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Hailey Rodis and Elizabeth Fornaro
Period 3

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Angelou, Maya. "Caged Bird." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, Web. 05 Apr. 2014

"Context." I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.
"Maya Angelou." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 04  Apr. 2017.  Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

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Through all the bright hours
I cling to expectation, until
darkness comes to reclaim me
as its own. Hope fades, day is gone
into its irredeemable place
and I am thrown back into the familiar
bonds of disconsolation.
Gloom crawls aroung
lapping lasciviously
between my toes, at my ankles,
and it sucks the strands of my
hair. It forgive my heady
fling with Hope. I am
joined again into its
greedy arms.

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Theme, Structure, Meaning, and Historical Content

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Theme, Structure, Meaning, and Historical Content

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The theme in A Plagued Journey  is hope and even when you feel like losing hope and it feels like the only option, you shouldn't ever give up on it. The speaker is closer with gloom, sadness, depression etc, then with hope. Because hope is a more positive aspect on things, she begins to question it and not trust it. A Plagued Journey is about being forced to have hope as the sun rises, but always having a battle to go back to the gloom and "bonds of disconsolation" with the darkness. "Angelou continued working with the Civil Rights Movement and helped fundraise of MLK Jr. Unfortunately, the young artist found herself devastated once again, when King was murdered on her birthday in 1968. It was during this time that novelist James Baldwin encouraged Angelou to write"(context). Maya wanted to stop writing and give up and lose hope because her childhood wasn't the best and after everything "recent" that had happened to her, she wanted to give up. However a friend helped her regain hope and helped her get through it and keep doing the ting she loved, writing. When times are rough whether it's a big or little problem, there is always some hope and everyone has a little bit of hope deep down.

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Literary Terms used in "A Plagued Journey"

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Literary Terms used in "A Plagued Journey"

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1. Alliteration - the repetition of initial consonant sounds of several words in a group. It is often used in poetry to emphasize and to link words as well as to create pleasing, musical sounds. "apping lasciviously" and "sucks on the strands..." (Angelou, 37-38). Angelou uses these two literary devices to emphasize the words and their meanings.
2. Imagery - the descriptive language used in literature to recreate sensory experiences relating to sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell. "Happy prints of an invisible time are illumined. My mouth agape rejects the solid air and lungs hold. The invader takes directions and seeps through the plaster walls. It is at my chamber, entering the keyhole, pushing through the padding of the door" (Angelou, 7-16) The way this quote showcases imagery is that it allows the readers to feel as if they can see what is actually happening inside the poem and give a little more depth and feeling into what she is explaining.
3. Metaphor - a comparison between two unlike things without using "like" or "as". "I cannot scream" (Angelou, 16) This is a metaphor about silent despair. She wants to get away or even say something but cant
4. Personification - is when a nonhuman object is given human characteristics. "Through all the bright hours I cling to expectations, until darkness comes to reclaim me as its own" (Angelou, 30-31). This quote shows personification because "darkness" is not a person or living thing but she uses personification to show the reader how  the speaker feels towards darkness.
5. Repetition - technique in which a sound, word, phrase, or line is repeated for emphasis or unity. "Hope fades..." (line 32). These words, especially "hope" are repeated many many times throughout the poem. And to give a little more emphasis, "hope" is capitalized every time it is written.
6. Symbol - a person, place, object or activity that stands for something beyond itself. "I cling to expectation, until
darkness comes to reclaim me as its own." (Angelou, 32). This quote shows a little bit of a symbol, because "darkness" could mean more than just darkness. It could mean a certain problem, or an event that is creating "darkness" in your world.

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Theme, Structure, Meaning, and Historical Context

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Theme, Structure, Meaning, and Historical Context

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The theme of Caged Bird is that if you have a problem with something, it won't change if you don't talk about it. Even if you think no one will listen to you, you need to speak your mind because someone will hear you and they will do something about it. While she describes a bird trapped in a cage, she is really discussing how when people are stuck in situations they don't want to be in, they need to talk about their thoughts and feelings. She discusses how important it is to speak out however, "around the age of seven years old she was raped by her mother's boyfriend, deciding to tell her brother,.... their uncle killed the man that raped her. Angelou felt responsible for his death, so she stopped talking," (Context). It is very interesting that she writes about a topic and gives advice when she herself did not follow this advice and was actually mute for five years. During the five years, she began to fall in love with language and soon learned the importance of speaking your mind. While the poem has no structure, it does flow very lyrically and rhymes in many places. The poem discusses the importance of speaking your mind no matter what for if you truly want to make a change, you must encourage others to do so by talking about it.

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1. Allegory- a literary work with two or more meanings; one literal meaning and one figurative meaning. "But a bird that stalks/ down his narrow cage/ can seldom see through/ his bars of rage," (Angelou, 8-11). The literal meaning is that a bird stuck in his cage will remain there if he doesn't draw attention to himself being trapped while the figurative meaning relates more to people. Considering she was a poet in the civil rights era, she was probably hinting that if someone doesn't speak their mind and complain, nothing will change, but if he were to speak out, not only would people hear him but they might actually listen.
2. Anaphora- the deliberate repetition of a word at the beginning of several successive verses/clauses. "his bars of rage/his wings are clipped and/his feet are tied," (Angelou, 11-13). Angelou repeats he at the beginning of the lines because she wants to point out that he can be mad but if he doesn't try to do anything about it or say anything, nothing will happen in return to make things better.
3. Free Verse- poetry which is not written in a traditional meter but it still rhythmical. "with a fearful trill/...but longed for still/...on the distant hill," (Angelou, 16-20).  There is not a set meter for the poem as sometimes it is every other line while at some point two lines in a row will rhyme. While there are different meters in the poem, it flows very naturally.
4. Imagery- the descriptive language used in literature to recreate sensory experiences relating to sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell. "and dips his wing/ in the orange sun rays/ and dares to claim the sky," (Angelou, 5-7). Angelou describes the bird as it flies and the sky around the bird, creating a vivid image in the readers' mind.
5. Refrain- a regularly repeated line or group of lines in a poem. "The caged bird sings/ with a fearful trill/ of things unknown/ but longed for still/ and his tune is heard/ on the distant hill/ for the caged bird/ sings of freedom," (Angelou, 15-22 and 31-38).  These lines seem like the chorus of a song because it is really about the poem and the fact that she repeats the lines at the end shows that they are the most important and she wants the reader to remember them.
6. Symbol- a person, place, object or activity that stands for something beyond itself. "A bird leaps/ on the back of wind/ and floats downstream," (Angelou, 1-3). In the poem, the bird is not actually a bird it stands for a person. She goes on to explain that when the bird is caged, it gets mad, just as when humans are captured they get mad.

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There is no warning rattle at the door

nor heavy feet to stomp the foyer boards.

Safe in the dark prison, I know that

light slides over

the fingered work of a toothless

woman in Pakistan.

Happy prints of

an invisible time are illumined.

My mouth agape

rejects the solid air and

lungs hold. The invader takes

direction and

seeps through the plaster walls.

It is at my chamber, entering

the keyhole, pushing

through the padding of the door.

I cannot scream. A bone

of fear clogs my throat.

It is upon me. It is

sunrise, with Hope

its arrogant rider.

My mind, formerly quiescent

in its snug encasement, is strained

to look upon their rapturous visages,

to let them enter even into me.

I am forced

outside myself to

mount the light and ride joined with Hope.

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But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

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A free bird leaps
in the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tired
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own

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Born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928, Maya Angelou became one of the world''s most famous writers and civil rights activist. Of her many works, she is most none for her memoir I Know What the Caged Bird Sings for which she published in 1969. She went on to recite poetry at the inauguration of former President Clinton and went on to win many awards throughout her lifetime. On May 28, 2014, the world lost a powerful inspiration in not just the writing community, but in every small town across the world.