Summer assignment: "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", by Maya Angelou

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” immerses the reader in a ‘bird’s eye view’ of growing up under the restraints of segregation, oppression of racism, and fear persecution.  Maya Angelou is an internationally acclaimed African-American writer, essayist, and poet. She was also a dancer, actress, singer, director, playwright, and civil rights activist. Angelou has won a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award, three Grammys, the Spingarn Medal, the National Medal of Arts, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This essay takes place in a time steeped in segregation and deeply embedded racism. Angelou shares her experiences and also explain how through personal character and head-strong determination, she was able to stay strong through it all. The intended audience is young adult to adult in want of a glimpse inside her journey. In this essay, the author uses several rhetorical devices, including numerous comparisons and a lot of description and imagery. These allow the reader to picture the scenes more clearly and have a way too try and see through the author’s eyes. I think that the author fulfilled her purpose well. Throughout the essay, she the reader journeys through a painful and approachable perspective on how it felt to be in her shoes while facing racism, segregation, and persecution. Experiencing what it was like to face people who would mock her and her family, as well as people who wanted to hurt her just because she was African American. An example of this is, “I wanted to throw a handful of black pepper in their faces, to throw lye on them, to scream that they were dirty, scummy peckerwoods, but I knew I was as clearly imprisoned behind the scene as the actors outside were confined to their roles”(Angelou 356).  Even though people hurt her and her family, she was determined to lie low and bear through the pain, and not lower herself to committing the actions she so disliked in others. She explained that her family and the simple beauty of the things around her helped her be strong and admire life. Angelou successfully promote her cause against racism and segregation, and give the reader a new perspective on the issue.