Getting To Know The Caged Bird
“I will not allow anybody to minimize my life, not anybody, not a living soul- nobody, no lover, no mother, no son, no boss, no president, no body.” (Maya Angelou) In Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, she, Maya, tells the reader about the challenges and praises throughout her life. She gets across to the reader that the number of things that have occurred to her in her life will never add up to make her feel unworthy. Because Angelou is a “spirited journalist”, (pg.5) she was inspired to begin writing I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by a meeting with novelist James Baldwin, Random House Editor Robert Loomis, and cartoonist Jules Feiffer and his ...
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able to understand Billy’s character. As in Billy Budd, Angelou uses dialect in her writings to enhance the tone of the book. “That’s right. You know, the children was readin’ me something th’ other day, Say folks dream about whatever was on their mind when they went to sleep.”(Pg. 158) Angelou quoted her “momma” [paternal grandmother], and allows the reader to feel a sense as if momma was really saying something to them; she brings momma to life.
As for the quote stated, Angelou uses what we consider to be African American slang, more formally known as “ebonics”, to personalize “momma”. In everyday English we use subject and verb agreement, however, Angelou does not by writing “the children was reading”, this type of dialect in Angelou’s autobiography personalizes many of the characters. The use of dialect also enhances the characterization of personalities of which are greatly noted in this ...
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"Getting To Know The Caged Bird." Essayworld.com. May 11, 2005. Accessed April 25, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Getting-To-Know-The-Caged-Bird/26724.
"Getting To Know The Caged Bird." Essayworld.com. May 11, 2005. Accessed April 25, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Getting-To-Know-The-Caged-Bird/26724.
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