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The history of discrimination against african americans in the us
The history of discrimination against african americans in the us
The history of discrimination against african americans in the us
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Being treated equally, and having equal rights, as others, was a constant struggle during the 18 and 1900’s for people of color. There was no valid reason as of why they were being oppressed, resulting in riots, battling for justice. In”Caged Bird,” a poem by Maya Angelou, she creates a scene in which one bird is free, soaring wherever the bird wishes, happily. Whie another bird is caged, miserable, with clipped wing, tied up. In addition, written in “Sympathy,” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, another highly meaningful poem, there is a single bird, that also is trapped, crying out for help due to it feeling depressed, and constantly beating itself up. Although, the bird in “Sympathy” and “Caged Bird” can both symbolize a variety of things, depending …show more content…
The caged bird thrives off of the idea of being independent. He tries, and trys, to do everything he can to get out of that cage, even if what he is doing hurts him even more, he just so desperately wants the privilege to roam freely. In the text it states< “ I know why the caged bird beats his wing Till its blood is red on the cruel bars.” (line 8-9, Dunbar). Dunbar illustrates a scene in which the bird constantely abuses himself to point out the worthless life, which he feels he and the bird both have in common. He beats at the cage persistently even though he knows it changes nothing. However, he still does it because he desperately wishes to be free similarly, the author is unhappy as he doesn’t have equal rights. As a matter of fact, the bird pleads to be out as he crave for freedom. Shown in the passage where is says, “ It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a p prayer that he send =s fromhishearts deep core , But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings…” (line 18-20, Dunbar). The author uses this occurence to expose the fact the bird doesn’t sing beautiful serenade, he constantly cries for help, as he is woebegone. The reality of it, is that there is a whole beautiful world that the bird is unable to explore, and he can’t do anything the change it, other than cry out in despair. The wretched feeling of being lonely, for the bird and Dunbar, results
In “A Caged Bird”, it is made clear that this bird has never experienced the freedom of flying with the other species or perching atop the highest building. All it has ever known is the cage in which is has been kept and fed plentifully, yet not punctually, and nurtured with the love of an owner and proper care.
Oppression in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Paul Laurence Dunbar depicts this idea in his well-known poem “Sympathy” (one of my favorite poems!), describing a caged bird that longs for freedom. Dunbar establishes his knowledge of the bird ’s feelings, his desire for freedom (his motive of rebellion). Dunbar draws empathy from the audience as he describes the bird’s integrity in the descriptive lines: “I know why the caged bird beats his wing Till its blood is red on the cruel bars.” The caged bird goes to a dangerous extent to be heard, as he bleeds on his prison bars, for he is willing to do anything for his freedom— this shows his integrity and confidence in his values.
In I Know why the Caged Bird Sings the author uses many different literary devices and various figurative language examples. The use of metaphors, imagery, similes, and Symbolism has a great effect. They’re effective due to the fact in how they inform the reader of various important details needed to understand the story completely. The use of specific, different, and various types of language illustrate to the reader the effect of racism on many characters in the novel.
Walker, Pierre A. Racial protest, identity, words, and form in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Vol. 22. West Chester: Collage Literature, n.d. Literary Reference Center. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. .
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
Dunbar uses imagery and detail to describe the pain and injustice of the caged bird. Lawrence illustrates, “Till its blood is red on the cruel bars” (Dunbar 9). Caged bird struggles and battles to get out because he believes he has the right and deserves to be free. The reader can picture this thought of the bird throwing itself at the wall over and over until he eventually gives up from the unbearable pain. Dunbar also uses detail to portray his thoughts; “when his wing is bruised and his bosom sore” (Dunbar 16). The details of the bird’s condition give the story a painful feeling since the bird is hurt and sore. The bird in the story is bruised and hurt, but he still has not escaped the cage that is taking away his rights.
In the poem there are two birds, one is caged and is forced to watch the other free bird. “But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.” The caged bird in Maya Angelou’s poem is forced to watch the free bird from his cage. This caged bird can’t beat his wings, fly, or move, he can only sing a song that is a cry for help. The caged bird can’t do much about his situation, he is trapped and disabled. “ But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.” the caged bird cannot fly anymore because his wings are clipped. Even though he can’t fly the bird still opens his throat to sing. The caged bird in “ Caged Bird” is not as free as the bird in “Sympathy” because if this bid is free he can fly and do whatever he wants. But the bird in Maya’s poem cannot, he isn’t truly free, there is more hope for the other
Endorsed on August 18, 1920 the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S Constitution vouchsafed women with the right to vote also known as women’s suffrage. Women did not share all of the same rights as men, including the right to vote, but before women were granted the right to vote women like Susan B. Anthony tried to change that. Anthony went to 29 districts and addressed her speech, for women’s rights. While in “Sympathy” by Dunbar shows the bane that the “caged bird” feels, which refers to African Americans during the Jim Crows Laws. All though both texts are about equality and racism, they are different because the poem is suppose to show the lack of freedom for the African American’s during Dunbar’s time, while in Susan B. Anthony’s speech she
The book thus explores a lot of important issues, such as: sexuality and race relations, and shows us how society violated her as a young African American female. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou clearly expresses the physical pain of sexual assault, the mental anguish of not daring to tell, and her guilt and shame for having been raped. Her timidity and fear of telling magnify the brutality of the rape. For more than a year after the rape she lives in self-imposed silence, speaking only very rarely. This childhood rape reveals the pain that African American women suffered as victims not only of racism but also sexism.
Similar to Bronte, Dunbar also uses imagery to convey his desire for freedom. In ‘Sympathy’ a person can see Dunbar is portraying repetition the saying “I know what the cage bird feels” though-out his poem to get the message that he and the bird want to be free. Another imagery that Dunbar use is “When the first bird sings and the first bud opes” (Dunbar 5). You can gets the feeling that they are out in nature and can hear the bird sing or see the flower bud
By using poetry as a medium, Dunbar and Komunyakaa are able to indirectly battle racism. Although the poets were born during different times, there is a clear division between blacks and whites, which is broken down by Dunbar 's “Sympathy” and Komunyakaa 's “Facing It.” Dunbar speaks out against racism and uses the caged bird to represent a slave within his poem. At the end of his poem, Dunbar calls for help from his black community and evoke sympathy and remorse from the white people. Komunyakaa uses an approach that addresses the similarities between both sides of the colour spectrum and addresses death, war, the difficulties of expressing difficult emotions and public confrontations between white and black people. The allegorical meaning against racism expressed in these poems would be missed if an academic analysis was not preformed on Dunbar 's “Sympathy” and Komunyakaa 's “Facing It.”
I chose these three poems because the subject matter appealed to me and I believe that the poems convey their meaning very effectively. Upon researching the poems, I discovered that Caged Bird was in fact inspired by Sympathy, which accounts for the similarities in language and imagery, as outlined below. All three poems deal with the subject of freedom using the imagery of birds; On Liberty and Slavery is narrated as a human plea for freedom, and makes reference to birds in that context, whereas Caged Bird and Sympathy both use the imagery of caged birds to explore the theme of loss of freedom. The symbolism of birds is used to depict freedom, as birds are essentially without constraints; in comparison to the limitations of humans, they have limitless possibilities. When a bird is caged, however, it loses that potential and is restricted not by its own limitations, but the limits set by another.
In the “Caged Bird” Angelou’s comparison to the caged bird was African-Americans in the society they were living in. She symbolized the bird with African-Americans experiences. In the second stanza the poem states “But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing”. This is comparison to African-Americans in their society. When African- Americans were enslaved they use to sing songs to uplift their spirits because that’s all they could do. They were physically bound and mentally brain-washed. The songs was there way of showing they still had fight left in them. In the fourth stanza it states “The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn and he names the sky his own”. This is saying the while African-Americans were enslaved and oppressed they watched Caucasians be free and do as they pleased. Although at the time African-Americans never experienced freedom they yearned for it. They knew it had to be better then what they were enduring. Racism is considered the cage around the caged bird, and it means not getting treated fairly with jobs, medical treatment, and even get
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.