Literary Analysis Of Maya Angelou's Caged Bird

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Maya Angelou was born on April 4th, 1928 and passed away on March 28th, 2014. Maya Angelou was 86. She suffered a horrible childhood; filled with discrimination, her parents’ divorce, as well as being sexually assaulted. Despite her childhood, she achieved a lot during her lifetime. Her occupations included: an author, actress, screenwriter, dancer and poet. Of the many poems she wrote “Caged Bird”. The tone, mood, diction, as well as other literary elements are noticeable in the poem. Maya Angelou uses allusions, imagery, and symbolism in her poem to enhance the readers’ experience. In addition to literary elements, real world connections are used to tie her poem to historical content, such as slavery.
Although Angelou has passed away, her …show more content…

Also, it describes how the white race is dominant, and there is prejudice towards people of color. The second stanza expresses how the caged bird, or African Americans are treated in today’s terms, as well as in the past. They face anger, fear, and frustration, all because of their skin color. Although the bird is tied down, it tries to stand up for well-deserved freedom. Angelou used a certain choice of words, diction, which allows her readers to comprehend what she is saying, however, she said it without being direct. Angelou wants everyone to grasp the concept that blacks and whites are far from different. The only characteristic that singles people out, is the skin color, and nobody should have their rights restricted because of their appearance. She portrayed throughout her poem that it would suck to be caged; just like the bird with clipped wings, with no …show more content…

The bird still sings its glorious song, even if nobody is around. It sings hoping that one day a change will come. The message of hope is powerful. When times are tough, hope can bring one through. Nobody’s life is perfect. As long as they believe, and have hope everything will be okay. “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me” is a famous bible verse from the book of Philippians. Oppression in the poem describes how the caged bird feels, but not the free bird. Angelou felt the need to express this in her poem because she grew up in troubled times. The caged bird represents her in the

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