Analysis Of Why The Caged Bird Sings - 871 Words

In the poem, â€Å"I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings† by Maya Angelou, one bird is free to fly happily and carefree while another is caged and can do nothing but sing for freedom. Written during a time period of social unrest, Maya Angelou uses literary techniques in this poem to effectively emphasize the impacts of racism in America. One literary technique used throughout the poem is tone. In stanza one, the tone is peaceful and happy as Angelou describes â€Å"the orange sunrays†, while the bird â€Å"leaps†,†dips†, and â€Å"floats†. The author creates this joyful tone in the first stanza to better contrast the depressing and the unnerving tone of the second stanza. In the second stanza the birds’ â€Å"wings are clipped† and â€Å"his feet are tied†. When a†¦show more content†¦The free bird represents freedom and those who have it. He is able to go as he pleases and do whatever he wants to do. He â€Å"thinks o f another breeze† because he isn’t burdened with wanting to be free. He can’t wish to be free when he already is. The other bird whose â€Å"wings are clipped and his feet are tied† symbolizes how people of color in America feel. Unlike the free bird, the other sang of things unknown but â€Å"longed for still†, who are born into today’s society have no idea what freedom of oppression feels like but they still wish and fight for it. While the birds are large symbols in this poem, Maya Angelou uses many other small symbols to emphasize the impacts of racism. The â€Å"distant hill† where the song of the caged bird can be heard represents the people able to help. Another symbol is the bird’s song. While it could represent calls for help, it could also represent the songs, poems, and literature created by people of color to express themselves and spread awareness of their situation. Characterization is another technique that Maya Angelou uses to help the reader better understand the effects of racism. The characterization in the poem â€Å"provides an effective contrast with the bird that is caged† (Enotes). The characterization of the caged bird’s shadow shouting â€Å"on a nightmare scream† provides the feeling of helplessness of those who are affected by racism. The free bird, however, is characterizedShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Poem I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings 1267 Words   |  6 PagesJoy McQueary Ms. Ball AP English Language 16 May 2017 SAHC: J.M. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings â€Å"Wouldn’t they be surprised when one day I woke out of my black ugly dream, and my real hair, which was long and blonde, would take the place of the kinky mass that Momma wouldn’t let me straighten?† (4) A theme in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is Angelou’s identity struggle as a black female. During this time in the country, colorism and a European standard taught that having black features wasRead MoreAnalysis Of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings837 Words   |  4 Pagesanalysing the poem I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. This poem explores the theme of Oppression which illustrates the nature of helicopter parenting upon todays youth. We will include a contemporary source which likewise explores this challenging youth issue. Essentially, this poem displays the damage that helicopter parenting can have on a child’s youth, oppressing them, taking their childhood away from them. Angelou’s poem â€Å"I Know Why the Cages Bird Sings† expresses the idea thatRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou Analysis840 Words   |  4 Pages There is one person that is a civil rights activist, memoirist, a poet and above all a woman, this person is none other than Maya Angelou. Angelou has been a famous American poet since the release of her 1969 autobiography, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Angelou has inspired many people by telling her life story to the public, but not only did she inspire, she also created a very different and personal point of view of the world we live in. The poem’s she has written transition from painRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings 934 Words   |  4 Pagesface, your country and say simply very simply with hope good morning†. Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was a writer and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou was well known for he r memoir in 1969, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Maya Angelou made literary history being the very first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. In 1971, Angelou published Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water Fore I Die that won the Pulitzer Prize-nominated poetry collectionRead MoreAnalysis Of Angelou s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings984 Words   |  4 Pagesand poem â€Å"I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.† The book is about her life struggles and the poem is a metaphor about a bird that seeks freedom. The final stanza of the poem reads â€Å"The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom.† This excerpt of the poem demonstrates how she yearned for her people to get the freedom they deserved. The comparison of the caged bird and the bird that’s free canRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou Analysis1126 Words   |  5 PagesThe type of language that an author uses in his or her work can greatly impact the outcome. One such example of this was in Maya Angelous I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, in which she used certain types of language to characterize herself when she was younger and the society that she grew up in. Her choice of language used in the end of Chapter 16 helps to characterize her desire to quit working for Mrs. Cullinan, her resistance to the discrimination that she puts up with while she works, and theRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of I Know Why The Caged Bird Cannot Sing794 Words   |  4 PagesIn Francine Prose’s essay â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Sing† Prose tends to evoke her unsureness on why schools use certain books to teach students their moral values. Prose argues that certain books should be taught in English classes, that in fact, teach students their values. Prose uses several literary examples, such as Frankenstein, How To a Kill A Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, etc. She also provides several controversial opinions, such as using different books to try and teach studentsRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of Maya Angelou s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings 1036 Words   |  5 PagesFily Thiam English 002 Mrs. Vilato 9 April 2015 Rhetorical Analysis on â€Å"Graduation† by Maya Angelou In Graduation, a chapter in her autobiography â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings†, Maya Angelou talks vividly about her middle school graduation in the segregated South. Graduation is an important milestone in most people’s life, as they get a degree and move on to their next level, something better and more important, with the hope that they can use their new knowledge to achieve their life goals andRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou Analysis1661 Words   |  7 Pagesof speech. Equally, authors like Maya Angelou have the freedom of speech in our country to write, and in Angelous case, the freedom to write about her life. Maya Angelou, one of the most banned authors in The United States, wrote I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Her autobiography depicts rape, explicit language and racism. It has been used in educational settings such as high schools and universities and should be celebrated for its elegant prose and creating new literary avenues . This novel shouldRead MoreLiterary Analysis of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Essay2756 Words   |  12 PagesThomas 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