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Alondra

Maya Angelou describes injustice in her poem, ‘Caged Bird’, through the opposing experiences of the two birds, where the free bird experiences granted freedom and the caged bird suffers in restrictions. This is visible in line 1 of stanza 5: ‘But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams’. The oxymoronic phrase: ‘grave of dreams’, connotes the unattainability in the caged birds life, as his ‘dreams’ of attaining freedom are dying: as ‘grave’ symbolizes death and therefore unattainability. The concept of ‘dreams’ dying also symbolizes the American Dream being unaffordable by those who moved their families for a better life and conditions to the USA in the early 1900s. Angelou therefore conveys inequality through the free bird who is granted access to the outside world whereas the caged bird is restricted and cannot attain its potential to become free and leave its cage of imprisonment and explore the outside world. This may impact the reader through as feelings of empathy towards the caged bird’s conditions (opposing to the free bird) who does not have the same opportunities. The reader cannot help but describe feelings of pity and sentiment towards the caged bird who’s ‘dream’ is dying. The reader may also visualize the caged bird’s life before being taken into captivity. Additionally, this applies to the African Americans targeted in the Civil Rights Movement by having their human rights revoked -freedom- and experiencing injustice such as segregation. Similarly as to how the caged bird does not have the ability to achieve a positive circumstance.

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Louis

In the quotation “his wings are clipped and his feet are tied”, we are told that the bird is trapped in a cage, and can’t escape, can’t fly and is tied up. The limitation of the birds freedom is shown through the word “tied”. However the free bird has a choice and gets so decide when it wants to go out to fly this shown in the quotation “the free bird names thinks of another breeze”. This is a reference to the injustice way people of colour were treated during the civil rights movement they were segmented from others and did not have the right to make their own decisions, which the caged bird represents.

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Maya Angelou explores the theme of injustice by showing how people neglected African Americans during the Civil Rights movement through the extended metaphor of a bird.

This is shown through, “and his tune is heard/ on a distant hill/ for the caged bird/ sings of freedom.” The ‘tune’ conveys the caged bird’s passion about his freedom. In addition to that, it also shows that he perfected his message over time, making his message clear to those who hear it. Moreover, “a distant hill” shows the caged bird’s desire for his message to spread wide, but the people on the hill choose to ignore the voice; however, it could also mean that the bird’s message was considered by the people on the ‘distant hill’ .This links to the civil rights movement, where African Americans were protesting for their freedom, but the Caucasians neglected and protested against their cry for help.

This creates a feeling of sympathy towards the caged bird, as it longs for freedom, but never gets what it prospers.

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Salem Aldhaheri

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Shanaaz Poppe                                                                              Thursday 23rd of February 2023

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How does Maya Angelou explore the theme of injustice in her poem?

The poet Maya Angelou, explores the theme of injustice in her poem between the freedom White people get and the prejudice and torture African Americans gets. This is evident in the line of the caged bird “can seldom see through/his bars of rage”. Not only does this line signifies that the caged bird can rarely see through his imprisonment of frustration and injustice which also could symbolise that he has never been free but also, gives a sense of that he could barely react to the frustration and prejudice he is getting.

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Q: How does Maya Angelou explore the theme of injustice in her poem?

Angelou explores the theme of injustice through the contrasting ideas of a caged bird and free bird, both of which are metaphors related to the aforementioned theme, with the caged bird representing oppression and the free bird representing freedom and privilege. When she writes “But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams”, the poet uses the metaphor “grave of dreams” to imply how much more limited opportunities African-American people received during the period of racial injustice in  the U.S.A. - something that Angelou experienced during her childhood. Contrastingly, the line “and he names the sky his own” uses personification to indicate that the free bird - an analogy for Caucasian people who didn’t experience the same struggles and that had almost unlimited opportunities. The contrast between these two differing ideas gives the reader a new perspective and could move them emotionally.

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Big Q: How does Maya Angelou explore the theme of injustice in her poem?

In the poem ‘Caged bird’ Maya Angelou explores the theme of injustice through comparing two birds in the poem. This can be seen in the quote “And dips his wing in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky / His wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.” This shows us that one bird has freedom and the other doesn’t. In the phrase “his wings are clipped and his feet are tied” the use of personification shows us that the caged bird doesn’t have freedom and does not have privileges like the free bird. Unlike the free bird, it has privileges, this can be seen in the phrase “orange sun rays” this shows us that the free bird get vitality and experience and also has more privileges than the caged bird. The word “His” shows us the use of anaphora and tells us that the caged bird has personal pronouns which humanizes the caged bird and gives it an identity. These two quotes reveals social injustice which creates a life where some a re free and some are not.

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In Maya Angelou “Caged Bird” the bird in the cage is compared to a bird with freedom, this in depth symbolizes the struggles African Americans had during the era of white superiority. The free bird represents a person who is living a fortunate life and is free to do as he or she wishes, while on the other the caged bird signifies someone who has limits and cannot do anything. She also comes from a background of racial prejudices and discrimination so this is what she tries to convey throughout the poem. Maya uses “fat worms” as a metaphor for opportunity and even though the “clipped wings, tied feet” and “bars of rage” disheartened the caged bird it never stopped singing, this symbolizes the African Americans fighting back for their freedom simply through their voice.There are many themes explored in this poem such as the misfortune and survival of the unfittest.

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Ahmed lari

Injustice is revealed through the contrast of the free bird and the caged bird. The caged bird

is presented as though his dreams are unattainable.

“Caged bird stands on the grave of dreams” in this quotation the poet uses a metaphor to explain how the caged bird’s dreams are unattainable and how he stands on the grave os showing that he knows that his dreams are unattainable.

This shows that the caged bird will never achieve his dreams while the free bird who is prosperous and has liberty can, lets link back to the civil rights movement this shows the struggle of black people to achieve the American dream

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In the poem “Caged Bird”, Maya Angelou explores the broad and unjust difference between the free and caged bird by emphasising the drastic contrast between them. Angelou uses interjection in the quote “ “ to immediately compare and contrast the two birds’ situation. This contrast also relates to the socio-economical situation between coloured people and Caucasians during 1920s US. The racial tensions in 1920s US were extremely high and discrimination against African-Americans was an everyday factor of Afro-Americans’ lives, thus relating their unjust, cruel situation to the caged bird while showing that the great majority of white people had their perfect lives laid out in front of them from the minute they were born. This immediate contrast depicted in the poem takes the reader aback because of its sudden appearance. The author exploits this to make the comparison hit even harder as the reader was caught unawares by this interjection.

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Angelou presents injustice trough the use of multiple techniques showing the inequality between people who are oppressed and people who are privileged. The is shown through “fat worms waiting on dawn-bright lawn” and “grave of dreams”. This quotation emphasises restraint, the metaphor “grave of dreams” restricts from freedom. “fat worms waiting on dawn-bright lawn” represents contrast with “grave of dreams” this represents how the “free bird” have a element of choice compared to the “caged bird” whose dreams are dead. This is further expressed by the use of symbolism which creates a stark image of people who are oppressed (“caged bird”) versed the people who are privileged. This makes the reader feel a mixture of emotions such as empathy, awareness and inspiration, this also makes them advocate for social change. Angelou also uses the notion “the caged bird sings”. This is repeated throughout the poem emphasising the resilience and hope, the gives the reader hope and contrasts the harsh conditions that the “caged bird” experiences.

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In her poem, Angelou explores injustice through the use of repetition and symbolism, evident in: “His wings are clipped/ his feet are tied”. The exaggeration of the caged bird’s harsh environment is a direct contrast between the free bird’s carefree lifestyle, shown in: “The free bird thinks of another breeze”. The image of a captive lifestyle is created using the symbol and extended metaphor of a cage, conflicting it with the thoughts of freedom embedded in the readers’ minds. “another breeze” gives the bird an element of choice in his life, unlike the caged bird, who is trapped inside against his will. Additionally, Angelou repeats, “His wings are clipped and his feet are tied” again in stanza 6, further developing the concept of the bird being trapped while also introducing the idea that there has been zero change in the bird’s environment. Furthermore, the free bird “dares to claim the sky” in the first stanza. This embeds the impression of ambition in the free bird’s life, which is later referred to as: “names the sky his own”. This shows progress and achievement in the free bird contrasting to no change in the caged bird’s life. This is intentionally created by Angelou, to portrays the real life oppression against the African-American community in the 1900s and how they can’t achieve their dreams due to the inherit racism shown by white people, who have more opportunities. This makes the reader question their past while also pondering if there has been any change in today’s community and culture.

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In Maya Angelous poem she presents the theme of injustice through the contrast of the free bird and the caged bird. The caged bird is presented as though his dreams are unattainable. This is evident in stanza fine Line 1 “But a caged bird stand on the grave of dreams.” In this quote she used metaphors which conveys that the bird is not able to achieve much while caged. The noun grave has connections to being trapped, caged and someone that is immobile. The noun dream has connections with being able to go beyond your limits and achieve many goals but a caged bird isn’t able to to do things like this. This makes the reader feel very sorrowful for the caged bird but feels delightful for the free bird.

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In Maya Angelous poem she presents the theme of injustice through the contrast of the free bird and the caged bird. The caged bird is presented as though his dreams are unattainable. This is evident in stanza fine Line 1 “But a caged bird stand on the grave of dreams.” In this quote she used metaphors which conveys that the bird is not able to achieve much while caged. The noun grave has connections to being trapped, caged and someone that is immobile. The noun dream has connections with being able to go beyond your limits and achieve many goals but a caged bird isn’t able to to do things like this. This makes the reader feel very sorrowful for the caged bird but feels delightful for the free bird.

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Naeem

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Injustice is also shown through the use of metaphors. This is shown in stanza five:”But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams”. As you can see this quote contains a metaphor. “Grave of dreams” illustrates that the caged birds dreams are unreachable this quote could possibly compare with an African American. This represents that at the time in the US, African Americans had no point of dreaming as racism stopped all of their possibilities of dreaming as they would never come true. This might make Caucasians feel sympathy for the African Americans(this could perhaps start a protest). However there are multiple examples of metaphors that conveys injustice throughout the poem.

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Maya Angelou reveals injustice through contrast between the caged bird and free bird. This is shown in stanza 3 "The caged bird sings with a fearful trill" and in stanza 4 "The free bird thinks of another breeze". Fearful trill is an example of personification as well as "The free bird thinks of another breeze" is a metaphor. "Fearful trill" suggests that the caged bird is fearing the idea of freedom and fearing the owner. "The free bird thinks of another breeze" emphasizes the element of choice. Injustice is revealed in this poem as the caged bird represents an African American and the free bird represents a Caucasian. The reader might feel sympathy for African Americans when referring to real life as they are restricted and not treated equally to other humans just like the caged bird (African American) and the free bird (Caucasians).

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Injustice is revealed throughout maya Angelou’s story by using deep comparison to show how anyone affected heavily for things they can not change. She shows this in her quotes “bird that stalks” which describe a bird that is physically and mentally trapped, and “a free bird leaps” which describes a bird who has freedom. The writers use of ‘stalks’ shows a metaphor and also personification which is useful to aid the readers view and understanding on the story and gives the reader a better view on the birds emotions. The use of ‘free bird’ automatically creates contrast between the two birds and tells the reader the difference between the two birds, it also adds more of a value for the reader on the free bird and shows how it can relate to certain people throughout society can be free with no worries. Maya Angelou has presented injustice as an almost common thing for people back then through her use of comparison which creates contrast throughout the two birds.

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Maya Angelou uses comparison in her poem “ Caged Bird”. This is evident in stanza 1 and stanza 2. Stanza 1 talks about a bird that is free to leap, spread its wings and float in life, this is evident in the quotation “ A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips wing in orange sun rays”. In stanza 2 the use of an interjection begins to compare the two birds. Stanza 2, the caged bird, is held captive and is unable to do things that a free bird can do; it is unable to fly, float and leap. This is evident in the quotation “his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his are tied so he opens his throat to sing. The caged bird is forced into one choice in life, to sing, different to the free bird, that can choose to do anything, even “claim the sky”. The contrasting stanzas depict the USA in the 1960’s. The caged bird represents most African Americans at the time who experienced injustice such as segregation. The caged bird being forced to sing because it’s the only thing it can do is similar to African Americans at the time being forced to do certain things like drinking from certain taps and going to certain bathrooms. The free bird however represents white people in American who had a choice and we’re aloud to think freely, something that African Americans we’re criticised for doing. The 2 stanzas helps the reader understand the struggle faced by African Americans compared to white people, and allows the reader to create its own emotions to what was happening at the time.