I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an excerpt from Maya Angelou's 1969 autobiography of the same name. It is a vivid portrayal of growing up as a young black girl in the United States at a time when racial prejudices and discrimination were rampant. Her essay highlights her struggles and triumphs in these early years through a series of short anecdotes and vignettes from life in Stamps, Arkansas. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings made literary history as the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman, putting Angelou in the spotlight as an up-and-coming activist and writer. Her work for civil rights helped to liberate black Americans during an era where freedom and basic human rights did not come easily.
Angelou wrote many of her works to reveal the racial discrimination that pervades nearly every aspect of American society, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is no exception. Although some may argue that Angelou's works are geared toward an African-American audience, the themes included within them are universal and applicable to every member of society.
Angelou uses several rhetorical devices throughout the essay which add to her argument and help her achieve her purpose. Dreams are one of the most notable motifs, used to contrast race and describe one's self-image. Angelou's use of dreams when describing "the sweet little white girls...everybody's dream" (1) and again when yearning to wake up from her "black ugly dream" (2) describe two very different dreams and images of oneself. As a child, she longed to be admired but found herself continually trapped within the internalized stigmas and preconceived notions of her race.
Angelou's essay is extremely effective in accomplishing her purpose. The stories she describes of growing up in the South are vivid and poignant, serving to place the reader in the setting Angelou grew up in herself. For readers who have not experienced this kind of racism firsthand, Angelou sets up a narrative where discrimination becomes the reality.
Angelou wrote many of her works to reveal the racial discrimination that pervades nearly every aspect of American society, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is no exception. Although some may argue that Angelou's works are geared toward an African-American audience, the themes included within them are universal and applicable to every member of society.
Angelou uses several rhetorical devices throughout the essay which add to her argument and help her achieve her purpose. Dreams are one of the most notable motifs, used to contrast race and describe one's self-image. Angelou's use of dreams when describing "the sweet little white girls...everybody's dream" (1) and again when yearning to wake up from her "black ugly dream" (2) describe two very different dreams and images of oneself. As a child, she longed to be admired but found herself continually trapped within the internalized stigmas and preconceived notions of her race.
Angelou's essay is extremely effective in accomplishing her purpose. The stories she describes of growing up in the South are vivid and poignant, serving to place the reader in the setting Angelou grew up in herself. For readers who have not experienced this kind of racism firsthand, Angelou sets up a narrative where discrimination becomes the reality.
We have come a long way from where we were during the Civil Rights Movement, but we have not yet come far enough. The battles we are still fighting today have their roots in the systemic oppression that black people faced with segregation over 60 years ago.
"Emory Douglas's 1976 poster from the Black Panther, remixed for Black Lives Matter" - http://www.walkerart.org/magazine/2015/emory-douglas-black-lives-matter
No comments:
Post a Comment