Rating: 
Summary: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Review: How I see it, people are like little machines living in a repetitive cycle that just want to get out. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" is what you might call an escape route to experience life from another perspective. The enthralling book by Maya Angelou tells a story about a young girl and her many adventures through the troubles and joys of family, school, church, people, and just plain life. What I found to be the strongest point in the book was the character development. I thought that it was very clear and organized and it kept my interest through her many back and forth moves from her grandmother to her dad, and to her mom and then back again. I also found that I could relate to many of her situations and I understood her choices. I also felt the plot was very becoming. I found it interesting and captivating the writer's words were so well detailed I could picture everything. I flowed so smoothly I found myself no being able to stop reading, The only complaint I have about the plot is that one or two parts did not have a true significance, otherwise all was well. The meaning, even though it depended on the individual reader, I thought was all very relevant and it taught the reader about many life adventures as well as tragic events. It also gave the reader some historical information on World War two and the depression. I felt this adventure of a young girl's life in the early 1900's was a great experience and I enjoyed it thoroughly.It led you through twists and turns so and the end you were just yearning for more. I would most definitely recommend this to anyone if they were looking for a great entertaining story.
Rating: 
Summary: I Know why the Caged Bird Sings
Review: I dont really have a review. i really just wanted notes in a book i am supposed to read for school. Instead of giving me cliff notes or even a summary, I get this sight adking me if i want to bye the fricking book when i already have it. i have read the book, I just want notes to do journal entries on so i dont fail the fricking class. So thanks for nothing. This site sucks. and I dont want to follow you guidlines. I dont care about your guidlines. i dont care if this gets posted or not. I just want to say that i couldnt find notes here or anywhere and your sight pisses me off the most. if you are at all offended by my opinions, Im sorry in advance but that still doesnt get me the notes i need and that really pisses me off that Imapoligizing to you for something i didnt get but need desperatley.and im 15 not twelve. send me to jail for lying but i know this wont be posted so i dont care all that much who reads this and who doesnt.
Rating:
Summary: Wow, this is a true story!
Review: This woman is beautiful and her life is more than worthy of the many volumes of her autobiography. This is the first. It tells the story of a little black girl growing up poor in Stamps, Arkansas. All the more moving for it's reality.
Rating: 
Summary: classic? I think not.
Review: The book is awful. I get the feeling that the angelou just wants some self pity by gripping about it in her books--the same scene plays over and over: racism , racism, we grew up poor, racism, we grew up poor. I don't doubt that racism was/is a big part of society--but it gets old when people starts yammering and whining about the ethics of racism cuz no one really cares about it anymore.
Rating:
Summary: sexual molesting episodes are disgusting
Review: As a parent of a young teenager who was assigned this book as a summer reading slection I am very disappointed. I think Maya Angelou is much too vivid in her descriptions of sexual encounter. I was disgusted at the thought of a brown ear of corn as she described the male parts. Although the book may have a wonderful story and great lessons for young people to learn about times in the 40's they do not need to have so vividly described sexual encounters. Times may have been hard for people in the 40's who were black...but the man who molested her was also black. Maya Angelou could have published a beautiful book without all the sexual trash. If she was trying to appeal to young readers she should have shown more respect for youth and eliminated that garbage. I do not recommend this book for high school students. The book is loaded with sexual trash. Our children get enough exposure to that in real life...I would much prefer classic novels than this trash.l
Rating:
Summary: I Know Why Da' Caged Bird Sings
Review: Hi, my name is John Rocker and I just love Maya Angelou books. I remember this one time when I was at the Million Man March as a young African-American and Maya approached me to exchange poetry. She invited me and my best friend in the whole world, Tiger Woods, to a fried chicken dinner on her and we gratefully accepted. We stayed up all night sharing stories of single black motherhood and when dawn came, while Maya and Tiger were both in a drowsy haze, I slipped on my dew rag and started chanting old African spirituals. They both sprang to life and in seconds we were having the time of our life. Anyway, we were carryin' on so loud and cheerful, we didn't even hear the sirens of the police car that was approaching Maya's house. When she saw the policeman at her door she assumed that he was there to arrest her for stealing a Wu Tang CD, but upon closer inspection she realized it was just her good friend Don Shaft. Oh Lordy did we have a grand ole time. Now I know why the caged bird sings. CAN YOU DIG IT!
Rating:
Summary: OK, But Nothing Special
Review: My high-school English teacher had this on her list of required reading for her senior class, and as a result, I didn't read it until after I had graduated from college. On the whole, I found it a rather dull book. Angelou goes into detail about what it was like for a young black girl to grow up in the United States in the 40's. As you can imagine, it wasn't really very pretty. She mentions about how she very eagerly lost her virginity, was molested by her mother's boyfriend, he relationship with her brother and so on. The most impressive part of the book was when she stood up for herself in order to get her first job -- the book is almost worth reading just for those few pages. But for the most part, I just couldn't get interested in it. I found it rather dull.
Rating:
Summary: A better understanding
Review: Hi, i am from Melbourne Australia. I am 19 years old, when i read 'I know why the caged bird sings' as one of my books for year 12. It discribed to me how the African Americans felt about, White people and the discrimmination there was between white and black people. Dr Maya Angelou, discribed her experience very well. She discribed in detail what she thought and how she felt, i could piture the scene in my head. Especially the shop her and Baily lived in, and how the sun set over the store. It was a grate experience for me, it has tought me a lot about the African American history. Dr Angelou inspired me as well as my class, and from then on, i have been reading all her books.
Rating:
Summary: The First Book that Made Me Cry
Review: This is the first book I've ever read that made me cry. It's such powerful writing, yet simple in a way, it can stir even the most cold-hearted (like me) to weep. Maya Angelou's language is hard to describe: she writes with a certain simplicity that is at once rich and deep. Like most anything Angelou writes, this is very good read out loud, even just for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: An adult review--and one teacher's viewpoint
Review: May I tell you why I choose to have my ninth grade students read it? I have noticed a lot of reviews by young people, which I applaud, but an adult perspective might be helpful. I don't particularly feel the need to defend its merits. (I am not articulate enough to do justice to that task.) As with any book, some will love it and some won't. Guaranteed, it will make you uncomfortable at times, because one chapter describes the rape of a young person--which is painful for any compassionate human being to hear. Plus, there are other sexual issues, largely stemming from the earlier assault, but also because she is a teenager in the last phase of the book. Such questions about love and sex are characteristic of the teenage years. Many young people, as well as adults, are confused about such topics. While these are generally the most controversial segments from the book, the fundamental lesson of the book goes far beyond the survival of one victim. I won't supply you with the answers as to what one should take away from the text. It is a personal experience for each of us. We can all learn from Maya's honest account of her childhood journey. We can all try on her experiences and live vicariously through her for a while, and see how it changes our own perspective on what it means to be a human being. I'll be the first to admit, this book is a challenge for all my students in one way or another. Some because they are white and live in the northern US. Some because they are male and it's difficult to view life through a woman's eyes. Some because of the adult vocabulary and extensive use of figurative language. Some of these experiences are so remote from their own, while others are very close to home. It helps them to see how much we actually do have in common with those who at first seem very different. They all can benefit from reading it, if they give it a chance. (Adults may be better equiped to appreciate fully this text. However, young people can take so much from it. Maybe one day, we can have an abridged version, so it is still rich in language and meaning, yet condensed so more young people can access its many gifts.) Beyond the darkness of some of those experiences (discrimination, rape, humilation and fear) lies a powerful sense of hope, dignity, determination and resilience. One of my favorite aspects of the book is its emphasis on the power of education, language and literacy. Throughout Maya's life--books, poetry, impassioned voices have all inspired her. Her autobiography is a moving tribute to a literate way of life and an enduring legacy to that tradition.
|
