I+Know+Why+the+Caged+Bird+Sings

Gary De Couto Selecting and Teaching the Novel: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou EN 3051 October 11, 2009 //Synopsis//


 * Maya’s parents divorce when she is 3
 * Maya and her brother Bailey move to Stamps, Arkansas to live with their grandmother
 * At 8, Maya moves to St Louis, Missouri to live with her mother
 * She is molested and raped by her mother’s boyfriend Mr. Freeman, and stops speaking
 * She returns to live with her grandmother and meets Mrs. Bertha Flowers who introduces her to literature and poetry which helps Maya regain her voice


 * As a teenager, Maya moves to San Francisco with her mother and her new husband Daddy Clidell. This turns out to be a positive experience
 * She spends a summer in Los Angeles with her father and his girlfriend Dolores
 * She fights with Dolores and lives in a scrap yard with other teenagers for a month
 * Maya moves back to San Francisco and gains her confidence
 * At 16, she finishes high school and feels empowered in giving birth to her son

//a)//


 * I would teach this in Grade 11 and 12 University Preparation English classes
 * I would introduce this text with the song Sinnerman by Nina Simone
 * Simone was also a civil rights activist like Maya Angelou


 * I would also use it for the new course Grade 12 course on Social Justice and equity
 * For example, Maya challenges inequitable hiring practices in San Francisco by conducting the first black street car
 * She also comments that white children could become Galileos (p. 179)
 * In contrast, at her elementary school graduation a white speaker suggests that black students can only be slaves or athletes

//b)//

//Textual Knowledge://


 * The text is both an autobiography and a bildungsroman or coming-of-age story
 * The intended audience is adolescents and adults as it tackles serious issues including rape, racism, homelessness and teen pregnancy
 * Texts such as Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad offer a Eurocentric perspective of black others
 * Angelou offers the perspective of a black female, shifting the colonial gaze
 * Maya describes whitefolks as others. She cannot think of them as people (p. 26)

//Social Knowledge://


 * Maya is raped by Mr. Freeman (p. 78)
 * Text portrays the burden that victims of sexual abuse face
 * Mr. Freeman is killed by friends of Maya’s family
 * She feels guilt for this and denies being molested in court


 * An assumption I would challenge in teaching this text is that it is racist or sexist
 * Angelou speaks of the rape of black women and the lynching of black men (p. 135)
 * Forces us to discuss the power relations of gender and race
 * Content of this text opens up new dialogues in schools

//Cultural Knowledge://


 * The text depicts a complex black community: strong and fragmented
 * Vibrant black community is evidenced by the priest speaking out against white privilege
 * Yet, this sense of communal pride is fleeting
 * Maya struggles with a negative self-image as a black female
 * For example, at Church on Easter she runs away after failing to recite a poem

//Topic Knowledge://


 * The text describes the life of a black girl living in the South of the United States between the 1930s and 1940s
 * Describes racism that existed in this context such the abuse of slaves by their masters
 * Maya’s boss calls her Mary (p. 108), renaming her for convenience
 * Within Maya’s community names are valued and symbolize dignity
 * Especially true as members of her community are called crows and spooks
 * Maya breaks her boss’s fine china to rebel against the oppression she faces
 * Another example of racism is when Maya’s dentist refuses to treat her (p. 188).

//c)//


 * A challenge I might encounter is that the word ‘nigger’ is used throughout the text
 * I might show the following link to discuss the term with my class:
 * []
 * The link is an interview with Dr. Rinaldo Walcott from the University of Toronto, a scholar on cultural studies and gender theory
 * At the beginning of the interview, Walcott discusses some of the different ways in which the term is used


 * How do I negotiate teaching this text? Consider teacher’s position (class, sex, etc)
 * Do I strategically use my positionality as a personal of color to teach this text?
 * Does this enable me to receive fewer backlashes?
 * One might have trouble accusing me of being racist, compared to a white teacher who teaches this text
 * Yet I might come across as a person of color with an agenda to tackle racism
 * All the more important for white teachers to teach this text

//d)//


 * As Angelou’s work is an autobiography, I would ask students to write a memoir and reflect on an experience from their past (I did this in my models of education course). This assignment tries to value the personal histories of students, treating their life experiences as knowledge.
 * First, describe how you felt at the time the event happened
 * Second, try to make sense of it from today
 * Why is it memorable? How does it affect you?
 * The course expectations for Grade 11 and 12 University Preparation English is that students can organize their ideas in their writing
 * The memoir requires students to identify and sort their personal histories to communicate their experiences effectively


 * I would assess students by allowing them to hand in a draft and providing them with feedback
 * I would then allow students to submit their memoir for evaluation
 * I would look for clear writing and a good description of the student’s emotions at the time of the event
 * I would expect a strong analysis of the event from the student’s perspective today
 * I hope students communicate the ideas and questions that they are left with


 * The Achievement Chart for secondary English requires students develop their processing skills to synthesize and analyze, under the thinking category
 * The memoir aims to have students effectively summarize and scrutinize their personal history
 * Students will question the reliability of Maya Angelou as a narrator in communicating their experiences – problem of memory


 * The Achievement Chart for secondary English requires students make connections within and between various contexts, under the application category
 * Connections can be teased out between the text and the memoirs