Curated set · answers marked
What is the main reason Maya Angelou chose the title I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings for her autobiography?
AIt refers to a lullaby her grandmother sang to her during her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas.
BIt alludes to Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem "Sympathy," where the song of the caged bird symbolizes the cry of a soul yearning for freedom despite oppression.✓
CIt serves as a metaphor for Maya's passion for music and her aspiration to become a professional singer.
DIt references a Bible verse about birds that her church community often recited.
Rationale
The title comes from Paul Laurence Dunbar's 1899 poem "Sympathy." The image of the caged bird singing despite its confinement serves as a key metaphor throughout Angelou's memoir, illustrating the resilience of Black Americans in the face of racism, trauma, and systemic oppression — as well as the power of voice and self-expression as forms of survival and resistance.
What is the main narrative form of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?
AA fictional novel told from a third-person omniscient perspective
BAn autobiography presented in first-person by Maya Angelou about her childhood and teenage years✓
CA collection of short stories that are loosely linked by theme
DA narrative poem divided into cantos
Rationale
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings* (1969) is an autobiography by Maya Angelou that tells the story of her early life from ages 3 to 17, set in the American South and California, and is narrated in the first person.