I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Masterplots II: African American Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Maya Angelou
- First Published: 1970
- Type of Work: Autobiography
- Time of Work: 1931–1945
- Setting: Stamps, Arkansas; St. Louis; San Francisco
- Principal Characters: Marguerite Johnson, Bailey Johnson, Jr., Annie Henderson, William Johnson, Bailey Johnson, Sr., Vivian Baxter Johnson, Mr. Freeman, Bertha Flowers
- Genres: Nonfiction, Autobiography
- Subjects: African Americans, Maturation or coming of age, Family or family life, Memory, Adolescence, Murder or homicide, South or Southerners, 1940’s, Prejudices or antipathies, Manners or customs, Social life, 1930’s, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Violence, Small-town life, Youth
- Locales: St. Louis, MO, Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA, Stamps, AR
Form and Content
In this first of five volumes of autobiography, Maya Angelou tells the story of her life from age three, when her divorcing parents sent her and her brother to live with their maternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas, to age sixteen, when, reunited with her mother in San Francisco, she gave birth to her son. Thus her story begins with semi-orphanhood and ends with motherhood. Interpreting her quest for freedom and self-affirmation as representative of that of many African Americans and American women—especially black American women—she presents incidents...
[The entire page is 3446 words long]
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