poem

I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou

A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange suns rays
And dares to claim the sky.

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage
Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
And the trade winds soft through
The sighing trees
And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright
Lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams
His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with
A fearful trill of things unknown
But longed for still and his
Tune is heard on the distant hill
For the caged bird sings of freedom.


Maya Angelou uses central metaphor in her poem to compare a caged bird to one who feels trapped and hopeless,and a free bird to one who is able to pursue their dreams. The caged bird's thoughts linger on what it is missing, because it longs to be free. To one who feels trapped and unable to pursue their dreams, like the caged bird, all the good around them is overshadowed by the sinking feeling that they are missing out on a very important part of life. One does not necessarily know exactly what they are missing out on, they are "things unknown but longed for still"(12), but it is enough to put a damper on a day's happenings. Unable to change a situation, the caged bird sings,like a cry for help. Much like when one finds themself in a binding situation, they find a way to ask for help. A cry for help is not alway heard, or heard just enough to make one feel uncomfortable to ignore it and go about their business. When the caged bird in the poem sings, "tune is heard on a distant hill"(27), but the poem makes it seem like the bird goes un-answered. The caged bird stands on the "grave of dreams"(20), while the free bird "dares to claim the sky"(6). By making this comparison, Angelou suggests that all people desire freedom, and those who are free should truly appreciate their fate.

q1 reflection

i thought i did well quarter 1 over all. i though enriched might be too much but i think i'm doing ok. This quarter i learned how to write a thesis, and paragraph. I also learn how to write a literary analysis parper and support my arguments with cited quotes and examples from text. i need to work on following direction and making sure i understand assignments. i think i could also work on paying attention more.my goal for this quarter is to get an A or A-. :)

osr5-devil wears prada

A common idea shared with other books/movies we have read/watched this year is rebellion. Although Andy does her best to obey miranda, she is always silently cursing her in her head. Like richard resents his father in black boy, because he is a controlling,selfish and greedy man, so also Andy hates Miranda for the same reasons.

What i thought of the book: interesting, I like all the description of clothes in the book, but the way it ended was very irritating. It was still worthwhile to read it though.

osr4-devil wears prada

Andy deals with more than one major struggle in the book. Andy tries to manage her personal life and keep it separate from her work life. She finds it very diffucult to even have a personal life on the side of her work life. Andy struggles to keep up a relationship with her boyfriend and best friend. Andy basically drops her relationship with her family because they live an hour or two away, and to be that far from miranda for a weekend is impossible. What if Miranda needs someone to pick up her coffee? Andy soon realizes that her job is literally full time...like 24/7. Miranda will call Andy at 3am with requests. Anyway ..Andy can't relly mange her personal life outside of the fashion world. She finds herself making new "fashion friends" and having romances(unknown to her bf) with "fashion men" (straight of course). I think there is a part of Andy that would have like to have kept living that glamourous lifestyle, but i think her pervious values were too deeply ingrained in her for her to change and stay changed.

osr3-devil wears prada

Andy faces many challenges in the book. She has to please Miranda and try to keep her job. Doing so is on the borderline of impossible. Andy drops her entire old life for the new job. Everything she cares most about has to be put on hold for the year she works for miranda : writing, her boyfriend, old best friend, family. From the stress of it all and because she has to look good for her job, and already thin Andy loses 15 pounds in the first few months of working at runway. She barely has time to eat anyway, considering nobody is allowed to eat in front of miranda, and when andy is out of the office she is always rushing aroud doing errands. Eventually when Andy's friend goes into a coma and miranda doesn't permit Andy to leave fashion week, the stress becomes too much for Andy and she quits. After quitting her job, Andy understands that in trying to realize her dream, she lost sight of everything most important to her. But that year ended up being worth it i think because she got a great job at the new yorker because of miranda.

osr2-devil wears prada

main characters continued-

- Emily- senior executive assistant- Emily is very motivated to do the very best she can at her job so she doesn't get on Miranda's bad side. Emily loves prestige and nice clothes. She gives up her her life to a few years of servitude to Miranda in order to get a dream job in the fashion industry. Unlike Andy, Emily definatly has respect for Miranda, although she secretly hates her at the same time.

-Lily- at the begining of the story lily is the one mostly watching out for Andy, but as you get deeper into the novel she becomes a drunk, and ends up seriously needing Andy's help when she can't give it. When lily ends up in the hospital, Andy know she can't just ignore her friends and family anymore, and so she quits her job and flies home to see lily. BFFs<3

Photography post