Poetry Response Blog

         This poem "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou, is about freedom and liberty. The author uses a caged bird and a free bird to explain the differences between how they feel. I think that the author wasn't really meaning to talk about birds. I think that it explained a person's soul and body instead of a bird. It says that a caged bird, a soul, wants something it never had but wants it more then anything. It envies the free bird because is has something that it doesn't, freedom. While the caged bird rages, with his feet bound and his wings trimmed, the free bird flies through the open sky. The caged bird sings because he longs for freedom and cries out for it, it isn't for joy. 

         I think the author wrote this because she wanted the world to know that people should be free. She talks about how horrible life is for the caged bird and wants us to sympathize for it. When we start to feel bad for the caged bird, she brings up the free bird's happy feelings so we can compare two. Once we see the differences we want the caged bird to have the same freedom as the free bird. This inspires people to want other people to be free. People put themselves in the birds shoes and they would want to be free. She had the intention of making the world a better place.

         This poem reminds me of the movie Tangled. It reminds me of this because the main character , Rapunzel, is held captive by her "mother". She is miserable and wants to be free, like the bird from the poem. She sings for freedom instead of joy. I first thought of this Disney movie when I read that the bird dreamed of freedom that it never had. This is similar to the movie because the main character wanted to be free from her tower because she had dreamed of what it felt like. The bird and the main character of the movie Tangled are very similar.

This is the 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.

This is a drawing of what I visualize when I read the poem.

I think about this because it shows a free bird and a caged bird. The caged bird is singing like it says it does in the poem. The area of the free bird is light, while the caged birds area is dark. They are separate and not in the same dimension.

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Reflection of 2nd Quarter

Reflection

Prompt 1: In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts?

Prompt 2: What is something you have accomplished since the new year that you are proud of?

Prompt 3: What has been the most challenging part of 2nd Quarter for you and what did/can you do to help overcome this?

Prompt 4: Of the books you have read this quarter, which was your favorite? Why?

          The area that I think was my biggest improvement in ELA was time management. I think it was time management because now I know that I should split my work up into groups and not do it all at once. I have learned that if I do it all at one time then I could become frustrated and the quality wouldn't be adequate enough. By learning how to manage my time I have improved in scheduling my day efficiently. When my day is scheduled efficiently I am able to get work done.

         Something that I have accomplished since the new year is that I finished my CBL project. My group and I have been working on it since the beginning of the 2nd quarter. I am very glad that it is finished because it took a lot of work and time to create it. Almost all the CBL classes had something to do with the project.  We got a good grade on it and I am very proud of the overall outcome of it. 

         The most challenging part of the 2nd Quarter was balancing school and sports. Some days I would have a lot of homework but I had after school sports. Sometimes it would be very hard to finish my homework and still have time to go to my activity. To help overcome this I could have one day that is devoted entirely to school. This could help me because I wouldn't have as much work for the other days and school and sports could be somewhat even.  

          One of my favorite books that I read this quarter was The Help by Lauren Stocket. This book was my favorite because it had many feelings towards it. Sometimes I would be feeling sad then I could be feeling relieved. The book had a lot of emotions in it. Also I liked the book the best because it took place in the 60s so it was interesting to see the difference between then and now. The way people lived was a lot different back then, compared to now. 

The Help Book Talk

Transcript

The book that I have chosen to talk about is The Help by Lauren Stocket it is realistic fiction. This book takes place in Jackson, Mississippi 1962-1963.  There are three main characters in my book. Every other chapter a new character tells their point of view. The main characters are Minny, Aibileen, and Skeeter. Minny is a black maid who has a hot temper and is an amazing cook. Aibileen is a black maid too, but she is much older and has a way better patience. Skeeter is a young white woman who is awkward looking and is trying to be a successful writer. Throughout the book the characters have to overcome racism, fear, and the wrath of the Mississippi men and women. Skeeter thinks up of a way to change the views of everyone, but many are afraid to do it. The mood of this book was pity. As I read the book I felt so sorry for people who had to suffer through the racism and torment that the characters had to experience. It wasn’t just racism that was hard to read. Another thing was that Minny’s husband abused her and Skeeter’s mother falls very sick. While I read the book I felt so bad for the main characters. One of the themes of this book is courage. It is courage because in almost all of the main events the characters had to act courageous. One of these events was deciding if they should write a book about what life is like being a maid for a white family. This was very courageous because if people found out that the main characters wrote this then they could be sent to jail, killed, or worse. I’ve learned that you have to be brave in order to get what you want because things are not always handed to you.    

I liked this book because it made me see what life was like for women during the 60s in the south. I was surprised to see what the difference was like from then to now.  What I remember most about the book was the fear that the maids had from the villain, Hilly Holbrook. She was a very powerful woman who could manipulate anybody and people believed anything she said. The maids were afraid of her because she could tell bad things about them to other people that weren’t true, and the maids would get fired or beaten. I would recommend this book to older viewers such as teenagers to adults. These ages can fully understand the meaning of it and they could cherish it. I wouldn’t recommend it to younger people because some of the content might be a little bit too intense and they might not understand the message. Someone should want to go out and get this book because while you read it you would never want to put it down. This book will make you see through the eyes of the help instead of the “powerful figure”. You will never see or hear maids and segregation the same way again.

Book Talk