Haley+S

﻿I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou   --- What Others Have Said: "If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult." -Maya

"Excellent memoir. At times gut-wrenching. At others, laugh-out-loud funny. Couldn't stop reading, though the ending was a bit brusque." -Miora Stirling

"The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time that she is caught in the tripartite crossfire of masculine prejudice, white illogical hate and Black lack of power. The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence." -Maya

"The book tastefully addresses issues of molestation, rape, racism. But it does so within the context of the trials and tribulations of growing up as well." - Brad Beyers  "My race groaned. It was our people falling. It was another lynching, yet another Black man hanging on a tree. One more woman ambushed and raped. . . . This might be the end of the world. If Joe lost we were back in slavery and beyond help. It would all be true, the accusations that we were lower types of human beings. Only a little higher than the apes." -Maya "After reading Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings I felt I  ﻿ knew the real Maya. Angelou doesn't try to cover up any of her mistakes or bad experiences and allows the reader to see her faults. There is no screen between the reader and the author." -Chelsi Deturk  media type="youtube" key="8eL2FG4-FAw?fs=1" height="385" width="480" align="center"

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Quote One: I chose this quote because Maya basically says that as a black girl, knowing you're not welcomed is a whole lot worse than not knowing how unwelcomed you are.

Quote Two: I chose this quote because it shows that Maya feels inferior to the world basically. She feels so judged-- even from such an early age!

Quote Three: I think this quote shows that she really disliked how low blacks were in society. She realizes that they lived a terrible life and that they're reduced to not even being considered human beings. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Video One: I chose this video because Maya Angelou is also a poet and she wrote the poem in the video. It really relates to the book and metaphorically talks about racism. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Video Two: I chose this video because it re-enacts Maya's younger days, including when she was raped. It just shows how badly she got treated.