Comparing Sympathy And I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Decent Essays
The similarities between the poems “Sympathy” and “I know why the caged bird sings” are that they both contain a form of slavery and that both characters want to be free although there seems to be no way of escaping they have not lost hope. The main character in the poem entrusts their freedom to god by praying and is asking for freedom. The caged bird sings of a better life but the song is not a tune that is joyful, instead it is depressing and it is sung loudly so that many people can hear it.

How I think that the poem called “Sympathy” inspired the writer of the poem “I know why the caged bird sings” is because Sympathy was written in the 1800s about the slavery of african americans and it was made to summarize what was happening during

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    I like to think that they are similar in their descriptions of human emotion and tendencies. When I think about these two poems, I think about the fact that there are people out there who are in large amounts of monetary debt. They are living pay check to pay check, paying the minimum amount due for everything, living truly above their means and not saving for the future. They do this simply to “keep up with the Joneses” they are your friends and neighbors and they act like “life is good.” But sadly on the inside they are like Dunbar states “we smile, but, O great Christ, our cries, to thee from tortured souls arise.”…

    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Raven Reader Response The distinction between imagination and real life in literature is sometimes hard to identify. The authors of these types of works make imagination seem so realistic that the audience begins to believe the character's imagination. In the poem, The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe, an imaginary bird, or perceived to be an imaginary bird, flies into the narrator's home late in the night signaling to him that death was on its way. The bird in this poem may seem real but there are many signs that it is not.…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The United States of America was a nation built upon the notion of freedom and equal opportunity- in which all peoples have impartial opportunities and rights. However, these principles did not always have their right of way. From the first ship of enslaved African Americans to arrive in the early seventeenth century to modern times, discrimination and racial segregation has always been an issue. In both “Sympathy”-- a poem about a caged bird’s fight for freedom after being liberated from slavery-- by Paul Laurence Dunbar and A Voice That Challenged a Nation --a biography which spoke about Marian’s struggle for equal rights after she had experienced the harshness of the South --by Russell Freedman, the two parties faced the challenges of…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Borgwardt, Elizabeth. " FDR 's Four Freedoms As A Human Rights Instrument. " OAH Magazine Of History 22.2 (2008): 8.Advanced Placement Source. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.…

    • 1198 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Paul Laurence Dunbar and Langston Hughes both speak very strongly and courageously about their feelings towards this topic. They spoke out against slavery and racism throughout America. In "Sympathy" by Laurence Dunbar she talks about how the victims felt trapped and how they aren't being treated the same and feel like complete outcasts. They have no where to go and are continuously beaten with hopes there will be signs of freedom and a brighter tomorrow. They dream one day to be set free from their bondage.…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Two Narrative Poems that can easily be compared are “The Listeners” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee”. In the Narrative Poem The Listeners, The Traveler, despite his fears and worries about the abandoned house that he made a promise to visit, kept his word instead of being scared away. In the poem The Cremation of Sam McGee the “captain” of Sam McGee’s expedition to mine for gold promises Sam that if he is to die then he will cremate him. Sam McGee being from Tennessee is afraid of the cold adds humor for the reason that he wished to be cremated to avoid an “icy grave”.…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The poem “Sympathy” by Paul Dunbar is a short and interesting poem about a bird trapped in a cage yearning to get out and enjoy being free as birds should be. In this poem tackles many different themes for example freedom, Man v.s. Nature, slavery/oppression, and suffering. I will be comparing and contrasting “Sympathy” by Dunbar to “The Windhover” written by Gerald Hopskin. Although the poem have different themes the two poems are just as similair as they are different; they both share a intense study of the animal in their current surrounding. “The Windhover” discusses themes of awe, strength, again Man v.s. Nature,and etc.…

    • 1433 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, two children, Jem and Scout Finch have amazing adventures and experiences together. The story is based on the opinion of a 6 year old girl living in small town Maycomb, Alabama. The Finch Family shows extraordinary qualities that no other family could show which sparked Atticus saying, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What Have I Done? In “Sonnet 19” by John Milton, and “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, both of the main characters experience crippling depression. While Milton’s speaker is losing his vision, Lady Macbeth is coming to grips with the murders she has orchestrated. Common sense seems to dictate that both characters mental illness is the result of physical troubles.…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Back in the 1800s and 1900s, the African Americans were considered a lower class race, and treated as such. Many of these people, as well as others who found this unfair, fought for the equal rights to freedom and success for the African Americans. Peaceful protesting was a huge way that people thought would help achieve the equality that was being fought for. One way that people fought peacefully was in writing, commonly poetry, and the poetic devices the authors used. The two poems "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar and "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou show similarities in their themes of African American struggles to success during this time period which is shown through the symbols, imagery, and how the titles defy the readers expectations of the poem.…

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The paper deals with the comparison and contrast between the two novels; Beloved by written Toni Morrison and I know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Both the writers were black females and very aptly describe the lives of the blacks in their respective novels. Introduction: Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison were two influential women in the literary world, especially in the black community. These ladies discussed about the miseries of black community in their own unique style.…

    • 1243 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    le The meaning behind ‘To a Nightingale’ can be interpreted in many ways. One interpretation sees Smith herself as the Nightingale being caged inside a ‘disastrous love’ that was her arranged marriage. Smith demonstrates a range of techniques to express her feelings and emotions of sorrow through her text ‘To a Nightingale’. This paper will focus on these techniques which are found in both in the structure and content which are demonstrated through different sound devices and is developed by the techniques of sibilance alliteration and the use of stressed and unstressed terms.…

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Social Class Essay I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings by Maya Angelou depicts the life of a little girl growing up in the South during the 1930s. Maya talks about a few different social classes. Some blacks feel like they are trapped by a white society in this world. She discusses how white supremacy takes a part in life.…

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Edward Rybak Professor Bessenbacher English M01B 15 April 2015 The Dichotomy of Death In “The Raven,” by Edger Allen Poe, the speaker is driven to madness as a result of essentially lamenting over the death of his beloved Lenore. This theme of meditating on death also runs through out John Keats “Ode to a Nightingale.” Although the central theme of these two poems is in essence based upon the same subject, the perspectives taken by the two authors are so immensely different that they demand an entirely different reaction from the reader.…

    • 1694 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The civil rights movement was a time in history that made an impact on the people of America. It was an era when society was trying to make the segregation between black and whites , disappear. Maya Angelou grew up during this time period and went through the stress of having people discriminate on her because of her skin color. The civil rights movement made a personal influence on Maya Angelou’s poetry, as revealed in her poems , “ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, and ,” Still I Rise”. Growing up during the 1930’s was difficult for Maya Angelou because it was a time of discrimination and separation.…

    • 1114 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays