Analysis Of The Poem ' Caged Bird ' By Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou talks about a caged bird and a free bird in her poem “Caged Bird.” When Maya Angelou talks about a caged bird and a free bird I think she is describing people, like the caged bird is a person who is stuck by others opinions about him/her and

Angelou was born in Missouri in 1928. She spent most of her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas, pre Civil Rights Movement with her grandmother and her older brother. Angelou is most known for writing the poem Caged Bird. In the first stanza about the caged bird, Angelou declares that the bird, “can seldom see through/ his bars of rage/ his wings are clipped and/ his feet are tied/ so he opens his throat to sing”(Caged Bird). Angelou uses the bird as a metaphor for oppressed African Americans during this time period; the bird is held back by a barrier, just like African Americans were held back by unjust laws, a corrupt legal system, and their white peers who saw them as inferior. Similar to the bird, Angelou felt held back by others, but she did not let the “bars of rage” hold her back from her potential so, like the bird, she “opened her throat to sing” and used her voice to protest for herself and those who could not advocate for themselves.

Deep in the forest of Frederick Douglass’s autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the caged bird sings on. The singing slaves in Douglass’s narrative are the caged birds of Maya Angelou’s famous poem, filling the air around them with desire: desire for a freedom so far out of reach—for “things unknown but longed for still.”

Maya Angelou is a leader by example, she sets the standard by her actions and the stories she tells teaches the audience a lesson. Majority of her work is to inform us of the past and she wants us to learn from her experiences in life; she is a life teacher. The purpose of this poem was to inform us of the history of our country. The poem is titled “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” and her purpose of writing this is to teach the reader why the caged bird sings. Maya Angelou wants to put the reader in her shoes to get the ultimate experience of racial inequality but instead by taking the role of a caged bird or a free bird.

In “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, Maya Angelou uses her personal experiences growing up as an African American female to present her primary claim that even in trying times there is something to be grateful for. Angelou’s secondary claims are mainly comprised of stories from her upbringing as well as the description of her grandmother’s attitude even though they are living through times of extreme poverty. In Each of the stories she speaks of one circumstance that seems completely unbearable but yet ends with some sort of light at the end of the tunnel. This structure can also be seen in her description of her grandmother’s outlook on life. By formatting her essay in this way, Angelou is able to develop pathos as well as ethos with the audience.

Maya Angelou’s use of symbolism in the book is used to describe her displacement in society and how difficult it is to find self-identity, revealing the form of being a “Caged bird.” Maya is a caged bird because she is aware of the displacement of blacks in America and the entitlement and freedom of whites. “if growing up is as painful for the southern girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat” (Angelou 4). Angelou is aware because of the color of her skin, she is living in a society that does not want her or anyone who looks like her. With her awareness Angelou, “...escapes stasis to become a subject in the perpetual process of forming and emerging. It is a dynamic subjectivity that emerges out

It is unable to fly while the free bird is soaring in the blue skies. Its feet are tied, while the free bird is able to walk and explore the ground. Indeed, the theme, equality is a right for all, is shown differently in each text; Paulen makes use of the character’s speech, while Angelou makes use of figurative language to show this message. In summary, the theme, equality is a right for all, develops differently in each text; Paulsen utilizes character’s speech, while Angelou utilizes figurative language to develop the message. The book, Nightjohn, by Gary Paulsen and the poem, “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou, both have similarities and differences.

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 she experiences throughout her formative years. With wit, sincerity, and remarkable talent, Angelou portrays racism as a product of ignorance and prejudice. However, she finds the strength to rise above this crippling condition.

The first element our writers used to express their message of wanting to be free is form. The narrator for ‘The Caged Bird” feels alone and wishes to be able to snatch the chains that keep her tied down. Also, in the poem “Sympathy” by Dunbar as well an in “The Caged Bird” both authors used a bird to symbolize the captivity and aspiration for freedom. Both poets wrote their piece in lyric form because of obvious reasons. A lyric poem is defined as a poem that expresses personal and emotional feelings. Writing poems with this form shows the amount of deep emotion that the narrator feels toward this work. In addition, both authors wrote their poems in iambic pentameter to make the poem sound like a natural flow of speech to really show the deep feelings the poets are feeling.

Through the poems “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou it is evident freedom is a desire for all beings, and this is conveyed through symbolism and juxtaposition.. “Sympathy” is a poem that expresses a caged bird’s desire to be free and it’s pain, as well as the poet’s connections to the bird. The poet writes, “I know why the caged bird beats his wing/Till its blood is red on the cruel bars/For he must fly back to his perch and cling/When he fain would be on the bough a-swing” (Dunbar 8-11). The bird symbolizes freedom is a desire for all beings. The bird is a symbol for being trapped, confined, or restricted. The bird tries to escape so desperately to the point where there is blood on the bars. This is an urgent

In “I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings”, Maya Angelou wanted to show how people really felt about the freedom of others and how it was all taken for granted. In the poem “Sympathy”, Dunbar feels that he is confined to a world where freedom is not his, and he is only able to watch the world from his cage. Maya Angelou uses “the bird, which represents someone with the freedom to fly. “ But a plea, that upward to Heave he flings- I know why the caged brings sings”, means his voice is the only thing in him that can’t be locked behind bars of the cage, where it seems to give him freedom to his heart.

Angelou’s poem “I Know Why the Cages Bird Sings” expresses the idea that freedom is a natural state and knowledge of this fact cannot be rid of by any amount of oppression, limitation or confinement from different opportunities. The poem contrasts a

In Maya Angelou’s poem, “Caged Bird”, I interpret that it’s about a person that is limited by their past. In the first stanza, the author wrote, “... and dips his wings in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky”(Maya Angelou). The bird takes in the world's beauty, but is afraid to capture it. The limit is the sky for the bird. In the poem, it states, “..his wings are clipped and his feet are tied”(Maya Angelou). Limitations keep the bird standing in his cage of worry. He is worried about the unknown that could be the future. In the 5th stanza, Maya Angelou wrote, “But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams”(Maya Angelou). Dead dreams are all the bird sees. It doesn’t let those dreams, come back to life because he limits the chance for those dreams to become a reality.

The phrase “he opens his throat to sing” (Angelou, 1983) never really tells you if the caged bird is actually able to muscle out a song or is able end his entrapment. While the description puts us in the cage with the bird, and simultaneously in the sky soaring with the free bird, it is also not clear as to how or if the bird will ever be free. This essay is not appealing in the long run, because of the ability to misinterpret parts of the essay, and its lack of clarity. While the essay is creative, it leaves too much to the imagination In the same token, how can as the reader, be entirely sure that after being trapped for so long in that cage, he can even remember what it is like to be a “real” bird? We have no concept of how long that bird has been trapped, when he opens his throat to sing, does his song actually escape his beak? It is my opinion that although

However, in the poem “Caged Bird” Maya Angelou characterizes the free and caged bird as, one bird symbolizing imprisonment and limitations while the other symbolizes freedom, which further develops the theme of inequality. The line “And dares to claim the sky” shows how unaware the free bird is and further develops the idea of its freedom. This piece of evidence shows how unaware the free bird is by exaggerating the extent of its freedom compared to the caged bird. In