What literary devices are used in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?

In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou uses a number of literary devices, including metaphor, simile, symbolism, vivid imagery, and allusions. Let's look at examples of each.

Metaphors are common in this autobiography. Look, for instance, at this quotation: “She had the grace of control to appear warm in the coldest weather, and on the Arkansas summer days it seemed she had a private breeze which swirled around her, cooling her.” This lovely, vivid language uses the idea of warmth and cool to tell us something about Mrs. Bertha Flowers's character.

We also find similes in this book. We read, for instance, that Bailey “smelled like a vinegar barrel or a sour angel.” We can certainly get a strong sense of Bailey's scent.

Symbolism abounds in this story as well. Momma's store, for instance, represents loyalty and hard work and the strength of a community that supports its members. The bird in the title is a symbol for the author herself, as she learns to “sing,” to express herself, in all circumstances.

There is a great deal of vivid imagery in this work, too. We hear, for example, that “the lamplight in the Store gave a soft make-believe feeling to our world which made me want to whisper and walk about on tiptoe.”

Finally, we get quite a few allusions in the story, especially biblical allusions. The author says, for instance, that her brother “was her Kingdom Come.” He was the center of her life.

What are some key points about the writing style of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?

Probably two key elements about the style stand out for me. First, the honesty. Angelou discusses painful things directly, and manages to capture a range of dialects and tones in her work. (Look at the exchange when she approaches a man for sex late in the book-how she speaks, and then how he speaks.)

Second, and more to the point for style, she manages to capture and evoke beauty through her images and metaphors, finding and making joy even in descriptions of poverty and pain.

What is the writing style of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"?

This book is written in the style of an autobiography.  It is in the first person point of view and tells the story of her life in chronological order.  However, ever the poet, Angelou uses many stylistic devices to enhance the retelling of her life. 

She uses regional dialect in portraying character - Naw, Helen, you ain't standing like her. This here's it.

She uses biblical allusions - My pretty Black brother was my Kingdom Come.

She uses literary allusions - During these years in Stamps, I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare. He was my first white love.

She uses alliteration - I mastered the art of crocheting and tatting, and there was a lifetime's supply of dainty doilies that would never be used in sacheted dresser drawers.

She uses personification - Just my breath, carrying my words out, might poison people and they'd curl up and die like the black fat slugs that only pretended. I had to stop talking.

What is the writing style of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"?

Angelou employs many different elements of style in this novel, including dialect, allusion, symbol, hyperbole (exaggeration), similes and metaphors, etc.  Angelou uses a variety of literary devices to put the reader into the novel with the narrator.  In order to do so then, it requires that she utilize many different literary devices (because there are many different types of readers).  One of the main devices she uses is dialect in order to let the reader understand how people spoke during the time period and in this particular region.