"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings": Angelou's Autobiography

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", a story based on her life, the two things which propelled young Maya into adolescence were her thirst for learning and her love of reading. The author tells of several aspects of Angelou's life including her attending college at the age of fourteen and the birth of a baby boy out of wedlock. The paper concludes that, even today, Maya Angelou, who is a product of Stamps and Oakland and of the disdain and hatred of pre-Civil Rights Negroes, seeks freedom for all people, black and white, so that they are not a caged bird.

From the Paper:

"Maya also became somewhat of a dreamer, especially when thoughts of her mother, Vivian Baxter, arose from time to time. It seems that a movie star of that period, Kay Francis, was supposed to look like their mother, and the two would go to the movies- the colored balcony, of course, every time a Kay Francis movie would be shown at the local theatre. Slowly, there was a need for mother and daughter to reunite. But, still the heart and soul of Maya was her education. "I had met and loved the Bronte sisters, and had replaced Kipling's 'If' with 'Invictus'.""

More papers on "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings": Angelou's Autobiography:

• Book Review # 141528 : "Angelou's "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings"
• Book Review # 110967 : "Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"
• Book Review # 145492 : "Men in Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"

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