I appreciate how you addressed the importance of music thematically in this poem. It is true that the author most likely sees music as a way of escape, especially since slaves used song in this way as well, but it can also be taken as something more symbolic. The caged bird is unable to be free, yet it still communicates in the same way as all of the wild birds. It's "song is still heard" even though it is barred by a cage. Continuing with this mindset, this actually connects the poem more closely with Walker's style of writing, not only because she comes from a background of discrimination, but also because she fearlessly wrote about taboo subjects. The was a great point you brought up in your presentation because her willingness to put it all out there affected her writing greatly. This sense of fearlessness can also be connected to the caged bird's song in the poem. They both are oppressed beings that dont hold back their gift of voice.
HI SAIE! Though this is a poem I, and I’m sure many others, are familiar with, your analysis shed new light on the deeper meaning behind the poem that I’d never seen before. I found myself extremely interested in the second point you made in your poetry analysis, in which you asserted that the caged bird, though it does not have the freedom and flight that the bird on the outside has, still sings; the bird on the outside does not. The analogy between the free and caged bird and the white and black man is quite clear, and yet, the voice of the black man was suppressed during Angelou’s time. Because the black man was suppressed in such a way, he expressed his voice through alternative mediums: poetry, literature, and of course, music. I think that’s a very strong analysis of this poem, but I feel as though Angelou takes an almost satirical approach to the caged bird singing in this poem. The title in and of itself, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, can be answered with the idea that the caged bird is unable to let the world know if its presence through any other way. However, can a caged bird’s song, however melodic it may be, compare to the flight of a bird? Can the literature of African-Americans, however beautiful it may be, compare to the worth of natural human rights that were denied to the African-American people? I believe Angelou was contrasting the caged bird and the flying bird through imagery to show how insignificant the song of the caged bird is in comparison to the flight of the free bird, and that, no matter how lovely the caged bird may cry, it cannot compare to the beauty of a bird flying free.
I appreciate how you addressed the importance of music thematically in this poem. It is true that the author most likely sees music as a way of escape, especially since slaves used song in this way as well, but it can also be taken as something more symbolic. The caged bird is unable to be free, yet it still communicates in the same way as all of the wild birds. It's "song is still heard" even though it is barred by a cage.
ReplyDeleteContinuing with this mindset, this actually connects the poem more closely with Walker's style of writing, not only because she comes from a background of discrimination, but also because she fearlessly wrote about taboo subjects. The was a great point you brought up in your presentation because her willingness to put it all out there affected her writing greatly. This sense of fearlessness can also be connected to the caged bird's song in the poem. They both are oppressed beings that dont hold back their gift of voice.
HI SAIE! Though this is a poem I, and I’m sure many others, are familiar with, your analysis shed new light on the deeper meaning behind the poem that I’d never seen before. I found myself extremely interested in the second point you made in your poetry analysis, in which you asserted that the caged bird, though it does not have the freedom and flight that the bird on the outside has, still sings; the bird on the outside does not. The analogy between the free and caged bird and the white and black man is quite clear, and yet, the voice of the black man was suppressed during Angelou’s time. Because the black man was suppressed in such a way, he expressed his voice through alternative mediums: poetry, literature, and of course, music.
ReplyDeleteI think that’s a very strong analysis of this poem, but I feel as though Angelou takes an almost satirical approach to the caged bird singing in this poem. The title in and of itself, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, can be answered with the idea that the caged bird is unable to let the world know if its presence through any other way. However, can a caged bird’s song, however melodic it may be, compare to the flight of a bird? Can the literature of African-Americans, however beautiful it may be, compare to the worth of natural human rights that were denied to the African-American people? I believe Angelou was contrasting the caged bird and the flying bird through imagery to show how insignificant the song of the caged bird is in comparison to the flight of the free bird, and that, no matter how lovely the caged bird may cry, it cannot compare to the beauty of a bird flying free.