind.† (p.56) amp;nbsp;b) â€Å"In those moments I decided that although Baily loved me he couldn’t help. †¦ I knew that because I loved him so much I could never hurt him† (p. 73) 6) Key Actions amp;nbsp;a) Father comes to Stamps and takes them to their mother amp;nbsp;b) MovesRead MoreEssay on I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings1048 Words   |  5 Pagescontribute to the way she grows up and the person she becomes. Despite some of her tragic circumstances, she learns a lot growing up, mainly because of the African-American women in her life who teach her all different life lessons. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Marguerite gets to absorb teachings from her mother (Vivian), Mrs. Bertha Flowers, and her grandmother (Momma). These women allow Marguerite to learn and grow as an African-American female, all while paving her own way. Marguerite