# data[].attributes.headline
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Characters:

# data[].attributes.subject
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Characters:

# data[].attributes.body
Mrs. Flowers

Brother (Bailey)

Narrator (Marguerite)

Moma (Grandma)

Mrs. Flowers is the most important character and influences the plot because she ends up persuading Marguerite to speak aloud. She also teaches Marguerite important lessons such as a formal education doesn't equal knowledge and speaking is just as powerful as writing.

# data[].attributes.body
1930's

Mrs Flowers' house

significance?

The setting is important to the story because racism was very normalized and African Americans didn't have the opportunity to obtain proper education therefore they were of a lower class.

# data[].attributes.body
The noteworthy feature of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is dialogue because Maya Angelou only has one line in the entire personal narrative. Dialogue symbolizes her respect for herself because when she speaks out loud, she realizes that she's her own person.

# data[].attributes.body
"I was respected not as Mrs. Henderson's grandchild or Bailey's sister but just for being Marguerite Johnson." This shows that the narrator identifies herself and feels pride for what she's accomplished.

# data[].attributes.body
The main message that Mrs. Flowers teaches her that literacy is important. Mrs. Flowers says "I must be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy." (Angelou, 245) Maya realizes the power of her words can be put to change her life, and how education and literacy will be important.

# data[].attributes.body
Sayeed

Mom

The mother is the most significant character. She reminds Sayeed that she loves him no matter his sexuality. He thought that coming out would make things uncomfortable between them and push her away, but his interaction with her proved otherwise. He is reminded that his mother's love for him is unconditional.

# data[].attributes.headline
reflection.. how we fight for our lives 

# data[].attributes.subject
reflection.. how we fight for our lives 

# data[].attributes.body
"'I love you Saeed,' she said. 'And honestly, you sound happy. If you're happy, I'm happy.'" (Jones, 97)

He is reminded of his mother's unconditional love for him.

"because my being gay was never actually the burden" (Jones 98)

After the nervousness of coming out fades away, he realizes that being gay was never supposed to be a burden.

# data[].attributes.body
The tone of the story is reflective because Angelou is looking back at her life and overcoming the trauma it caused her. She claims that she "hung back in the separate unasked and unanswerable questions" (Angelou, 243), but learns to overcome her fears and learns to live normally.

# data[].attributes.body
Spring 2005

College Campus

The setting is important to the story because Saeed is not with his mother because he's away at college. This makes it harder for them to communicate with one another, so they have to call on the phone.

# data[].attributes.headline
Noteworthy feature for How We Fight For Our Lives

# data[].attributes.subject
Noteworthy feature for How We Fight For Our Lives

# data[].attributes.body
The noteworthy feature in How We Fight For Our Lives is figurative language because the author shows a lot of emotion through this. My example is "her words seemed to hang in the air." This shows his feelings because he was relieved and happy when his mom said this.

# data[].attributes.body
relieved but also hollow,

"I was happy, but the moment didn't feel like I thought it would. It wasn't final. It dissipated just as the dusk did, just as the fireflies fled." (Jones 97)

# data[].attributes.headline
Main Message (How We Fight for Our Lives) 

# data[].attributes.subject
Main Message (How We Fight for Our Lives) 

# data[].attributes.body
The Main Message in the Story 'How We Fight for Our Lives' is to be true to yourself. In the text, Saeed acts differently in front of his mother for fear of being judged. "I had come out to my mother as a gay man, but within minutes, I realized I had not come out to her as myself." Saeed is basically realizing that even though he revealed a part of him mother, there was still so much he was she didn't know because of the front he put up for so long.

# data[].attributes.body
Amy

mom

Grandmother

grandmother's husband

amy's dad

most significant: mother

At first Over time Amy grows closer with her mom even though her mom critisizes her for her looks. "Time and age had allowed us to come closer" (Tan 10)

# data[].attributes.body
1960s

Oakland, California

The Setting for Pretty Beyond Belief develops the plot because Amy Tan is growing up in America as a Chinese girl. This causes her to not understand what beauty is for someone that is from China. The only Chinese "role model" she has is her mother, who is an incredibly beautiful woman. Tan grows up thinking she's not beautiful because of her mom and having no Chinese idols in America.

# data[].attributes.body
The main message in Pretty Beyond Belief is that being beautiful isn't always all it's made out to be. The narrator's grandmother was also extremely pretty, she was taken advantage of by a man only because she was beautiful. This ended up with her killing herself. That's why the theme is being beautiful isn't always what it's made out to be.

# data[].attributes.body
The main tone of the 'Pretty Beyond Belief' is jealous. This is because the narrator is envious of the beauty that she doesn't have. "Why do I wish to be so vain? Why do I long to look like my mother?" (Tan, 11) Even after spiteful towards her mother for many years, she still longed to look like her.

# data[].attributes.body
"Why do I long to look like my mother?" (Tan 11)

When she was 12 she was hurt and upset about her mother calling her "average" but in her flashbacks she tells us how her mother explains to her how being pretty can be a curse too. Her mother is her biggest role model, she wanted to be like her and look like her.

# data[].attributes.headline
Noteworthy Feature (Pretty Beyond Belief) 

# data[].attributes.subject
Noteworthy Feature (Pretty Beyond Belief) 

# data[].attributes.body
Dialogue in the story is very significant because it tells us why "Pretty can be bad luck, not just good" (Tan, 4). This gives us background about the narrator's mother and the main reason behind her jealousy.

# data[].attributes.body
Narrator

Aunt Zelda

Friend in Japan

Pilot

The narrator is the most important character because she's influenced by the Japanese culture and beings to realize that not knowing is not embarassing, but it is important to want to learn.

# data[].attributes.body
The tone for Going to Japan is embarrassing and grateful. She feels embarrassing because she was constantly saying "Moshi wake gozaimasen" because she is embarrassed of her self. At the end of the story she says "You have no idea how thoroughly I forgive you," which shows her gratefulness.

# data[].attributes.body
The noteworthy feature for Going to Japan is dialogue because the narrator is constantly saying the same phrase over and over again. She's always apologizing for being "an annoying American" and messing up. This dialogue influences her at the end when she shows her appreciation for the pilot, instead of getting angry.

# data[].attributes.body
She realizes that her being a foreigner isn't as embarassing as she thinks it is. "What a rich wisdom it would be, and how much more bountiiful a harvest, to gain pleasure not from achieving personal perfection but from understanding the inevitability of imperfection and pardoning those who fall short of it." (Kingsolve 779)

# data[].attributes.body
Japan

Airport

Ground Zero

The setting in 'Going to Japan' is important because it helps develop the theme. When she visited Ground Zero in Hiroshima, she realizes that "In the course of understanding, we have so much to learn" (Kingsolver, 779). Because she was in such a new setting, she made many mistakes. However, it also helped her understand the importance of forgiveness.