English Literature IB HL essay - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou)
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Module
English
Institution
Orientation Cycle
Book
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The HL essay is based on the subject of English Literature IB and covers the concept in literature IB of transformation. It is based on the book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou and answers the following question: To what extent does Angelou’s deviation from the dominant convention...
Concept: Transformation
Work: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
To what extent does Angelou’s deviation from the dominant conventions of the
autobiographical genre contribute to the representation of Marguerite’s search for
identity in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?
Word count: 1500
1
, Maya Angelou’s attempts to challenge the common structure of the autobiographical
genre are exhibited through her tendency to "diverge from the conventional notion of
autobiography as truth" (Mary Jane Lupton, 2016). Although the famous African-American
author employs fiction-writing techniques such as characterization, dialogue, and
development of setting and plot, her most known piece I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,
written in 1969, has often been placed in the genre of autobiography. The piece tells the
coming-of-age story of Maya Angelou, who overcomes racism and trauma living in Stamps,
Arkansas, a segregated town where she is raised by her grandmother during the 1930’s and
40’s in the midst of The Great Depression and WWII. It features some of the genre’s
conventions such as: first-person narrative, and a focus on the development of herself, while
applying fictional techniques such as crafting it as a series of short stories, and using her book
as a representation of tradition in African American literature. Therefore, the focus of this
study will be the analysis of these conventions as a means to represent Marguerite’s search
for identity in Angelou’s first autobiographical work I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,
centering around the concept of transformation in literature: the way literary texts adhere to
and deviate from conventions and techniques associated with certain genres and forms for the
portrayal of particular matters (International Baccalaureate).
Through the crafting of the events as a series of short stories, Angelou highlights the
theme of her book: identity and racism. She uses personal events to shape her book,
constructing and arranging them undermining the chronology of her childhood, “juxtaposing
the events of one chapter with the events of preceding and following ones so that they too
comment on each other.” (Walker, 1995) The sequence of stories she creates contributes to
the portrayal of Maya’s evolution, from a naïve child with “helpless rage and indignation to
forms of subtle resistance, and finally to outright and active protest.” (Walker, 19) Angelou’s
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