Review Of Maya Angelou's I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Roughly ten years after it was published, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was included in American high school curricula and libraries in the early 1980’s for its “insight into the personal development of a young African-American girl, its appeal to adolescent readers, its multicultural characters, and its historical significance”. That very same decade, the book was challenged in several states for “promoting premarital sex, lesbianism, cohabitation, and pornography” and for “[preaching] hatred and bitterness against whites” (Henry, 2002). Thirty years and scores of inclusions in the American Library Association’s top banned books lists later, Caged Bird still remains one of the most banned books in America, challenged by …show more content…
The social network Goodreads serves as a platform for readers to submit reviews on an extensive catalogue of books and rate their selected book according to their reading experience. Reviews of Caged Bird ranged from passionate raves to vehement rants, many of which highlight the impropriety (not of the rape act itself, but the fact that the rape was written about in the book) of Marguerite’s rape, completely discarding the positive and empowering themes in the book, such as Marguerite’s early uprisings against racism, her introduction to the beauty of literature, and her fierce pursuance of her choices and desires. One heated review from a parent named Dawn, posted in 2013, emerges as the most popular negative review and a classic example of …show more content…
With books like this, this end can be achieved. As written in a tribute article to Maya Angelou in The Guardian Online, “Angelou kicked the door open so wide that within her own lifetime there existed younger people who didn't quite remember that there was ever a door there at
Perseverance In I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
705 Words | 3 PagesMaya Angelou published her novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in the late 1960s to shed light on her personal experiences as a girl growing up in the segregated South. She writes unfiltered depictions of rape and sexual abuse, along with topics such as racism and teenage pregnancy. Her novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings became censored in America in 2002 due to these topics. Regardless of this novel being censored, it holds significant value in the lessons it teaches.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Cannot Read Analysis
1176 Words | 5 PagesMaya Angelou is a well-known author whose writings are used in ELA classrooms around the United States. Many fans of literature hold her writings in high regard. The article “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read” by Francine Prose is about Prose’s belief that American educators should not teach Angelou’s work to American students. Prose published the piece in 1999 in response to Angelou’s rising success and her writings being used to teach ELA. Prose believed that Maya Angelou’s work being used to teach literature was not necessary, as To Kill a Mockingbird was more than sufficient.
Why Should Huckleberry Finn Be Banned
1603 Words | 7 PagesCensorship Rough Draft “The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame” (Oscar). The words remarked by renowned author Oscar Wilde oppose the numerous efforts of many current governments to censor threatening texts. Many books are banned, because they showcase offensive themes; however, this depicts America’s appreciation of literature, or rather lack thereof. Books should not be banned because they depict realistic ideals and conflicts that many people may relate to.
Banned Books Should Not Be Banned Essay
462 Words | 2 PagesBanned books can be great books that teach people important messages. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a biography about Maya Angelou's life and the tough situations she faced in life. Certain banned books such as Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings should not be banned due to the importance of the topics and situations the author talks about.
Caged Bird By Langston Hughes Essay
521 Words | 3 Pages¨ It`s not the future you're afraid of. It`s repeating the past that makes you anxious ¨ -unknown . What is fear? Is it not knowing what will happen next ? One wrong decision could ruin your whole life.
Jon Krakauer's I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
595 Words | 3 PagesAdvertised as the land of the free and a beacon of hope and opportunity, America is a nation where a single ideal has drawn masses of immigrants who conquer difficulties. When one ideal has shaped the history of an entire nation, one must ponder the meaning of the American Dream. The American Dream manifests itself in Christopher McCandless’s journey to the West as chronicled by Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild. It weaves itself into the fabric of every American story, such as that of Maya Angelou’s memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Moreover, it finds itself voiced by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”.
Vulgar Language In To Kill A Mockingbird
1053 Words | 5 PagesThe book that I chose to read is by Harper Lee, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ The novel’s setting features the Deep South and envelops an intense portrayal of prejudice and race narrated through a little girl’s eyes. Filled with impressive evocations of American life at the peak of the Great Depression that shook the nation in the 1930s, whilst also underpinned by caring and moral susceptibility, the novel proofs as both an excellent rendering of a particular place and time as well as an all-inclusive tale of how old and wicked perceptions can be triumphed by understanding. It was published by J.B Lippincott in New York in 1960 (Topham, 2018). ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ has received both positive and negative feedbacks from a wide audience of readers.
Examples Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird
820 Words | 4 PagesEvery piece of literature is written with a purpose--whether it be to inform its audience or persuade them to change their stance on certain issues. Literature has shaped societies, exposed injustices and affected political spheres. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses diction and controversial plot points in order to influence her audience 's view on racism. These devices have proved to be controversial, with some schools complaining that the topics and language used to convey Lee’s opposition of racism cause some students to feel uncomfortable. Nevertheless, To Kill a Mockingbird remains to be one of the most widely taught works of literature and is renowned for ingraining readers with positive views against racism.
How Did Maya Angelou Impact Society
842 Words | 4 PagesWhen thinking of a historical figure, many imagine a president, king, or general that lead a country to greatness, but never realized some could be the ones who influence the minds of society. Although not thought of as anything, writers and poets hold the key to shaping the society’s mindset without even knowing it. Being a civil rights activist, social activist, and role model for women makes Maya Angelou a historical figure who has made a huge impact in American society and in American history. Born poor and black, she was a childhood victim of rape, shamed into silence. She was a young single mother who had to work at strip clubs for a living.
Maya Angelou Obstacles
740 Words | 3 PagesIII. a. Maya Angelou was an avid writer, speaker, activist and teacher. As a result of the many hardships that she suffered while growing up as a poor black woman in the south she has used her own experiences as the subject matter of her written work. In doing this she effectively shows how she was able to overcome her personal obstacles. Her autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970) tells the story of her life and how she overcame and moved forward triumphantly in spite of her circumstances.
Comparing Langston Hughes And Maya Angelou's Poetry
458 Words | 2 PagesLangston Hughes and Maya Angelou were African Americans alive during the period in American history when minority groups were fighting hard for their rights and respect among the country. These two authors used their writing skill to shed light on how African Americans felt throughout this period of time, opening many people’s eyes to how the oppressed truly felt. The civil rights movement could have had an entirely different outcome if it weren’t outspoken individuals such as these two. In Hughes’s well known poem “I, Too,” Hughes talks about how the people that mistreat him will soon regret everything they’ve done and will realize the true potential of him and everyone like him.
Maya Angelou Sexual Abuse
802 Words | 4 PagesMaya Angelou recalls the first seventeen years of her life, discussing her unsettling childhood in her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Maya and Bailey were sent from California to the segregated South to live with their grandmother, Momma. At the age of eight, Maya went to stay with her mother in St. Louis, where she was sexually abused and raped by her mother’s boyfriend, Mr. Freeman. Maya confronts these traumatic events of her childhood and explores the evolution of her own strong identity. Her individual and cultural feelings of displacement, caused by these incidents of sexual abuse, are mediated through her love for literature.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou Analysis
935 Words | 4 PagesThe 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
Maya Angelou's Contribution To The Civil Rights Movement
1975 Words | 8 PagesMaya Angelou worked as a professor at Wake Forest University, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, from 1991 to 2014. As an African American women, one whose life was full of racial discrimination and gender inequality, she had plenty of experience and wisdom to share with her students. During her time working at the university, she taught a variety of humanities courses such as “World Poetry in Dramatic Performance,” “Race, Politics and Literature,” “African Culture and Impact on U.S.,” and “Race in the Southern Experience” (Wake Forest University,
Comparing Poems Sympathy And Maya Angelou's Caged Bird
409 Words | 2 PagesIn two poems “Sympathy” written by Paul Laurence Dunbar and “Caged Bird” written by Maya Angelou talk about a poor bird that is trapped in a cage and wants to be free. It longs for everything that the free bird has but it cannot achieve it. In both of the poems, there is a use of comparisons between freedom and nature. It is also interpreted from the poems that the use of a song is a form of coping for the birds. Both of the birds sing for their freedom and sing through their pain.
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