I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Chapter 27: Questions and Answers
by Maya Angelou

Study Questions
1. Where did Marguerite reside in San Francisco?

2. Which population dwindled in number in San Francisco?

3. Who took over the Japanese shops?

4. Which area became San Francisco’s Harlem?

5. Who recruited the Black newcomers?

6. In what city did Marguerite first feel a sense of belonging?

7. Where had the blacks experienced concentration camp living?

8. To what creature did Marguerite compare San Francisco?

9. Why did the white matron refuse to sit by the civilian on the streetcar?

10. What did the civilian ask the white matron’s son to find for him in Iwo Jima?

Answers
1. Marguerite resided in “San Francisco’s Fillmore district, or the Western addition. . . . ”

2. Marguerite says that the “ . . . Asian population dwindled before my eyes. . . . ” Many of the Japanese left for what amounted to enforced internment in camps much like concentration camps.

3. Marguerite stated that “enterprising Negro businessmen” took over the businesses.

4. The Japanese area became San Francisco’s Harlem.

5. The war-plant labor scouts recruited the Black newcomers.

6. Marguerite first felt a sense of belonging in the city of San Francisco.

7. Blacks had experienced concentration-camp living in sharecroppers’ cabins.

8. Marguerite compared San Francisco to a woman.

9. The white matron refused to sit by the civilian because he was a Negro and a draft dodger.

10. The civilian asked the matron’s son to find his arm for him in Iwo Jima.