I know why the caged bird sing
In Maya Angelou's autobiographical novel, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", tenderhearted Marguerite Johnson discovers all of the splendors and agonies of growing up in a prejudiced, early twentieth century America. Rotating between the slow country life of Stamps, Arkansas and the fast-pace societies in St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California taught Maya several random aspects of life while showing her segregated America from coast to coast. When Maya was three years old, her mother sent her and Bailey from California to Stamps to stay in the care of their grandmother, Mrs. Annie Henderson. Soon thought of as their real mother, "Momma" raised her grandchildren with the strict Southern principles such as, "wash your feet before you go to bed; always pray to the savior and you shall be forgiven; chores and school come before play; and help those in need and you shall be helped yourself." Bearing those basic principles, Maya and Bailey grew older and wiser in Stamps. However, one day their father rode extravagantly into Stamps and called for his children to return home with him to St. Louis. Bailey, eager to leave the simple family life in Arkansas, agreed immediately, but "te
Stamps and St. Louis or San Francisco plays considerably different roles in the upbringings of Maya and Bailey. In Stamps, Maya learns to survive in a white-domineering society by praying and helping others. During the Great Depression, her well-off Momma lent out money to both struggling Negro and white folks even though, "the whites in [their] town were so prejudiced that a Negro couldn't buy vanilla ice cream." "By the way" was a common expression in St. Louis, where their mother only went to church once a year, but in Stamps the religious believers found it sinful, and Maya was beaten. Stamps represents the "cage" of the novel, a secure place where Maya could flutter and sing like a bird and not worry about being hurt by the disturbances of the cities. In California, Maya experienced an entirely different perspective on life, where gamblers, hustlers, prostitutes, and gangsters all earned respectable titles and respect. In the evenings after her school work was finished, and she never had any chores to do like in Stamps, her mother would take her out dancing and teach her to jitterbug in smoke and whiskey filled dance clubs. In Stamps, this wild way of life would be considered immoral to all religious and simple folk like Momma. At home again, Maya concentrated on her schoolwork and her duties to Momma's store, the only Negro owned store in Stamps, until after her graduation fr
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Approximate Word count = 940
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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