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Example research essay topic: Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou - 2,998 words

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Maya Angelou has touched the hearts of many with her shocking and inspirational autobiography, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, and has amazed many with her provocative and eccentric life style. Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis to Mr. Bailey and Mrs. Vivian Baxter Johnson. Sadly, at the age of three, her parents divorced and Marguerite and her brother, Bailey Jr. , who nicknamed her Maya, were sent to live with their father s mother.

Thus began the roller coaster of Marguerite s life. She went back and forth from her mother to her grandmother on a couple of occasions. And finally, when she was seven, she returned to live with her mother. These living conditions however, were soon terminated when her mother s live-in boyfriend raped her. When Marguerite finally came up with the courage to confess to her mother what had happened, the man who had raped her was mysteriously murdered. After that traumatizing experience, she returned to live with her grandmother and was a voluntary mute for five years. (Showalter, 3) When asked questions regarding this portion of her past, Angelou only said, The mature woman looks back on her bittersweet childhood, yet her authorial voice retains the power of the childs vision (Showalter 2).

She then continues to say, I was as pure as moonlight and only begun to live. My escapades were the fumbling's of my youth and to be forgiven as such (Showalter 4). At the age of fourteen she received a two year scholarship to study dance and drama at the California Labor School. Afterward, she attended George Washington High School.

It was then that she decided she wanted to be a street car conductor. She was determined to have the job, and all Maya could hear were her mothers words of advice, constantly running through her head about the erroneous mistakes of self defeat Nothing beats a trial but a failure. Give it all you got (Angelou 259). She applied for the job several times, and was constantly rejected and insulted, then finally, she succeeded. By achieving her goal, Angelou became the first black female street car conductor in San Francisco (Showalter 5).

Two years later, Maya was at a very critical point in her life. She felt insecure about her looks and unsure of her sexuality. Angelou had no friends to confide in since she hadnt taken the time to make any. And, at one point she believed herself to be a lesbian. So one day upon impulse, she invited a classmate of hers to come home with her to have sex. As a young woman I was afraid of my sexuality so I countered my fears by having sex (Showalter 7).

This resulted in pregnancy. She gave birth to her son, Guy, a month after she graduated from high school in 1945. Much to Mayas disappointment, life only got harder, and she soon turned to writing to ease the pain. Much of my work has held me to south the pain of the past Maya said And occasions like these convinced me that I had to take the pain and move on (Bloom 19). One night while having dinner with Jules Fieffer, he convinced her that the story of her life was worth telling. She then had the courage to sit down and write I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

This book taught her how to shift through pain. Most of her works relating to her life, are autobiographical. It is needed to explain her internal struggles. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings she shows how hard it is to be both black and female. She always thought that courage is needed for hope.

That helped her through many obstacles in life. After having dinner with Jules one book led to another and another, and thus began her career as a professional writer. The unsettled life Angelou writes of in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, suggests a sense of self as perpetually in the process of becoming, of dying, and being reborn, in all its ramifications (Ryan 13). Angelou ends I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings with the birth of her son, Guy. The caged bird at the end is comical and triumphant. When asked why she characterized the caged bird as triumphant, Maya replied with the obvious response, I have won in my strife against racism and am now seen as the truely beautiful woman I am (Ryan 14).

Many of Angelou s writings helped her earn self-acceptance. It is easy for her to turn something that is going bad for the good. Dolly McPherson credits Angelou s originality to a preoccupation with the effects of the community on the individuals achievement and retention of an integrated, acceptable self (King 15). Angelou's showing of self-acceptance for herself has persuaded others to do the same. Many of Angelou s works showed how brave and courageous she is. Her depiction of her own life experiences sends out a universal message that reaches all who are destined to travel a difficult road (King 25).

She has helped African-Americans accept themselves for whom they are and not for what everyone else thinks about them. In much of Maya Angelou s writing she emphasizes themes of courage, self- acceptance, and realization of the experiences of one s life. Maya Angelou is an inspiring woman, being a writer, poet, playwright, editor, performer, singer, film-maker, dancer, television personality, and educator. She was awarded a Yale University fellowship and appointed writer in residence at the University of Kansas.

Angelou has received many awards and honorary degrees, including Grammy Awards (1994 and 1996) for her recordings of her poetry on the albums On the Pulse of Morning (1993) and Phenomenal Woman (1995) (Schick 27). Angelou plans to continue to have an impact on people s lives in the future. She has traveled around the world, and can speak several languages. She was the first black woman to write the screen play for a motion picture, and the first to direct one.

After I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou has written many more pieces of work and plans to keep making an impression on Americans. In the story of the caged bird, in all oppressions there is a victim. Maya illustrates rather craftily the hardships endured by the black female community in the south. In her novel, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya states 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 the lack of black power (Angelou 328).

As a result, Maya s protective and tough life in Stamps, Arkansas helped her hold sacred and moral family values that were then mostly shown when she was taken away to Missouri and California. In both of these places, Maya and her family experienced an ex tenuous amount of racial hatred, which made her realize the cruelty man can possess. Fortunately Maya was able to move beyond the crossfire, proving that she overcomes the oppositions that her status throws her way. This book opens new directions of thought and gives an insightful perspective of growing up as a southern Negro girl in three completely different towns: Stamps, Arkansas, and St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California. There is reason to believe that the question of the novel is in its showing of racial relations.

One of the earliest examples of racial relations in the book symbolizes the strict kinds of opportunity for black and white children. On the second page, Marguerite explains how she wished that she would wake up in a white world, with blond hair, blue eyes, and she would shudder from the nightmare and hellish thought of being black (Angelou 2). Even from the beginning of the book, racial relations were one of the major themes. The depiction of hatred between the races can not be comfortable for Southern whites, whom the novel criticizes.

From subtle racism like the inability for Maya to become a streetcar conductor, to more extreme examples like the doctors statement, My policy is that Id rather stick my hand in a dogs mouth than in a niggers (Angelou 97). The novel shows the evilness in segregation and prejudice. Maya Angelou also indicates the effect of oppression on the black people, and the impact on her as a child. This explains why the novel has been so controversial in the South, where racial tension is historically worst, and is where the novel mostly takes place. Therefore, understanding the apparent and horrendous effects of racism on young Marguerite help explain the controversy and the person she became. Another early situation that opened Maya s eyes to social status or lack thereof, occurred when the po white trash children confronted Mama in front of the store.

They were represented as clownish, dirty, and rather silly. On the other hand, Mama, portrayed as the stronger one, simply stood like a rock and sang the Gospel Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more (Showalter 5). The beauty of Mamas soul counteracts with the disgusting actions of the po whites, and creates a powerful scene about the cruelty blacks had to go through at that time. The clear separation between the treatment of black people to white people became apparent.

As the scene continues, she understands that because of the power between the po white trash and Mama, Mama has won. It is the inspirational actions such as these that gave Maya hope and made being a young black girl in the 1940 s just a little bit easier, when being black was not the easiest thing to be. At that time, there were two kinds of people who were believed to be of little or no importance; blacks and women. Throughout the book Maya never really accepted the fact that she was not going to get anywhere because of her status. I am always thinking about the human condition- about what we can endure, dream, fail at, and still survive (Showalter 2).

She always tried to be the best in whatever she did, and always felt that she was just as good as or even better than many of the white people. It was not until she went to live with her mother that she really put action behind her feelings. For example, when Marguerite worked as a maid in a white house, her employers change her name for their convenience. After being called Mary, she determines that she must leave the job. At that point in my life I was still in search of who I was, and being called Mary by people who felt my name was too ethnic didnt hep me. It only shadowed my heritage and the girl I was (Bloom 120).

Maya had difficulty understanding the hatred that went on between the blacks and the whites, and decided to take matters into her own hands. She shows the power of her character which will be fully developed later in her life. Another insight of who she is to become occurs when the revival came to Stamps. Here, Marguerite makes the observation that her race is sick and sad. She was repulsed by the realization that not only did they had to live their lives in the worst conditions, but they preferred it that way. After Bailey s departure while living with their mother, Maya felt that it was going to be impossible to stay where she was, but leaving held no attraction for her either. (Angelou 264).

Eventually she decided to go to work. She had her mind set on becoming a streetcar driver. Even though her mother warned her that they didn t hire niggers, she was still just as determined and stubborn. When she went to apply for the job, the white receptionist put great effort into discouraging her, mainly because she was black. However, this did not discourage Maya. She was even more determined to get the job, and swore I would have the job.

I would a conductor ette and sling a full money changer from my belt. (Angelou 268) During the crossfire, the more Maya was opposed, the more strength she gained to stand up to those who found enjoyment in making life almost unbearable for her. If it hadn t been for people like the receptionist, and the white speaker at her graduation, she would not have been able to persist the way she did. Maya Angelou has become a national celebrity since she read her poem, On the Pulse of the Morning, at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton. Before that, she was probably best known for her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

What is it about Angelou's writing that is attractive to so many people? In large part, Maya Angelou's success as a writer is due to her easy-going style of writing that embraces the reader and conveys thoughts and emotions almost effortlessly. For this style, Angelou owes a great debt to her African-American heritage. Angelou is at her best when she builds on African-American traditions in her work, which she does in practically all of her prose writing, and slips into banality when she abandons them, which is frequently the case in her poetry. The African-American traditions that Angelou uses so well can be traced from Africa to America through cultural traditions, music, and religion.

Dr. Beverly Hill at Metro State University in St. Paul, discusses how writers from different cultures often have distinct rhetorical traditions on which they base their writing (Bloom 154). Tradition gives an added emphasis to the rhythm of the cultural literary piece, with short phrases and repetition used to make the story easier to comprehend and remember. The final characteristic, which also enhances Maya s work is her ability to convey emotions. Leaving the reader with the powerful emotional impression.

Angelou was introduced to the tradition of story telling through the most obvious and important place: the black church. Growing up in the segregated South with her extremely religious grandmother, Angelou went to church daily and learned to love the language of the church, a language that transferred over into her writing to this day. Angelou states in an interview Religion is an important theme through out the Caged Bird, which represents the sustaining force in life. Its a spiritual sustenance and fortitude from the Bread of Heaven' (Showalter 2).

The work in which Angelou most successfully utilizes the African-American traditions in her writing is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The event in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which most clearly illustrates the African-American traditions is Mayas graduation from eighth grade. She sets the tone by describing how the children in Stamps trembled visibly with anticipation (Angelou 142). In keeping with the oral tradition Angelou slowly builds excitement around the graduation by relating the childrens happiness and the parent pride.

She describes Mommas painstaking work on the butter-yellow pique dress and her pride at having excelled academically. Angelou uses many small events designed to make the reader anticipate graduation night almost as much as Maya might have. The reader only gets a sense of anything wrong when Angelou writes, Something unrehearsed, unplanned, was going to happen, and we were going to be made to look bad (Angelou 149). After all the excited build up to graduation night, Maya faces her challenge as Mr.

Donleavy, the superintendent of schools, gives his address extolling everything he has done for the white schools, which in the context of the condition of the black school makes it clear that education is not a priority for black students. Angelou writes Donleavy had exposed us. We were maids and farmers, handymen and washerwomen, and anything higher that we aspired to was farcical and presumptuous (Angelou 152). The emotionally powerful climax occurs when Henry Reed, eighth grade class president, begins to sing the Negro national anthem. As the words of the black poet James Weldon Johnson came out in song, Maya knew that they were on top again. As always again.

We survived. (Angelou 123) This is obviously an important event in Mayas life, but it also serves as a lesson learned about not letting someone else define who and what you are. This is the essence of the African-American tradition: the writer sets the scene and leaves the interpretation to the reader. For Maya, who teaches so many lessons through the stories of her life, the chance to share her wisdom in a lifes lessons book, gives her the opportunity to express her thoughts. Angelou comments I only speak of the black condition (Showalter 2). She enjoys encouraging the younger generations by informing them that no one can set fixed limitations on an individual but the individual. She tells all, of her autobiography, and that writing it has helped her release some of the stress from her past (Bloom 19).

When considering the amount of persuasive power Maya Angelou has it is not surprising that the book has had a great many critics. The depiction of hatred between the races can not be comfortable for Southern whites, whom the novel criticizes. Though new insights may or may not be gained on the issue of segregation between African Americans and white people, they have gone through so much, and have been treated like animals in the past, you can t help but acknowledge their strength throughout history. The caged bird was symbolic of a chained slave in the beginning of the story, but in the end, it was free to fly over vast lands and soar the endless skies.

It was a brilliant concept of Mayas though she may not have though about it to to depict the story of the black peoples struggles through her own. 346


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Research essay sample on Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou

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