To continue, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Maya Angelou, and Alicia Keys have utilized various forms of literary devices in their works to fully explain and emphasize their main theme and opinions. For example, in Dunbar’s poem, ‘Sympathy,’ there is a strong use of metaphors, which is a phrase or word that represents another object or idea that it would not normally be related to. In the poem, the author uses a caged bird to somewhat symbolize racially oppressed African Americans in the 1800s. The poem includes, “I know why the caged bird sings, ah me…” “When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core…” By using the symbol of the caged bird in the poem, the author …show more content…
shows how awful people of his race were being treated; this caused the people who were being judged and hurt to feel hopeless and trapped, similar to the caged bird in the work of literature. This symbol helps the poem be so emotionally charged and important because the fowl being so restless and injured emphasizes how terribly the African Americans were treated and felt.
Furthermore, Maya Angelou’s poem, ‘Caged Bird,’ there is a heavy usage of imagery to contrast the lives of the free and caged bird. For example, the first stanza includes vivid details about how free and easygoing the free bird’s life is. The text includes, “A free bird leaps/ on the back of the wind/ and floats downstream…” “...and dips his wing/ in the orange sun rays/ and dares to claim the sky.” Evidently, this bird can openly travel through the wonders of the world, such as streams and beautiful skies; there seems to not be a care in the world. However, the reader gets a peek into the life of the caged bird, who has a multitude of challenges and sorrow. These circumstances are first shown in the second stanza, but there is a more intense picture in stanza five, “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.” There is an obvious switch in mood that is projected from the author, as the caged bird has lost its dreams and had many obstacles preventing it from breaking
free. The use of imagery demonstrates the potency of the trapped bird’s hardships. Lastly, the song ‘Caged Bird’ by Alicia Keys, includes metaphors that are similar to those in 'Sympathy.' For instance, the singer compares herself to a bird that is trapped and cannot be freed; she also explains that she understands that birds sing to power through sorrow.
While reading, I felt a sense of sadness for the caged bird, as its undeniable determination was persistent and valiant. Along with the message of the poem, I also appreciated Angelou’s unique sense of “unstructured verse” and her non-traditional poetic approach. It is clear that the caged bird represents African Americans and the free bird represents the white population, however, the poem is well written which sends this implied message of African-American suppression in a poetic, yet clear,
In the poem “Sympathy” the speaker uses literary devices to help illustrate the theme of the poem. He utilizes allegory to get his main point across as he compares the oppression of his race to the scene of a captured bird. The speaker also uses poetic devices such as Assonance, alliteration, and cacophony in the poem to create a powerful message and bring emphasis to certain points and phrases. In the poem “Sympathy” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar the speaker utilizes literary and poetic devices such as allusion, cacophony, alliteration, and assonance to bring forth his powerful message of oppression and the intense longing for freedom.
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. .
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
Such as the poem The Caged Bird sings.
There are many different ways someone is considered to be free, the direct definition is to enjoy personal rights or liberty, this can be interpreted in different forms. In their poems “Caged Bird”, and “Sympathy”, Maya Angelou and Paul Laurance Dunbar use caged birds to represent what it means to be free. They both use birds to convey a better image for the reader. Birds are used in both poems of “Caged Bird” and “Sympathy” as a central image because the caged birds are metaphors for true freedom and hope.
Captivity can occurs behind closed doors, outside the view of the general public. Even in plain sight it remains unseen as it hides behind something generally perceived as beautiful. This makes it easier to continue, overlooked and justified. Paul Laurence Dunbar speaks up for the misunderstood captives around the world and throughout history through his poem, “Sympathy.” This poem brings to light the nonsensicalness of believing a caged bird’s song to be representative of anything short of a broken spirits prayer for freedom. Dunbar wishes for his audience to stop admiring the song of the caged bird and to set it free. In “Sympathy,” Dunbar uses the imagery and controlling metaphor of a caged bird to describe the reflected perspective between
In the movie “ The long walk home “ and the poem “ I know the caged bird sings“ they have their differences but in some ways they are similar. They are both about being trapped and feeling like they can’t do anything that others that are free can do . The poem “ I know the caged bird sings“ was written by a lady named Maya Angelou who had a rough childhood and would never like to speak , it took her a while to get used to peoples company . She was not only a remarkable woman who not only survived multiple wars , but has accomplished living in the great depression . She wrote her poem based on the information she new and grew up around meaning she wrote a sad poem about people being trapped because they feel they aren’t able to be freely as others that can . The long walk home is another example of how it was like to be in the years where black and whites couldn’t get along . There was always conflict between the whites and blacks , whites had more rights and that made the blacks feel as if they were trapped and that was so wrong so Maya Angelou's poem speaks on both of the behalfs of how it was like living in the great depression .
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.
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
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
In ‘Caged Bird’ by Maya Angelou, the use of of diction, imagery, and syntax build the contrast between the free bird and the caged bird. These things represent the differences between the whites, the ‘free bird’, and the blacks, the ‘caged bird.’
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.