Paul Laurence Dunbar Sympathy Essay

Due to Paul Laurence Dunbar’s usage of a complex metaphor in his poem “Sympathy,” the author’s purpose for writing the poem is rather vague. At first glance, it appears that Dunbar is simply writing about a little bird however, in reality, the poem is about lack of freedom. Knowing that Dunbar was an African American poet who was living during the era of Jim Crow Laws, it is a clear that the poem is specifically about the oppression of all African Americans portrayed through the bird’s suffering. Dunbar describes the miserable experience of the bird as he is trapped in his cage while a beautiful environment surrounds him, out of his reach. Due to these reasons, it is clear that Dunbar’s purpose for writing Sympathy is a descriptive one. Dunbar is providing the readers with an insight as to how he lives and how others in a similar situation as the

In her autobiography, she recounts several pivotal events that shaped her upbringing. The style in which Angelou writes her autobiographical novel allows the readers to easily identify with her journey and thus the novel gives a voice to those who have suffered similar ordeals. Throughout the novel, we watch as Maya Angelou overcomes experiences that deal with abuse, segregation, and racism. Angelou grows to overcome her fear of speaking, face oppression and segregation, and value education and language. In the Studysync excerpt provided, Maya Angelou makes allusions to Beowulf and Oliver Twist to illustrate what the experience of reading means to her. For example, reading allowed her to exchange her undesirable Southern life with those of fictional characters. The usage of figurative language gives the reader an insight of how an important event in Maya’s early life impacted her. Through her autobiography, readers are able to understand the strength of those who, despite hardships, never give