Analysis Of The Poem Caged Bird By Maya Angelou

The poem â€Å"Caged Bird† by Maya Angelou tells the story of two birds: one bird has the luxury of freedom and the second bird lives its life caged and maltreated by an unknown tyrant. Maya Angelou wrote this poem during the Civil Rights Era, the period when black activists in the 1950’s and 1960’s fought for desegregation of African Americans. This poem parallels the oppression that African Americans were fighting during this time period. In â€Å"Caged Bird†, Angelou builds a strong contrast that shows the historical context of discrimination and segregation through the use of mood, symbolism, and theme. The mood of â€Å"Caged Bird† changes drastically from stanza to stanza. Angelou’s specific diction choices help to reflect the change from being positive to negative with some elements of hope involved. The parts of the poem involving the free bird provide the reader with a feeling of self government.In contrast, the mood associated with the caged bird is confinment. Despite the negative mood tied to the caged bird there are still elements of hope woven into these stanzas. The first stanza of the poem introduce the free bird. Angelou uses words such as â€Å"leaps . . . and floats† (Line 1-3) in description of this character’s movements. These actions relate directly to moving without restrictions. The words leaped and floats are contradicted immediately in the second stanza as Angelou brings the caged bird into the picture. Angelou uses diction that complements confinementShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Poem Why The Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou And The Ethics Of Living Jim Crow Essay1448 Words   |  6 Pagesthe black population under control. Throughout this period of time many African-Americans like Maya Angelou and Richard Wright were put through extreme racism and segregation. Both of these writers shared their experiences through their excerpts I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou and â€Å"The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch by Richard Wright. The excerpt written by Angelou was written abo ut the time when she was a young child about the age of three, while the excerptRead MoreMaya Angelou655 Words   |  3 PagesMa 2(1565443) Maya Angelou is known as the â€Å"most visible black female autobiographer/poet.† She was born, Marguerite Ann Johnson, on April fourth, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents divorced when she was three, and she and her brother were sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Seeing all the racial discrimination in the American south strengthened her passion for poetry, music, dance and performance. Maya writes about the struggles people face, racism and freedom. 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She became a distinguished poet, educator, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, memoirist, and civil rights activist throughout her life. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, Stamps, Arkansas was the embodiment of brutality and racial discriminationRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Maya Angelous Caged Bird1341 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"Caged Bird Analysis† â€Å"Equal rights, fair play, justice, are all like air: we all have it, or none of us has it.† This quote was taken by the poet Maya Angelou, who stressed the idea of equality in many of her works. One of her poems being, â€Å"Caged Bird.† In the poem the poet references two birds; one who is trapped in a cage, and the other bird who is free. Growing up as an African American in the 1920’s Angelou faced many hardships. She suffered many racial prejudices, and her writing reflects howRead MorePoetry Analysis of Maya Angelous Caged Bird Essay476 Words   |  2 PagesPoetry Analysis of Maya Angelous Caged Bird ‘Caged Bird’ is a poem written by Maya Angelou which considers the conditions of the ‘free bird’ and the ‘caged bird’. Actually this contrast between the birds enables her to express her own emotions about freedom and isolation. The poem is quite symbolic so there are various hidden messages she tries to convey about her feelings mostly indirectly. In the first stanza Maya Angelou breathes life into her description of the ‘free bird’ by using verbsRead MoreAnalysis Of Maya Angelou s Caged Bird 1835 Words   |  8 Pagesthe loving Dr. Maya Angelou. She was a tremendous figure in their lives and a phenomenal woman. One day my family was sitting outside, and my mom was reading a book with a lot of famous poems. The one she read aloud was Maya Angelou’s poem â€Å"Caged Bird.† She was so emotional reading this poem. During that time, I did not understand her emotions. At my high school, we would always celebrate black history month, so one day my favorite teacher brought the movie â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.† My classmatesRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings And Still I Rise By Maya Angelou1517 Words   |  7 PagesPoems of Color The poems â€Å" I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings† and â€Å"Still I Rise† by Maya Angelou are both poems that speak on the issues of the mistreatment of African Americans, and how these challenges were created simply by the color of one’s skin and overcome. While the poems â€Å"Mother To Son† and â€Å" Dreams† by Langston Hughes refer to the hopes of African Americans for a better standard of living, and the consequences of departing from these dreams of bettering themselves. This comparison ofRead MoreMaya Angelou: A Model Woman Through Influential Literature Essay1708 Words   |  7 Pagesinfluence on society itself. Maya Angelou is a great example of the model woman. She has beaten the odds and has become one of the most well known African American women of today. She is an author, poet, historian, songwriter, playwright, dancer, stage and screen producer, director, performer, singer, and civil rights activist. Her most influential work comes from her extraordinary books and poems. Her literature has influenced the young and old with their contents. Maya Angelous literary significanceRead MoreWhy Should Anybody Care?1198 Words   |  5 Pagesfigurative language and symbolism in Angelou’s poem, â€Å"Caged Bird.† I found that not only does Angelou use literary elements like an expert; she also creates a deep experience for the readers who take the time to think about the meaning behind her words. 2. Summarize by briefly writing the 2-3 main points or arguments that you carefully supported. Example: Through personification, Angelou gave the birds in her poem human-like qualities. She used the birds to symbolize the differences between a soul