Maya’s first autobiography, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, chronicles her tumultuous life from adolescence to the tender age of seventeen, by which time she is pregnant with her illegitimate son. In this autobiography, Maya uses many childlike metaphors to create and innocent environment for the reader, so it doesn’t seem as if the events are told in flashback, but rather in present tense. Myra K. McCurry says, “The almost novelistic clarity of Caged Bird results from the artistic tension between Angelou’s recollected self and her authorial consciousness. Implicit in this dual

confidence and command. The fault--since I have found one--lies more in the tone of the book. It is healthy, warm, and tough, winning our affection partly through its refusal to gloss over stupidities, mistakes, and cruelties.” (Sukenick AVL) She is deeply involved in prostitution and has a pimp. It is almost as if she had to reach the brink of destruction before the realized this was the wrong path for her to follow if she wanted a successful life for herself as well for her illegitimate son. (Bloom1 66)

succeed, which signs of are clearly present in her autobiographies and poetry.

awareness is the knowledge that events are significant not merely in themselves, but also because they have been transcended” (Bloom3 25)

Some topics in this essay:
Fore’ Diiie, Caged Bird, Bird Maya, Throughout Maya, Gather Name, Name Maya, Bird Sings, Gather Angelou, Maya Angelou’s, Sukenick AVL, caged bird, black woman, gather name, caged bird maya, “harlem hopscotch”, drug addiction, maya struggles, bird maya, bird sings, illegitimate son, caged bird sings, maya’s collection poetry, autobiographies poetry,