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The most noteworthy feature of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" is the reflection paragraph at the end. The paragraph contains all of the narrator's thoughts about the event, but in the future, when she is able to reconsider all of the events with an adult mind. The paragraph presents the reader with new ways of interpreting Mrs.Flowers' actions that the young narrator might not have thought of and really provides new context for the narrator's childhood experiences.

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The setting of the story is in some town, far away from the city, and in the 1930-40s.

The setting developed the plot by making the events of the narrative more easily accepted by the audience. Without the context of the setting, a reader might not understand why white people are treating the narrator the way they are, and a reader may not understand why the narrator's mother is not literate. That is to say, the setting allows the reader to accept it when the story presents them with information that is not considered the "norm" today.

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The tone of the story is one of calm. Nothing dramatic or suspenseful happens in the story, nor are there many risks or dangers. The lack of drama, combined with Mrs. Flowers' aura of calmness and polite behavior which is emphasized by the narrator so much combines to create a tone of calmness and ease.

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A significant feature of the text is a form of flashback. Throughout the story she recalls how she came here by accident, and how she stopped searching for her father five years ago. It gives the chapter a sentiment of finality, as if she had finally came to odds with her identity, and where she's from and who her forefathers were. "This part of my identity, which I had doubted and struggled with for decades, was not only my right; it was my inheritance." (Ferrera 176)

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"I was the great-granddaughter of a general! A revolutionary! A man who went to battle for the betterment of his country and for the rights of his fellow citizens!" (Ferrera 176) This line is very indicative of the main message of the story. We see the gradual progression of how the author goes from a tone of disdain, and not caring, to something more akin to pride and excitement, because her ancestors fought for equality, something she believes in very deeply.

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The setting is in the grave site of her ancestral family in the Honduras. This is the important to the people to the plot because it is around her entire national identity. She didn't come here on purpose, it was just by accident because she was traveling with an empowerment group, and her Honduras security personnel happened to know her father and the person who took care of him when he was dying, so by coincidence, they met and were able to take her to her ancestral burial site. This entire story has an air of mystery. Is it coincidence, fate, or an accident. "Even though I did not come looking for my father, or his childhood, or his history.I do wonder to myself whether eh ever walked these same paths in these gorgeous mountains" (Ferrera 166).

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I believe that the quote, " Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning.". This quote shows both the importance of needing to look past the surface, while also helping Marguerite with school matters as a pretext. This allows Marguerite to become liked around the Store.

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-America Ferrera (Main)
-AF's Father (Deceased)
-the woman who nursed AF's father

The most significant character is Ferrera's father as he is the reason why Ferrera does what she is doing today. Ferrera admits that her "urge to fight for what is right"  was not "phony", instead it was "in fact rooted down in my bones" (Ferrera 176). Essentially, she is implying that her reason for action, why she is fighting for what is right and helping to improve the world was because of her father.

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The main message of the story is that those who truly love you, won't judge you no matter how bad your secrets can be. Throughout the book we see the main character worry about how he is going to come out to his mother, what is she going to think of him and what is she going to say. "When I tried to imagine the conversation I would need to have with her in order to come out, it was like watching a melodramatic silent film without the captions. I cried whenever I thought about it." (Jones 95). Here we see a direct quote from the narrator stating how worried the narrator is about coming out and how he is terrified of watch she does, but when he tells her, she doesn't judge him, and only asks although awkward, but well meaning questions about his protection. She also calls him and says she loves him. "I love you , Saeed, she said. A"And honestly, you sound happy. If you're happy, I'm happy" (Jones 97)

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The most utilized tone throughout this story is one anxiety and fear. We see the author fear how and what he is going to tell his mom to come out to her. "I talked myself in circles trying to find the perfect phrasing , before I realized there was no way around it." (Jones 96) He worries before, during and after. After she accepts him, he finally figures out the main problem was that he was keeping secrets. ""In retrospect, I think I didn't feel as if a burden had been lifted because my being gay was never actually the burden. There was still so much I hadn't told my mother, so much I knew that I would probably never tell her." (Jones 98)

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In this story there wasn't a lot of characters. Only 3 groups are spoken off. Saeed, his mom, and his speech friends, who are not named by name. Of these, the most important supporting character is the mom. In fact, the whole climax is caused because of here because the main character is trying to come out to her as gay. He also kept in touch with her and tried as hard as possible not to offend or embarrass her in any way as we see in the scene where he says he avoids saying anything about his studies that she wouldn't understand. "The further I went into my studies, the more sensitive I became to surpassing the extent of my mother's own college experience. I thought I risked embarrassing her by accidentally referring to an author or term she hadn't heard of, so I steered conversations away from my studies, except to say that I was doing well." (Jones 95). Because Jones tries not to talk about his studies, the talk inevitably turns to his dating life, from where the climax happens as he comes out to his mom as gay.

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The setting that is most important in this context is the college that Saeed attends. In this college he has "experiences" and comes out as gay, and meet his speech buddies who help and encourage him to come out to his mother. "I had started with a joke with a joke that my friend on the speech team had been saying about me. I'm not in the closet anymore, just like ... my clothes my clothes aren't in the closet." (Jones 96) It is probable that none of this would happen if Saeed had never ended up attending college.

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The main message of American Ferrera is while one may move to another country for a higher quality of life, they also lose their past and what connects them to their home country. The narrator of American Ferrera is glad that she moved to the United States and confirms that by saying "I am grateful for the life and rights I have as an American" (Ferrera 177), however, she also notes immigrating to the US wasn't all perfect as she states "The opportunities and the dreams [immigration] afforded, and for the first time understanding what it truly cost" (Ferrera 177). Essentially Ferrera states she is happy to have moved to the United States, however, she is saddened by the fact that she missed out on what could have happened if she lived her life in Honduras, her homeland.

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"I think I didn't feel as if a burden had been lifted because my being gay was never actually the burden. There was still so much I hadn't told my mother, so much I knew that I would probably never tell her." (Jones 97-98) The reason this is significant is because it occurs in the resolution of the plot, when the character relieves himself of his burden, and after self reflection finally figures out what his burden was even about in the first place.

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Within the story, we are able to tell that the main message of the story is to not look at things surface level, but to look deeper into anything, and only then are you allowed to judge it. The quote, " Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice ot infuse htem with the shades of deeper meaning." shows us how Mrs. Flowers wanted Marguerite to understand her lesson, while also helping her along through school.

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"When I tried to imagine the conversation I would need to have with her in order to come out, it was like watching a melodramatic silent film without the captions" (Jones 95). The author's use of a simile that is meant to show how desperate and scared of coming out he is, increases the mood set by the story's exposition and demonstrates the level of tension in the story and how terrified the narrator is of coming out to his mom. In fact, throughout the story the use of simile's occurs when something important to the climax is going to happen and is used to demonstrate how nervous the main character is before something important happens.

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The characters in the story are Mrs.Flowers, Marguerite, and her mother. The person who made the largest impact on Marguerite was Mrs. Flowers. We are able to see this through the life lessons that Mrs. Flowers tried to give her. The quote, " She said that I must always be intolerant of ignorance by understanding of illiteracy." This already breaks the notion she had about the conversation Mrs. Flowers and her mother had with each other. Furthermore, we are able to see how Mrs.Flowers encourages Marguerite to look past the surface and try to see the deeper meanings of things, seen through the quote, "words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning." It also shows that you need to use different methods in order to see things properly sometimes, not just by using a singular method.

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The pervading tone of American Ferrera is one of loss and remorse. The narrator constantly talks about loss, at first stating that she is "standing on [her] father's grave" (Ferrera 165), only to transition to talking about what "[Immigrating to the US] truly cost" (Ferrera 177). Because the narrator constantly mentions how she has lost something in some way throughout the entire story, a tone of loss and remorse is created.

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The story's central message is that beauty can be negative and positive. While beauty does come with the benefit of being beautiful and the ability to show off, it does attract unwanted attention. Tan's grandmother was a beautiful woman, however, her beauty attracted an evil man who "forced the widow to become his concubine, thus consigning her to a life of disgrace" (Tan 7), eventually, she "killed herself by swallowing raw opium" (Tan 7). This example shows how beauty can attract people who may take advantage of the person with the beauty which may lead to negative outcomes, which in this case, happens to be the beautiful person giving up on life.

*Citing paragraphs

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The most commonly used tone throughout the story is blunt, straight to the point, and without any sugar coating, The mother speaks her mind about the daughter, and iists quick to point out the flaws of how beauty can be bad, and describes her, and the grandmother's suffering because of their beauty.

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The characters in the story are the protagonist, her mother, and her grandmother We are able to see that the poson who had the greatest effect on the main character is her mother. We are able to see that through looking up to hermother, she had developed a great want to be able to look pretty. Due to this, even when her mother told her past experiences because of her appearances, she daughter brushed it offf and went on wanting for beauty, not really understanding the real impications and standards she would have to conform herself to.

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A noteworthy feature of the text is the flash forward at the end. The narrator goes from mourning her mother's death to sometime in the future long after her mother's death. In this semi-epilogue, she ponders many questions relating to beauty including "If beauty is bad luck, why do I still want it" (Tan 11). And "Why do I long to look like my mother" (Tan 11)? This flash-forward and accompanying dialogue clearly shows how she is affected by her mother's death and the lessons that her mother gave her in the long run by showing what she is thinking which lets the reader contrast and compare with what she thought previously in the story.

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The narrator learned that beauty is not the most important thing. At the end of the story, she notes that she isn't worried about not being beautiful anymore by stating "By then I didn't care that I would never meet my mother's standards of beauty. I had a boyfriend who loved me" (Tan 8). Clearly, these statements from the narrator show that she has stopped caring about being beautiful and that she has learned that it is not he most important thing as long as she has someone who loves her.

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The setting of the story is Oakland, California, sometime in the 1950-60s. This information is stated in the prologue.
Flashbacks and events recounted in the story take place in 1900s China.

The setting of the story helps to develop the plot by making the events that are recounted by Tan's Mother believable. In the story, Tan's mother describes how her own mother was taken by a "rich man" (Tan 7) and "forced to become his concubine" (Tan 7), unfortunately, her mother "killed herself by swallowing raw opium" (Tan 7). These series of events may seen absurd or unlikely, however, when put in to the context of 1920s China, it is something that can happen and it causes these events to be more believable because of the setting.