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Summary: What can you say?
Review: What can you say about a book such as this. Powerful and extrodinary. Yet simple and eloquent. The author allows us to see deep into her life. The good,bad and ugly. She keeps us wanting to read more of her, no matter how sad. Awesome work.If I might I would like to also recommend another book. Nightmares Echo by Katlyn Stewart. It is a story of child abuse-molestation and the courage it took for this child to survive on into adulthood.
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Summary: I thing the caged bird should stop singing racist songs!!!
Review: God forbit if the racism in this book was vice-versa. Ms. Angelo has a beautiful writing talent but she describes whites with the most disgusting way! I understand that she had lots of bad childhood memories but you feel the hatred toward white not the hatred toward those days' racist,NO! the hatred toward whites!
I hate discrimination and racism against any race doesn't matter, black, white, Asian, Hispanic or Native-Americans and this is why I stopped reading this book as soon as I felt it is full of hatred and rage!
God Bless Oprah for making whomever she wants rich! I don't know if Maya's books would have so many readers if Oprah wouldn't advertise for her!
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Summary: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Review: This was the worst book I have every read. It was so boring I fell asleep reading it. It had no point to her life. All she did was talk about her family and not her. I thought the book was about her.
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Summary: The Caged Bird Sang To Me...
Review: Maya Angelou uses her captavating childhood to entrance her readers into the life of a young black girl in the 1930's - 1940's and she shows her life experiences of heartbreak, seperation, admiration and many other qualities to take us through her life in the small town of Stamps, Arkansas where she spent that portion of her life living with her emotionaly strong and stern grandmother and her father like figure of an uncle. Later on she moves with her mother to St. Louis and then to California during WWII as young Maya trys to change to city life with the help of her brother Bailey. I belive everyone should be made to read this book and then prehaps we would have a better educated world. Maya Angelou's novel "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" truely woke me up to what's out there in the world and that same caged bird sang to me... Please Note: This book deals with some advanced topics such as "Racism, Rape, Violence" people reading this book should be 13+.
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Summary: My review of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Review: Book Review Title: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Author: Maya Angelou
Genre: Non-Fiction - Autobiographical
Length: 290 pages By: Muriel Muex Course: Intro to Sociology
Professor: Steve Zegel September 19, 2003
I chose I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Ms. Maya Angelou for my book review because of its universal appeal. Even the title of the book grabs your attention; it makes you want to ask the question, why does the caged bird sing? It speaks not only to black people in general and black women specifically, but to everyone. No matter your race or gender, anyone can relate to the story of Ms. Angelou's life and experiences as they unfold. Ms. Angelou has a flair for utilizing colorful imagery and symbolism to convey her life experiences. She tells her story so vividly, she makes you feel as if you are experiencing every excruciating moment right along with her. Despite all the trials and tribulations, her story offers insight and wisdom and inspires hope for every reader. Ms. Angelou wrote this book in the mid 60's while living in New York City. It is a chronological rendition of her life starting in the 1930's when she was a child living in the small southern town of Stamps, Arkansas. It is written during a time when black men and women, including all western women, were trying to develop a sense of identity (Scott, Oreen - A Women too Young to be Old, Book Review). There are many themes prevalent in Ms. Angelou's book. It is rife with prejudices of black versus white, male versus female, ugly versus beautiful, rich versus poor; all of which focus on Henslins' conflict theorists (Henslin, 2003). Her grandmother's store is the center of Maya's childhood and the gathering place for blacks in the town. It symbolizes her anchor in life and how she defines who she is. When Maya dons her Easter dress, she envisions a transformation taking place revealing her true self, or how she wishes herself to be, blue-eyed blond and beautiful rather than black ugly and nappy headed. This ties into Henslin's symbolic interactionism (Henslin 2003).
It is a story of a young black girl dealing with abandonment by her parents and growing up amidst racism, segregation, lynchings, beatings and more. It is a story of child molestation and surviving in a hostile world with the strength of family ties and religion to sustain you. It is a story of persevering to obtain goals being held from you just because of the color of your skin and gender. It is a story that is both beautifully and inspiringly told. Ms. Angelou confronts her own life with such moving wonder and dignity (Baldwin, 1969), that you, the reader, are also inspired.
Ms. Angelou's autobiography relates to many sociological perspectives where people's social experiences underlie their behavior (Henslin, 2003). It touches on social structure and how it establishes limits on our behavior, shaping our perceptions and attitudes (Henslin, 2003). This is evidenced by Grandmother Henderson mutely standing in front of her store while four little white girls act shamefully. One of them does a handstand to show she's not wearing any underwear while the others taunt and tease her knowing she can't berate them for their bad behavior. Maya gets angry realizing this is the reality of things and that black people in Stamps have to be very respectful of all white people no matter what they do or how they behave if they want to survive. This is a genre I normally don't read, but after reading this book I was compelled to read the remaining books in her autobiographical series. I thoroughly enjoyed every one of them and would recommend them without hesitation. I know why the caged bird sings, do you? References Baldwin, James, Book Review, (1969) Review comments on I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Henslin, James M., Essentials of Sociology A Down-to-Earth Approach, (5th edition),
Pgs. 2-3, 12, 15, and 83-84 Scott, Oreen - A Women too Young to be Old - Book Review (September 20, 2003),
http://www.oreenscott.com/maya_angelou.htm.
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Summary: Struggles and Strength
Review: This autobiography portrays the young, insecure, Marguerite Johnson, Maya, growing up in the segregated town of Stamps, Arkansas. She was precious, imaginative and felt as though she was misunderstood and lived in a society of hatefulness. Maya was immersed in a world of racism but kept her grandmother and mother as her source of strength. Maya's varying environments helped shape her into the determined women she is today.
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Summary: Inspiring Story
Review: This is an autobiography of Maya Angelou, telling her story of her hectic life during the 1930's and 1940's in America, a confusing time for everyone. It is an amazingly inspiring story about an insecure African-American girl, that turns into a strong woman, despite all of the hardships thrown at her.
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Summary: Enlightening True Story
Review: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is an enlightening autobiography about a young black girl growing up in the 1930s. As you read you learn how she handled living with and without her parents, racism, responsibilities, sex, other problems children face today, and more.
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Summary: 50 words or less summary of theme
Review: This compelling story illustrates how we "are", for we do not live, but merely exist, in the eternal and unconquerable cages of society only to do what we can to survive in mind behind bars we can not break.
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Summary: Reader Respone for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Review: In this powerful autobiography, Maya Angelou candidly recounts her coming of age experience and conveys to readers through soulful diction a vivid picture of life for an African-American girl growing up in America during the 30's, 40's, and 50's. I thought this book was beautifully written and very empowering.
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