Rhetorical Analysis Of 'I Know Why The Caged Bird Cannot Sing'

Maya Angelou once said, “We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.” She, along with Susan B. Anthony, definitely lived by this as they tried to achieve their dreams and aspirations. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an informing story written with figurative language about how the main character finds her voice to speak. “After Being Convicted of Voting in the 1872 Presidential Election” is an informational speech written with technical language about how the speaker finds her voice to gain equality. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and “After Being Convicted of Voting in the 1872 Presidential Election” have similar author’s purposes and central ideas, but how the supporting details are presented differentiate the two.

The text I know why the caged bird cannot read Francine Prose describes the reasons why high school students seem to dislike reading. She supports her idea with saying the problem starts with teaching moral values through literature, instead of teaching the value of literature itself. She also blames the education system that enforces these books to be placed in the curriculum. These books only focus on a reoccurring problem like racism religion or gender identity. And the curriculum works around that to teach the student right from wrong and moral values. Which puts the student on a path of hatred to literature.

The school board is not quite certain that schools should continue to include fiction in the curriculum. However, if fiction is taught to students it may actually teach life lessons. Fictional literature can change someone's perspective on, what problems we may come across. For instance, a fictional book can help us relate to all the controversial problems that do occur in today's society. I disagree with the school board's thoughts about completely banning it. This type of literature can deepen our knowledge and teach us about things that we don’t experience on a day to day basis.

African Americans living in the south face a lot of hate and prejudice. The civil rights movement improved the lives of many blacks. Maya Angelou in her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, uncovers the racism that blacks face and how Maya begins to think she is less equal that whites.

In “I Know Why The Caged Bird Cannot Read” by Francine Prose, the author tries to prompt the audience that the level of literature in schools needs to change. The piece highlights on how school literature should have more value and diversity than it currently does. Prose explores her point by comparing the reading lists from various cities around the United States and chastises the similarities of choices of literature for young adults. Using rhetorical questions, Prose calls for a change for literature to be chosen by value and lessons instead of popularity.

Sending kids to school knowing that they are going for educational purposes and then restricting them on what they can and cannot learn is hypocritical. Schools should be allowed to keep Fahrenheit 451 in their curriculum. Controversial issues are brought up everyday in and out of school and issues, like profanity, included in a book gives the story emotion and sets the tone. Timothy Jay, a psychologist and linguist, argues,

Often, the things people consider to be valuable have the ability to influence them. For instance, one who values their family is likely to base important life decisions on the impact they would have on his or her relatives. People who value money are known to engage in risky behaviors, such as gambling, in hopes of making a profit. The books we read can have this same power. Books that have value, or merit, are not only able to entertain but also leave the reader thinking about the issues the book discusses long after they've set it down. These pieces of literature leave a lasting impression on their audience for both their artistic storytelling and the impacting message they leave behind. Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Poisonwood Bible displays

The memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiography written by Maya Angelou as she grew up in the mid-20th century, where being a black girl and facing racial issues in society, had to overcome many problems that show the larger issue of the time period. I chose this book over the other nineteen memoirs because of the strong recommendations I received from my fellow class mates, and because of my interest in racial issues during the terrible times of segregation. Life was not fair, and Maya Angelou had to face a lot during the 30’s and 40’s in order to try to live a normal lifestyle and become a confident person. Maya shares her story with us to increase our knowledge of racism, prejudice, unequal treatment of women, and sexual

Shouldn't fiction be part of students’ curriculum in their academics? School board across the states no longer has a place for fiction in school curriculum. From the beginning of time, many of native storytellers carry morals through generations of passing down customs, history and heritage. Such as Always Running by Luis Rodriguez, there are morals into which one retell and learns from mistakes. It is important today in which storytelling had been around from cave paintings, movies to novels. Without history, without the storytelling, mankind would not learn from their mistakes, never dream of heroes like Alfred Einstein and would not acknowledge anything of the past. Mankind would bewildered of the past, then eventually will be hopeless in

“The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live, ” explained the narrator in the book Atlas Shrugged (Rand, Atlas Shrugged). Reading helps one live a fuller, more enjoyable life. When one is taught of morality and empathy through the means of reading, they are on the path to that way of living. The fundamental empathy that connects all humans is refined and expanded upon by reading, as it exposes the readers to knowledge and morality applied in times of struggle. Books can demonstrate morals coming through in often extreme or emotionally loaded situations.

Books have always been taught to students for many reasons. The main reason is that it is part of the teaching curriculum. Although students feel like they should not read books that are given to them, some are more important than they think. One book for example, is the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. This book has taught students many things that has happened back in the 1930’s and some still happen in the present day.

Today’s high schoolers need to be taught of topics like discrimination, racism, cruelty, and America’s past. The knowledge of these topics is a crucial thing to learn in life and very beneficial. It allows someone to understand why we as a society are the way we are, the proper things to do when facing these issues, and to not be prejudiced. Many writers attempt to capture these themes in their writing, but many fail to achieve it in an impactful way. One author has managed to capture these themes through the childhood and loss of innocence of the some of the protagonist of the story.

Throughout her life, Marguerite experiences many different situations and people that all contribute to the way she grows up and the person she becomes. Despite some of her tragic circumstances, she learns a lot growing up, mainly because of the African-American women in her life who teach her all different life lessons. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Marguerite gets to absorb teachings from her mother (Vivian), Mrs. Bertha Flowers, and her grandmother (Momma). These women allow Marguerite to learn and grow as an African-American female, all while paving her own way.

Innocence is strange. You're birthed with it and it shines brightly in the eyes of newborn babies. It embraces you, shields you from the harms and dangers of the world. Slowly, however, it withers away over the years like a tender rose until you’re left with the rawness of reality. This withering away is inevitable, but every person experiences their loss of innocence differently. In Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, the protagonist, Maya, experiences a wide array of discriminatory and tragic events throughout her childhood that cause her to gradually lose her innocence. On the other hand, in Elie Wiesel’s Night, Eliezer loses his innocence all at once after dealing with the hardships of the Holocaust. While Angelou utilizes a

Some people do not realize that they affect the education of their children by banning certain books. The banning of books is banning the author's right to free speech which can hinder the education of Americans. In schools teachers have to worry about what readings they present to their students because they could have any parent coming after them for exposing their children to “heinous” or “bad” things when all it truly is, is literature used to broaden