In American literature, prejudice is a widely common motif that can be assessed in several aspects. More specifically in the growth of an individual, which can be mirrored by the situations they face, the people they associate themselves with, and the decisions they make. For some, the growth can be minimal but for others it can be life changing. In The Chosen by Chaim Potok, two boys, Danny Saunders and Reuven Malthers each from different branches of Judaism discover a friendship of a lifetime and go through many ups and downs. Through all their experiences together, Danny and Reuven shape one another’s view of life and go through their own personal growth. On the other hand, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings written by Maya Angelou, embodies herself as a African American girl who grew up in a struggling …show more content…
environment from being molested and raped, to being racially discriminated against by fellow classmates, and running away from home to save herself from abuse. Through all traumatic instances, Maya describes herself as defying such norms during that time, discovering her sincere potential, and changing for the better. Through standards of comparison, the two novels, The Chosen and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, both achieve their underlying purpose of portraying an individual's growth, yet one is more effective than the other. Both authors can be evaluated on their use of diction and tone, syntax, and their choices of literary devices to optimize their purpose of individual growth. Chaim Potok uses straightforward diction in The Chosen to create a simplistic tone to effectively convey his purpose of personal growth.
Throughout the entire novel, the basis for the author’s writing is generic. Potok uses his straightforward diction with words such as “great” and “little” (Potok 85). With such diction, Potok’s motive of the development of an individual becomes easier to understand and more explicit compared to using complex diction. However, there are some instances where the author increases the complexity in his writing, more specifically, with words like “gesticulating” (Potok 128) and “congregants” (Potok 85). Even though the words are not truly conveying the purpose, they still are used to describe situations regarding Danny and Reuven, the main characters who represent the aura of personal development. From his straightforward diction, Potok ultimately develops an uncomplicated tone to disclose his purpose. “I think I’ll sleep a little now” (Potok 65) and “then I sat up quickly” (Potok 66). Ultimately, with the use of diction and tone, Chaim Potok was able to adequately supporting his purpose of the growth of an
individual. Aside from the use of diction and tone, Chaim Potok also used varied syntax to achieve his purpose of personal growth in The Chosen. Throughout the novel in its entirety, the author relies mainly on short and easy to understand sentences; however, there are some instances where Potok utilizes more long and complex sentences. “She went away up the aisle” (Potok 58) compared to “It is said that he believes the soul is as important as the mind if not more so” (Potok 112). The variance in syntax shows that Chaim Potok was more explicit and forthright with his writing to make the meaning of more understandable to a wider range of people. Short and comprehensible sentences translate to something more unambiguous and blunt while complicated sentences are more implicit to its true intention. This use of syntax ultimately effectualizes the purpose Potok is trying to state, individual growth, as it is easier to follow and makes the meaning clear-cut. Chaim Potok, additionally, uses a variety of literary devices, more specifically symbolism, to optimize his purpose of individual growth. In the entire novel, the most prominent symbol was eyes and eyeglasses. Reuven Malthers injures his eye while playing against Danny, and that becomes the start of their friendship. While he is recovering Danny helps Reiven see life in a new life, or in other words a more clear perspective. As eyeglasses help one see better, Danny was Reuven’s figurative eyeglass to improve his own perception and outlook on the world. Potok mirrors his purpose of individual growth by describing glasses as a sort of awakening to one’s perspective of life. Through Reuven’s father, David Malter, Potok emphasizes this ideology “...a blink of an eye is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something” (Potok 216). Another symbol Chaim Potok used to convey his purpose was the Talmud. Since Reuven was a devout Jew, he faithfully studied from the holy books in Judaism. However, The Chosen focuses more on the Talmud which isn’t the bible rather a book of commentaries made my official rabbis. With commentaries, there are new perspectives that are available to people like Reuven to give some thought about. Which is the main point Potok tries to make: with exposure to new interpretations a person is able to think for themselves and be open to different things, allowing individual growth. “Two people who are friends are like two bodies with one soul” (Potok 79). Quotes like such gave the purpose of individual growth a more spiritual aspect. The use of symbols helped shape Chaim Potok’s underlying purpose. Maya Angelou, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, uses dramatic diction to create an emotional tone in an attempt to reveal her purpose: individual growth. “Paranoia” (Angelou 8), “Abominations” (Angelou 18), and “metamorphosed” (Angelou 209) are all examples of dramatic diction that are not pronounced in meaning. This then is used to create the more emotional tone which is witnessed all throughout the novel. With phrases such as “the mournful song” (Angelou 160) and “out of God’s merciful bosom I had won reprieve” (Angelou 175) the author’s purpose is more implicit. The novel as a whole, is descriptive yet vague. Many adjectives are used like “silly, ” “old,” “gay,” and “monotonous” to describe the author's own life yet doesn’t include the more important details to identify the actual main idea of her maturation(Angelou 160). Similar to someone describing a location in depth but not stating the name of the place, Maya Angelou indirectly persuades one to make inferences of the true essence. By using strong, impactful diction and tone, Angelou keeps one guessing of the overall purpose of her writing. Besides diction and tone, Maya Angelou incorporates both simple and complex sentences in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings to effectualize her purpose of personal development in her character. The varied syntax increases the complexity of Angelou’s writing as a whole. Several times throughout her novel, Maya Angelou will write a more complex sentence like “They pretended to breathe in and out while all the time I knew the air had been sucked away in a monstrous inhalation from God Himself” then the following sentence would be significantly shorter “I alone was suffocating in the nightmare” (Angelou 284). Through such different sentence structures, Angelou obliquely gives a substantial amount of room for one’s own apprehension. Quite possibly to guide one’s own advancement while reading the novel and in comparison to her own purpose of individual growth described within the novel. Furthermore, the author relies on literary devices like symbolism to make her purpose better known. The most distinguished symbol in the entire novel was Maya’s dress she wore for Easter. It symbolizes that on the outside no matter how much she tries to transform herself into someone she is not: a white female “plain ugly cut-down from a white woman’s once-was-purple throw away” (Angelou 2), which Maya Angelou initially believed was true beauty. Nonetheless, Maya would realize that genuine change comes from within, and she would eventually learn and accept that her dark skin is indeed a source of pride and that changing what is on the outside does not change what is on the inside “ I woke out of my black ugly dream;” (Angelou 2) invoking a sense of maturity in Maya which can be seen as momentous personal development “if growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat” (Angelou 4). Occasions like such, depicted what Angelou faced while being raised in a Southern community and the countless situations where she had to figuratively grow up. Between The Chosen and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou was more effective in diction and tone. Her dramatic diction in an attempt to create an emotional tone was significantly more successful her purpose than Chaim Potok as it made the entire novel both challenging to read in terms of context and comprehension of the rhetorical strategy. An emotional tone also made the entire novel increasingly authentic in comparison to The Chosen which may have included real facts but had a fictional storyline. Maya Angelou was most definitely better accomplished in her usage of diction and tone in her writing as to Chaim Potok’s diction and tone in his writing. Both authors used a wide range of syntax; switching between simple and complex sentences throughout their respective novels. However, Chaim Potok was more prosperous in this as his sentences were easier to comprehend which, in turn, made it easier to understand the point he was trying to come across and most importantly the purpose of individual growth. While Maya Angelou did also have effective syntax, Chaim Potok was more successful in that majority of his writing as a whole was not complicated. In terms of literary devices, more specifically symbolism, Chaim Potok used stronger symbolism to help convey his purpose of individual growth. Symbols such as eyes, eyeglasses and the Talmud were prominently described beginning to end in The Chosen compared to the lavender dress that Maya had worn for church on Easter in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings which was only truly expressed in the prologue of the novel. Regardless, both authors use of symbols were effective in their own way, yet Chaim Potok's was more successful for aiding his purpose of writing: one’s personal growth. While both authors, Chaim Potok and Maya Angelou had different storylines, conclusively both had the same purpose: individual growth. Overall, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was the more successful novel of the two to portray the similar purpose. While Chaim Potok may have had stronger syntax and literary devices, it was Maya Angelou’s compelling diction and sentimental tone that made her story so effective in achieving her purpose; all the while her own life story being so heartbreaking yet inspiring all at the same time.
In an article for The English Journal, Olive Burns was quoted as saying, “I never consciously had a theme. The publisher says the theme is family. My sister-in-law, a high school English teacher, says the book has many themes, prejudice being one. Andy [Bur...
In this story “The Bean Trees” by Barbara Kingslover we meet Taylor Greer, an average teenager from Pittman, Kentucky. Even though Taylor has never been through anything truly horrific in her life how can she truly understand how unpleasant the world can be? Taylor’s personal growth in the “The Bean Trees” is a part of an uncertain journey because Taylor is thrown into motherhood and forced to see the bad experiences people go through in life.
In his novel The Chosen, Chaim Potok writes about a boy, Reuven Malter, from Brooklyn who is going through his coming-of-age period and experiences as a Jewish student. Throughout The Chosen, themes of friendships, reaching maturity, and understanding unravel and seep into Reuven Malter’s life. In this period of maturing, some pivotal moments occur, changing Reuven’s view of others and understanding of relationships.
“Asher Lev, an artist is a person first. He is an individual. If there is no person, there is no artist” (Chaim Potok). An individual with different characteristics has a different mindset, attitude, confidence and respect from those around them. In Asher Lev by Chaim Potok, Asher is a Ladover Hasid who grows up in a Hasidic community, who is deeply committed to his Jewish faith and finds difficulty between the expectations of his traditions and his gift. He is an individual with a broad mindset, who wants to do things inversely. He does not try to mold himself into the society because he knows he would lose his identity; therefore, he constructs his attitude towards himself, which helps him improve as an artist. His father, Aryeh is the leader of the Ladover Hasidic community who dislikes his son gift, which brings disruption and distress to the community. His Mother, Rivkeh Lev, which fascinates me, torn between her husbands and son’s love. As a woman, I am drawn to her character in the novel. Throughout the story, she is dealing with Asher and Aryeh disputes instead of her own misery. It is very hard for a woman to follow her own passion and dreams, especially in such stereotypical culture. There are very few who have achieved their dreams, but have lost respect in the society. In addition, Religion makes a great deal of difference in the lives of women too. The religion of Judaism relates to Islam because their culture and religion go hand in hand. This story relates to my struggle being a woman in such society. I belong from a community in Islam, where I have a different set of rules to follow because I am a woman and there are certain that I cannot do, it is off-limits. A woman has brought up with a belief system that she ...
In a country full of inequities and discrimination, numerous books were written to depict our unjust societies. One of the many books is an autobiography by Richard Wright. In Black Boy, Wright shares these many life-changing experiences he faced, which include the discovery of racism at a young age, the fights he put up against discrimination and hunger, and finally his decision to move Northward to a purported better society. Through these experiences, which eventually led him to success, Wright tells his readers the cause and effect of racism, and hunger. In a way, the novel The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle illustrates similar experiences.
Similarly, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, which I first read the summer after I graduated high school, is a tale of oppression that translates into a deeply moving novel chronicling the ups and downs of a black family in the 1930’s and 1940’s. A myriad of historical and social issues are addressed, including race relations in the pre-civil rights south, segregated schools, sexual abuse, patriotism and religion. Autobiographical in nature, this tumultuous story centers around Marguerite Johnson, affectionately called "Maya", and her coast-to-coast life experiences. From the simple, backwards town of Stamps, Arkansas to the high-energy city life of San Francisco and St. Louis, Maya is assaulted by prejudice in almost every nook and cranny of society, until she finally learns to overcome her insecurities and be proud of who she is.
In Maya Angelou's autobiographical novel, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", tender-hearted Marguerite Johnson, renamed Maya by her refined brother Bailey, discovers all of the splendors and agonies of growing up in a prejudiced, early twentieth century America. Rotating between the slow country life of Stamps, Arkansas and the fast-pace societies in St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California taught Maya several random aspects of life while showing her segregated America from coast to coast.
There are many obstacles in which Maya Angelou had to overcome throughout her life. However, she was not the only person affected throughout the story, but as well as her family. Among all the challenges in their lives the author still manages to tell the rough and dramatic story of the life of African Americans during a racism period in the town of Stamps. In Maya Angelou's book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings she uses various types of language to illustrate the conflicts that arise in the novel. Among the different types of languages used throughout the book, she uses literary devices and various types of figurative language. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou the author uses literary devices and figurative language to illustrate to the reader how racism creates obstacles for her family and herself along with how they overcome them.
Prejudice, a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason nor actual experience, is an exceptionally large dilemma in society today. It is an every day reminder of how uncharitable we, as a human race, can be. Even in the early 1900s, as Harper Lee illustrates in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, prejudiced assumptions have always been causing predicaments. To Kill a Mockingbird, an award winning novel written by Harper Lee, tells the story of how Scout and Jem Finch grows up in a small Southern town suffering through the Great Depression. In To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee expresses the theme of prejudice throughout the majority of her characters. Not only does she have many themes in her novel, but she is also able to incorporate them in many of her characters at once. The theme of prejudice is seen through Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson.
In 1960, a novel was written to outline injustices and racism against those who were innocent, though unfairly judged because of social expectations and prejudiced beliefs. This novel not only presented these issues, but is also considered a revolutionary piece of literature, still being read by many people today, more than 50 years later. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, has caused some controversy about the intents of the book and the way certain people or groups are presented. Whether To Kill a Mockingbird as a narrative outshines the issue it presents is a debatable argument. However, I believe that the narrative of the novel supports the concerns exhibited for numerous reasons. In what follows, some of these are presented: the historical
Often times in today's society, we stumble upon instances of racism and oppression. About 60 years ago, innocent civilians were poorly treated and ridiculed on a day to day basis during the time of segregation. The courage and strength of those men and women was indescribable. So now we ask ourselves, what was it like? In Maya Angelou's “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” Maya effectively uses multiple writing strategies to bring awareness to the prominently apparent issues of racism and oppression that still exist in our society using imagery, pathos, and strong diction to craft her overall message.
Maya Angelou’s excerpt from her book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” reveals the challenges facing a young black girl in the south. The prologue of the book tells of a young Angelou in church trying to recite a poem she has forgotten. She describes the dress her grandmother has made her and imagines a day where she wakes up out of her black nightmare. Angelou was raised in a time where segregation and racism were prevalent in society. She uses repetition, diction, and themes to explore the struggle of a black girl while growing up. Angelou produces a feeling of compassion and poignancy within the reader by revealing racial stereotypes, appearance-related insecurities, and negative connotations associated with being a black girl. By doing this she forces the
We are all unique, but certain cruxes determine our level in society. Differences in skin color is not the only cause of discrimination. Ideas and ways of life change our level and how we are accepted by those who "lead". Our disparate ideas, on things such as family and love, are a main source of hatred between cultures. Using symbolism and characterization, Carter explores the view on family, discrimination, and nature of a different culture in his novel The Education of Little Tree.
The novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings goes through the childhood of Maya Angelou as she faces the difficult realities of the early South. This novel does not do a very good job at portraying the hardships of the blacks because she
Throughout I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, racism is a frequent obstacle that non-whites had to overcome. When Maya is young, she doesn’t recognize the racism and discrimination as well as her grandmother does. As Maya gets older, she begins to recognize and take notice to the racism and discrimination towards her and African Americans everywhere. Maya may not recognize the racism and discrimination very well at her young age, but it still affects her outlook on life the same way it would if she had recognized it. The racism and discrimination Maya faced throughout I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, affected her attitude, personality, and overall outlook on life in a positive way.