Sarah Long
Mrs. Carson
AP Literature
4 March 2017
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Essay Authors use many different techniques and elements of literature to improve their work. Literary devices are an example of one of these elements, and these devices help convey a more profound message. Symbolism is a literary device that gives something simple a deeper, more significant meaning than its literal sense. Maya Angelou uses symbols of her mother’s store, Joe Louis, and food to give further meaning in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The first symbol is Maya’s mother’s store. Momma’s store represents her strength and success. She is the only store owner in Stamps, and it is even more impressive and rare during this time that she is a black woman owning her own business. The store is also a safe place for fellow blacks, and many gather here to hangout. That being said, Momma is typically financially stable due to steady business. Earning enough money from the store, she is able to give a loan to Dr. Lincoln a white dentist. When Momma later goes to him to ask for help with Maya’s cavities he rudely remarks, “Annie, my policy is I’d rather stick my …show more content…
In I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings he is portrayed and viewed as a representation of all the blacks as a whole. Many members of the community cram in Momma’s store to listen to a fight on the radio that is between a white man and Louis. Joe being shown as the embodiment of African Americans around the United States is clear in the quote, “It was our people falling. It was another lynching, yet another Black man hanging on a tree,” (Angelou 224) as he begins to lose the fight. When he does win the people listening are overjoyed, stating, “Joe Louis proved that Black people were the strongest people in the world,” (Angelou 227). He brings black pride and hope among his
Mrs. Carson
AP Literature
4 March 2017
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Essay Authors use many different techniques and elements of literature to improve their work. Literary devices are an example of one of these elements, and these devices help convey a more profound message. Symbolism is a literary device that gives something simple a deeper, more significant meaning than its literal sense. Maya Angelou uses symbols of her mother’s store, Joe Louis, and food to give further meaning in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The first symbol is Maya’s mother’s store. Momma’s store represents her strength and success. She is the only store owner in Stamps, and it is even more impressive and rare during this time that she is a black woman owning her own business. The store is also a safe place for fellow blacks, and many gather here to hangout. That being said, Momma is typically financially stable due to steady business. Earning enough money from the store, she is able to give a loan to Dr. Lincoln a white dentist. When Momma later goes to him to ask for help with Maya’s cavities he rudely remarks, “Annie, my policy is I’d rather stick my …show more content…
In I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings he is portrayed and viewed as a representation of all the blacks as a whole. Many members of the community cram in Momma’s store to listen to a fight on the radio that is between a white man and Louis. Joe being shown as the embodiment of African Americans around the United States is clear in the quote, “It was our people falling. It was another lynching, yet another Black man hanging on a tree,” (Angelou 224) as he begins to lose the fight. When he does win the people listening are overjoyed, stating, “Joe Louis proved that Black people were the strongest people in the world,” (Angelou 227). He brings black pride and hope among his