TOW #17-IRB- "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", by Maya Angelou

My IRB for this marking period is "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", by Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou is a well known author, poet, and civil rights activist. She has written a series of autobiographies, several essays, and poems. She has received many awards and 50 honorary degrees for her work. She has also won a Pulitzer Prize, was nominated for a Tony Award, won three Grammys, the Spingarn Medal, the National Medal of Arts, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She speaks strongly for racial equality and for women's rights. In "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", she discusses her life growing up, and is one of her most well acclaimed books. It is an autobiography discussing the hardships she faced, both as an African American and a woman. I chose this book because I have been told many good things about Maya Angelou's writing, and I wanted to learn more about her. Also, the subjects she speaks on are very powerful, and it is interesting to read her ideas and opinions on these kinds of topics.

TOW #16-IRB- "The Power of Myth"

My IRB for this marking period was "The Power of Myth", by Joseph Campbell. This book is an interview by Bill Moyers. They begin by discussing the importance of mythology, and the conversation evolves. An important point Moyers asks of Campbell is why should we care about myths, and if they actually have anything to do with our actual lives. Campbell goes on to explain that people can go on and live their lives without mythology, however, mythology can greatly contribute to having a better understanding of life and literature. He believes that the stories of mythology help people to come to terms with the world, and be in better touch with reality. He comments, "One of our problems today is that we are not well acquainted with the literature of the spirit. We're interested in the news of the day and the problems of the hour...When you get to be older, and the concerns of the day have all been attended to, and you turn to the inner life-well if you don't know where it is or what it is, you'll be sorry"(Campbell 1). Campbell is elaborating on how understanding myths and their messages and morals can help you connect to your inner self, and allow you to be more in touch with yourself and your surroundings. Myths are able to connect even to modern generations because the messages being told can apply to anyone. "Whether I'm reading Polynesian or Iroquois or Egyptian myths, the images are the same, and they are talking about the same problems"(Campbell 38). Even though the Polynesians, Iroquois, and Egyptians have seemingly very different cultures, mythology, and religion, the similarities in their stories are striking. Their myths give ideas on concepts such as how the earth came to be, ethics, and others. This book overall allowed me to get a better understanding on mythology of all types, Greek, Roman, Norse, Native American, Egyptian, and many others. It also aided me in getting a better awareness of just of significant mythology really is in our culture today, and how much of an impact it has. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in mythology or cultures.