OPPapers.com Essay Index >> Book Reports >> I Know Why The Caged Bird Sing
We have many free term papers and essays on I Know Why The Caged Bird Sing. We also have a wide variety of research papers and book reports available to you for free. You can browse our collection of term papers or use our search engine.
I know why the caged bird sing "Cages". I know why the caged bird
sings:"Cages" The poem I know why the caged bird sings is based ...
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sing. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings In her
novel, “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings”, Maya states ...
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sing. Maya Angelo?s, I know why the caged bird
sing is an interesting and inspirational story. Although ...
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sing's. In the novel I Know Why The Caged Bird
Sings, by Maya Angelou goes from a little southern black ...
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sing. What Do Children Feel Guilty About? Christopher
Williams and Jane Bybee of Northeastern University ...
Submitted by nisha1450 on May 8, 2008
Category: Book Reports
Words: 387 | Pages: 2
Views: 19
Popularity Rank: 104,514
Average Member Grade: N/A (Add a Comment / Grade this Paper)
A turning point in the novel occurs when Marguerite and Bailey's father unexpectedly appears at their home to send them to live with their mother in St. Louis. While there, eight-year old Marguerite is raped by her mother's boyfriend, Mr. Freeman, which traumatizes her. Mr. Freeman is later murdered after escaping jail time, which burdens Marguerite with guilt and causes her to withdraw from everyone but her brother. Even after moving back to Stamps, Marguerite remains reclusive and nearly mute until she meets "Black aristocrat" Bertha Flowers, who supplies her with books to encourage her love of reading, and coaxes her out of her shell.
As Marguerite grows up, she experiences many other instances of racism, including an old white woman who shortens her name to "Mary," hence reducing her name to a more common one; white speakers at a graduation ceremony who disparage the black audience by implying their limited job opportunities, and the white town dentist's refusal to operate on Marguerite's rotting tooth, even when Momma reminds him of a previous loan. As commentator Mary Jane Lupton states, "She knew even then, from her experiences in Stamps and St. Louis, that she was black and female, someone with the cards stacked against her".[3]
Finally, when her brother Bailey is disturbed by the discovery of the corpse of a black man that some white men took pleasure in seeing, Momma decides to move the children to live permanently with their mother in San Francisco, California. Marguerite visits her father in southern California one summer; she drives a car for the first time when she must transport her intoxicated father home from a short excursion to Mexico and experiences homelessness for a short time, after a fight with her father's girlfriend.
Marguerite, now more frequently called "Maya," enters adolescence, but not without awkwardness. She becomes worried that she might be a lesbian (which she equates with being a hermaphrodite), and...
You must Login to view the entire paper.
If you are not a member yet, Sign Up for free!