Literary Analysis of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Essay

Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri (1928) as Marguerite Johnson; however she grew up in Stamps, Arkansas where her grandmother ran a general store. Angelou has acted and written several plays, poems, and a six-part autobiography “I Know Why the caged Bird Sings” making her one of this country’s foremost black writers. In this story Angelou tells about how her grandmother (momma) triumphs over a pack of taunting neighborhood children. I feel very strongly about this particular piece given the time set and the way black people were treated by the whites, and how without harsh words or threats some black people overcame the taunting and cruelties of the whites.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings was first published in 1969 during a time when autobiographies of women because heavily significant by their exclamation of the significance of women. As a result, Angelou's piece gathered attention from various types of women who could relate to Angelou's journey of sexuality, colour, and the coloured

The narrator lived in Stamps, Arkansas which was a very color segregated area. The narrator was excited about her new achievement until a white racist speaker named Mr. Edward Donleavy arrived on stage. He spoke about all the benefits the students had before them, but did not think about the skin color of the audience. The narrator states “ The white kids were going to have a chance to become Galileos and Madame Curies and Edisons and Guaguin, and our boys (the girls weren’t even in on it) would try to be Jesse Owenses and Joe Louises”(Angelou 24). Marguerite felt frustration, anger, and worthlessness. “It was awful to be Negro and have no control over my life”(Angelou 25). After the speaker left the stage, the graduates felt like dirt which was how they were being treated. The valedictorian arrived on stage with his speech. He finished his speech but then turned towards the graduates to sing the Negro National Anthem. Spirits of the audience were lifted and the graduates felt back on top of the world. Marguerite learned that she was growing up in not only a society that was injustice but also

Maya Angelou once said “We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated” and this phrase speaks volume in comparison to Angelou’s life story. She was born Marguerite Ann Johnson on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. The name Maya was given to her by her older brother, Bailey Jr. Maya Angelou is not only a sister, but also an inspirational role model, a mother, an author, a poet, a civil rights activist, and an actor. In 1969 Angelou’s world renowned book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” was first published. Within the book, she speaks on her early life as an insecure young black girl who had to grow up in Southern America in the 1930s and later in California during the 1940s. Written over and over in a multitude of history books, black history still remains in the shadow of being a horrific story that Africans and decedents of Africans had to endure. Angelou’s autobiography is a testimony to first-hand witness accounts of the social injustice people of color had to experience. Within Angelou’s book, she shows her strength and inner will to do better. Along with early life, Angelou also speaks on her resistance against racism during her life in both Southern America and California. Angelou’s resistance is not the only one noticed during this time though. Many other African Americans also resisted racism by installing fear in those of the “superior race”, demanding respect by vocalizing voices of the unheard, and as well as moving forward to desegregation

Even though both Hurston and Hughes grew up around the same time period, they had very different ideals regarding their experience as African American’s as well as a different voice used within their works to convey their ideals. Hurston in her 1928 essay “How it Feels to be Colored Me” describes her childhood and coming of age with a delightful zest that cannot be contained. Although the essay does contain some dark moments such as when she describes her experience with her friend at the jazz club and the sudden realization of the racial difference between her and the other patrons, for the most part the work exudes her keen sense of dignity despite the popular opinion of the masses during that period. Lines in her essay such as “But I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes…I do not belong to the sobbing school of Negrohood who hold that nature somehow has given them a lowdown dirty deal and whose feelings are all hurt about it” (Abcarian, Klotz, and Cohen 812) beautifully express her sense of self dignity and refusal to give in to the negative energies surrounding her race. Despite the many hardships that the color of her skin caused her she was proud and determined to never let that stand in her way of

In Graduation, a chapter in her autobiography “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 and ambitions. This is what the all black children of the graduating class of 1940 in the grammar school in Stamps, Arkansas, believed as well, including Maya Angelou. In this passage, the author persuasively uses ethos to expose, as an African American girl, how her graduation ceremony was another episode of the unfinished struggle for freedom and against racial segregation.

A strong and influential memoirist is able to grasp the reader’s attention and dive into topics bigger than themselves. Maya Angelou, the author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, describes herself as neither a hero nor a victim as she recollects her past. Growing up, Maya Angelou not only suffered from white prejudice and gender inequality, she was presented with situations that made her feel powerless. According to Angelou, “The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time that she is caught in the tripartite crossfire of masculine prejudice, whites illogical hate and Black lack of power,” (Angelou, 272). However, she found herself persevering through all of the adversity she faced and accepted her reality: “the fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement” (Angelou, 272). Angelou did an exceptional job of describing herself as neither a hero nor a victim in her memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

During her eighth grade graduation, Angelou describes every detail, showing her eagerness and elation for the day and as well as her pride that she feels for being second best of her class. These swirling emotions come crashing down as the guest speaker, Edward Donleavy, not only finds away to degrade African Americans and these children 's futures, but also seemed make the whole crowd feel less than worthy of anything. Just as soon as the speech had started it was over and it had left Angelou feeling worthless, and she had lost any pride she had. This mans discrimination of African Americans had left her feeling less than equal and conflicted on who she was and what she could become. Angelou contemplated herself and other African Americans stating “It was awful to be a Negro and have no control over my life...We should all be dead...As a species, we were an abomination. All of us.” (Angelou 29-30). Angelou wants us to understand that the daily prejudice and constant racism iso so great that they cannot even live their own lives. She explains that she feels that the weight of this hurt has just made her believe that African Americans should not exist at all. Angelou does not say that they should all be dead because she is believing the bigotry and prejudice against African Americans, but instead to escape the continuous inequities. Donleavy’s speech

The Great Depression, Segregation, and the Harlem renaissance were all undeniably important parts of our country’s history, and Zora Neale Hurston was one extraordinary woman who lived through all three. Hurston was a successful author during the peak of her career, and is today considered to be one of the most important African American writers ever, but she had to go through a great deal to get to where she was. Hurston’s effects on the writing community and the world show the struggles she had to go through throughout her life.

In "Champion of the World," Angelou is being scorned for being black and being made out to be an outcast just because the color of her skin. During the story, she is gathered around other black people that are rooting for a black man to win the boxing match during the 1930s because white people don’t believe that black people are capable of holding any winning title.

She had lived in America, but when she went to Africa she was still identified as from a place her ancestors had been. It didn’t matter that Angelou had encountered a lot of problems along the way because she had finally figured out where she was from and belonged. I also think it had mattered to her because she lied about where she was from because I don’t think it felt like her true home to her, but now she knew where her ancestors were from.

They had all gathered to root for the same thing, which was the black boxing Champion to defeat his white opponent. Angelou had to grow up amidst institutional oppression and racism. She was constantly reminded by those of other races of her differences and that they saw her as less than in relation to themselves. The crowded store and the off-brand cola show that they live in an impoverished community. Having to experience this in childhood would normally have detrimental effects which could carry into her adult life. With Louis’ triumph, however, she recognised that she was as good as every other human, and her differences were something to

We should all be dead.” (Angelou, pp. 184). “Hadn’t he got the message? There was no “nobler in the mind” for Negros because the world didn’t think we had minds, and they let us know it.” (Angelou, p.

Growing up in the South during the years of segregation as a young black girl was difficult. As we will see in a short story written by Maya Angelou, having someone to look up to can make a lasting impression and encourage young girls to make better choices in their lives. There are too many girls, both now and then, that have no role model to look up to. For some, they have no one to set good examples. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, it is evident what a good role model can do to someone's life. By analyzing this text, we will take a deeper look into not only what the text says but what I feel is the underlying meaning behind the words Angelou wrote. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has 36 chapters as well as the prologue. In this paper,

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is an inspiring story about a young black girl, Marguerite, growing up in Stamps, Arkansas. She and her brother, Bailey, were raised by their grandmother while their parents lived in Saint Louis, Missouri. Marguerite must learn how to get what she wants in a world when its all about the white race of people. This novel explains racial injustice from a girl who endured many incidents of it.