"I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings"

[realitycheck44]

I just had to read this book for my "honors" english class. It was one of the most boring, depressing books I have ever had to read. It has no theme, save racism is bad. I did not find it uplifting, nor did/do I even really care that much about Maya Angelou. I do appreciate her for trying to overcome the racism. She become the first black streetcar conductor in San Francisco and, wonderously, was not racist toward whites. I have a few questions regarding her and the book, if anyone can help. What were her political views? I searched on google, but I couldn't find anything. What did anybody else think of the book? Did anybody see a point in writing it? She writes with so many metaphors and similies, yet I have yet to find one that actually was symbolic of anything. If I am horrible wrong, please let me know.

As always, responses appreciated.

Zak

[Tryptonique]

I just had to read this book for my "honors" english class. It was one of the most boring, depressing books I have ever had to read. It has no theme, save racism is bad. I did not find it uplifting, nor did/do I even really care that much about Maya Angelou. I do appreciate her for trying to overcome the racism. She become the first black streetcar conductor in San Francisco and, wonderously, was not racist toward whites. I have a few questions regarding her and the book, if anyone can help. What were her political views? I searched on google, but I couldn't find anything. What did anybody else think of the book? Did anybody see a point in writing it? She writes with so many metaphors and similies, yet I have yet to find one that actually was symbolic of anything. If I am horrible wrong, please let me know.

As always, responses appreciated.

Zak

Well...she wrote a poem for President Cliton's inaugeration if that gives you a good starting point .

Aside from that, though...I don't think she has ever been politically active except with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil right's movement.

This is the most I could find on her activism :

Angelou's early activism led Martin Luther King, Jr. to request that she become the northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1959. In the early and mid-1960s, Angelou was an editor for newspapers in Africa, including The Arab Observer in Cairo, Egypt and The African Review in Accra, Ghana. She returned to the United States in the 1970s, being named a member of the Bicentennial Commission by Gerald Ford and a member of the Commission for International Woman of the Year by Jimmy Carter. She was given a lifetime appointment in 1981 as Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She also read one of her poems at Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993, at his request.

from - http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Maya_Angelou Edited February 16, 2005 by Tryptonique

[JMeganSnow]

What did anybody else think of the book? Did anybody see a point in writing it? She writes with so many metaphors and similies, yet I have yet to find one that actually was symbolic of anything. If I am horrible wrong, please let me know.

I haven't read it, but I really do think you're more than capable of deciding what you think of it for yourself. Do you need to write some kind of report and want help sorting through it?

[realitycheck44]

Yeah, I've got an essay test tomorrow.

I know I am capable of deciding whether or not I liked it, but I am also interested in what others think. My teacher absolutely loves it and she is not an especially bad teacher. I thought I might get the opinions of others. Considering how boring I thought it was, I may have missed some symbolism that someone else might have enjoyed. When I read for school, I do not put in nearly as much care as when I read something for fun.