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I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou Analysis

935 Words4 Pages

Life is a journey that is challenging for many people. As a result, many do not live up to their full potential. Nevertheless, there are always few distinguished people in every generation who master the art of living better than everyone else. Such individuals emerge as icons of the society and leave phenomenal legacies. Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, and Maya Angelou are outstanding souls who made their communities and the world a better place. Undoubtedly, having paramount courage and undying love for the human race are the two virtues that anyone aspiring to live a life of purpose must have. In the Wikipedia article "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings," Angelou sheds light on the life she led as a child. She highlights the difficulties she had to go through when an opportunity for change was close to impossible (Wikipedia n.p.). Nevertheless, as a courageous young woman who discovered her passion for writing early, she used words to express herself, which later led to her success. The singing caged bird in the article refers to her having no other means to change her situation other than "singing," that is using literary works such as poetry and novels. 2. During the interview with the poet, comedian Chappelle admitted …show more content…

5.In her book Wouldn 't Take Nothing For My Journey Now, Angelou highlights mistakes she had made in life and the lessons she had learned. She notes that everyone is unique; therefore, finding, understanding, and loving oneself is the first step towards a fulfilling life. Moreover, she says, "Seek the fashion which truly fits and befits you. You will always be in fashion if you are true to yourself, and only if you are true to yourself" (Angelou 29). Such an insightful philosophy resonates with many women. In a society where everybody tries to be like someone else, it is challenging to discover oneself. Nevertheless, her words of wisdom teach women that in order to be truly happy, one has to establish one 's style

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Maya Angelou’s excerpt from “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” will imaginatively take a reader away from their deskbound position to envisioning the stage of a play ornamented with fashioned rabbits, buttercups, and daisies, hearing children as they actively perfect their performance, and stimulate the readers’ appetite with the expressive words she uses to describe sweet whiffs of cinnamon and chocolate from the food samples being prepared. From Angelou’s portrayal of the play an individual will be capable of picturing white rabbits crafted from construction paper and cotton balls modelling puffy tails, together with, yellow and pink card board cut outs resembling buttercups and daisies decking a stage. The person who reads this excerpt

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Maya Angelou wrote I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings to present how negroes were treated and the hardships they were put through during the time this book was written. Angelou uses rhetorical devices throughout the book to display her thoughts and give us a better understanding of what she was going through. One of the rhetorical devices that she uses is imagery. She uses detailed descriptions of what she was put through as an African American female to give us a more intimate view of how she was oppressed. Another one of Angelou’s rhetorical strategies is symbolism.

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She uses a hyperbole such as, “She indeed stepped from the road which seemed to have been chosen for her and cut herself a brand-new path” (Angelou, “New Directions” 498). Her grandmother couldn’t actually cut a new piece of road, but Angelou’s metaphor leaks with her grandmother’s courage to make a life for herself. Angelou’s overall tone is persistent and proud. Her grandmother’s persistent need to make a better life took greats amounts of strength to

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