Summary Of Maya Angelou's I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

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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 uses powerful imagery to transport the reader into a specific event. One of the most influential pieces of imagery the author used …show more content…

A lot of factors went into deciding which words to use in the book. Since the author was targeting to bring awareness to a well know issue or oppression and racial injustice, she decided to use a powerful tone to get her point across. For example, Maya is describing Mr. Steward, who is a sheriff during the time, and called him “bitter”. (Pg. 17) Angelou is using these strong, descriptive words on purpose to show how traumatic and hurtful this time was and to reflect how African Americans felt. In addition to this, the use of diction is also used to build a reliability. If the author wrote in a more laid back manner, the writing would not be nearly as effective and many individuals would not trust her statements because she would sound less educated. Angelou sets herself up for success by saying “Other than that they were different, to be dreaded, and in that dread was included the hostility of the powerless against the powerful, the poor against the rich, the worker against the worked for and the ragged against the well dressed.” (Pg. 25) This statement reflects what Angelou's experience was during segregation. Using words like “dreaded” and “hostility of the powerless” build a solid backbone of reliability for her book and Maya gains the reader's

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