I.
Title
“CAGED BIRD”
By: Maya Angelou
Members:
Joshua Jireh Manlawe
Blair Sem Inehao
Verlin Grace Cabalhug
II. Author
Maya Angelou
An acclaimed American poet, storyteller, activist, and autobiographer, Maya Angelou
was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri. Angelou had a broad career as a
singer, dancer, actress, composer, and Hollywood’s first female black director, but
became most famous as a writer, editor, essayist, playwright, and poet. As a civil
rights activist, Angelou worked for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. She
was also an educator and served as the Reynolds professor of American Studies at
Wake Forest University. By 1975, wrote Carol E. Neubauer in Southern Women
Writers: The New Generation, Angelou was recognized “as a spokesperson for… all
people who are committed to raising the moral standards of living in the United
States.” She served on two presidential committees, for Gerald Ford in 1975 and
for Jimmy Carter in 1977. In 2000, Angelou was awarded the National Medal of
Arts by President Bill Clinton. In 2010, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., by President Barack Obama. Angelou
was awarded over 50 honorary degrees before her death.
III. Interpretation/ Elements of Poetry
Figure of Speech
Personification: Maya Angelou has used personification such as
“sighing trees” as if trees are feeling sorrow. Also, she has personified
the bird by changing its pronoun from ‘its’ to ‘his’.
Metaphors: There are two major metaphors. The first metaphor is of the
free bird that is for the white Americans or free people, while the caged
bird is the metaphor of African Americans and their captivity in the
social norms.
Symbol: Maya Angelou has used different symbols to show racial
discrimination and social construction against her community. The caged
bird is a symbol of imprisonment, while his song is a symbol of freedom.
Alliteration: Alliteration is a literary device in which a series of words
begin with the same consonant sound. This poem is rich with alliterations
and its examples can be seen in the repetition of /s/ sound in “seldom see
through” and then /w/ sound in “worms waiting” and then again /sh/
sound in “shadows shouts.”
Imagery
As imagery pertains to five senses, this poem is full of different images.
“free bird” and “back of wind” images for sight and feelings. Similarly,
there are some images such as “orange sun rays” is for sight, and “throat
to sing” is for hearing. Maya Angelou uses caged and free birds to
portray the dream of attaining freedom. The poem illustrates the contrast
between imprisonment and freedom through portrayal of a caged bird and
a free bird and then between their dreams and desires.
Musical Devices
End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make a stanza melodious such as in
the first and second line the third stanza the rhyming words are “trill”, “still”
and “shrill”.
Internal Rhyme: The internal rhyme is rhyme within a line such as in the
line “waiting on a dawn bright lawn” two words “dawn” and “lawn” rhyme
with each other.
Repetition: The poetic, as well as the rhetorical device of repetition,
emphasizes a point through repetition such as “A free bird thinks” and “The
caged bird sings” which have been repeated in the poem several times.
Stanza: The poet has used stanzas with a different number of lines with
no regular rhyme scheme.
Theme
There are two major themes in the poem. The first major theme is given
in the first stanza which is freedom. It is given through the image of a
free bird that goes wherever it wants, ranging from enjoyment on stream to
soaring in the wind. The second theme is captivity that cripples the bird in
the cage. This theme goes on in the third stanza and triesto state that
the caged bird is forced to sing a song of freedom. Then the free bird again
comes into view in the fourth stanza and enjoys life on trade winds, trees and
in the width and breadth of the sky. Next stanzas describe the caged bird’s
fear while it is trying to sing a tune for its freedom during its bondage.
Connotations/Descriptive Words
Instead of saying that the caged bird is just singing, Angelou says it is
singing with a "trill". The word trill means to sing unsteadily due to being
nervous or afraid. She wants the reader to really feel the horror of being
trapped or "caged" which is why she used this particular connotation.
Poetic Contractions
No Poetic Contractions found in the poem
Implied Idea
The poet explores the ideas of freedom, equality, and justice in the text.
The poem exhibits racial segregation and social discrimination prevalent
against the black community in American society.
The “free bird” is for white people, while the “caged bird” is the
metaphor of African American people and their detention in the social
norms.
IV. Significant Human Values gained from the poem
Strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism
and trauma. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya, who has been described
as "a symbolic character for every black girl growing up in America", goes
from being a victim of racism with an inferiority complex to a self-aware
individual who responds to racism with dignity and a strong sense of her
own identity.
The poem deals with a very similar sense of limitation, separation and
marginalization through the metaphor of the bird in a cage. Importantly,
the poem suggests that the desire to be free will always be expressed, despite
circumstances that might quell the spirit.
Fighting for freedom, this was expressed by the caged bird that still sings
even if caged, this didn’t become a hindrance in obtaining freedom.
V. References
https://literarydevices.net/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings/?
fbclid=IwAR3qT907iKxDnOdeHGw-gg_Tq3xB8k-
szLw36mnB4zI4Pkd6IZCi8HI7WUw
https://prezi.com/aqbgfqb5t0ih/connotation-instead-of-saying-that-the-
caged-bird-is-just-s/
