Kc Dezylva

Eng 112B

Professor M. Warner

27 November 2012

Contemporary Realistic Fiction: Universalizing I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Why I Chose this Centerpiece:

Written in 1969, Maya Angelou constructed an autobiography of her life up until adolescence. With the many struggles that Maya deals with, the themes of identity, abuse/rape, racial conflicts, and the strength of family develop Maya into the strong character that she is by the end of the novel. I chose this work as my centerpiece because the issues that are brought up for examination are prominent ones that are dealt with in some peoples� everyday lives. Although written in 1969, where race is more of an issue than it is today, our world still holds struggles for people of different races, even in some parts of the United States; women and children are abused in many parts of the world, severities ranging upon situation; children and teens struggle to find their identity and a way to break free of their oppressions; and some children do not even know what family is. By teaching this book, I hope to make young adults aware that these issues are universal, and to open their eyes to the happenings around them found in other people, whether it be found in their friends� situation, their teachers�, somebody from another country that they do not know, or very likely, in their own situation. In teaching this novel, I hope to expand students� minds to a coming of age that is probably different than what they can imagine, demonstrating heavy struggles and sacrifices to see triumph in the end, but it is a coming of age story, nonetheless.

I can see this novel being problematic for only one reason, and that is because of the very descriptive and graphic scenes of Maya�s rape and molestation. The novel has been banned by some schools due to those scenes, but I feel that the overall effect will be much more worth it to students than trying to keep things PG-13. When I had to read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini in my sophomore year of high school, I thought that it was very risky for my teacher to allow us to read this kind of book, with there being a graphic homosexual rape scene; but by the end of the novel, I felt that it was one of those tragic stories like Night by Elie Wiesel, that really opened my eyes to events that have occurred in the past. By teaching I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, I hope to have the same effect as those novels had on me when I was a teenager.

Launching the Unit:

1) Either as a summer project or a winter break project, I would have students pick a novel from the following choices to read, prior to the centerpiece novel of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, that we will be reading as a class:

a) Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a novel about a teen, Melinda, that undergoes rape and recovers from it. Melinda is ostracized by her peers as well as her friends, and goes from day to day as an outcast. This novel is about how Melinda finds her voice through art, and later is able to find her voice of courage to speak about her rape. She overcomes internal conflicts of expressing herself and socializing with peers as well as her family members, and finds her voice to find her identity and freedom from her secret.

b) The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, is a novel about a poor black girl named Celie who undergoes many challenges in her young life, such as being raped and impregnated by her father, getting married into an unhappy relationship where she is abused, struggling with her curiosity about homosexuality, and the absence of her beloved sister. From a young age to her later years, this character deals with poverty, oppression, rape/abuse, racist conflicts, and her search for her identity and her freedom from her oppressive lifestyle.

c) Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher, is a coming of age story in which the main character, T. J., undergoes his struggle for change in multiple aspects of his life: the school�s favoritism for athletes, athletes bullying others for not being an athlete, his father�s guilt for accidentally murdering a child, a little girl�s acceptance of her identity and color, helping others overcome physical and psychological abuse, as well as helping them find their own identities. Swimming being his main motivator and solution to many of the struggles he faces, T. J. overcomes the challenges that his life throws at him with the help of close friends and his family.

d) Sold, by Patricia McCormick, �follows a young girl from a village in Nepal who gets sold into sex slavery by her stepfather. Lakshmi is thirteen years old when the story begins. Lakshmi�s life is shattered when her stepfather sells her for 800 rupees to a woman who promises a better life. This whore house is where Lakshmi�s childhood is taken from her, and where she must learn to make it out alive� (Amina Omer, Book Talk Presentation). In this novel, Lakshmi undergoes rape/abuse and her struggle for freedom, while having to grow up through her adolescent years of becoming a woman.

e) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie is a novel about a Native American teenager named Arnold who is born with a physical disability (cerebrospinal fluid in the brain). As a suggestion by his wise, old teacher, Arnold goes to the all-white high school on the countryside, where he deals with bullying, racism, and struggles with his low-class distinction between himself and the other white kids that attend there. This novel is Arnold�s coming of age story, where he learns to deal with his background of alcoholism, deaths in his family, losing his best friend, his family and tribe�s poverty, and accepting that he deserves to be at the white school just as much as any of the other kids that attend there. Using basketball as his motivator and driving force in the story, Arnold learns to overcome his obstacles and define his identity through the challenges he takes on to get to a better education and play hard in basketball.

Their assignment for this project will be to keep a simple t-chart, writing down the struggles/conflicts that the main character has on one side, and how that character overcomes their struggles/conflicts on the other side. By doing this, they will be able to keep track of the character�s progression and also to have something to look back on when we begin I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. I chose this list of novels carefully because although each novel may seem different because of their setting and time, the main characters in the novels undergo some form of change during or before their adolescence that has to do with rape/abuse, identity, racism, freedom, and the strength of family.

2) Coming back from either the summer or winter break, I would have each group of students that chose the same book get together for a mini discussion before we bring it in to talk about as a class. As we discuss the books as a class, the students will keep a list of the books with their own short summary of their classmate�s chosen novels. This exercise will give the students a chance to share their knowledge about the book they chose to read and spend time on, while also learning about the other novels chosen by other students that have similar themes and character conflicts to their book.

3) Before we begin I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, I will show the students two poems, one written by Laurie Halse Anderson and the other by Maya Angelou. After the students are shown each poem on the overhead projector, I will ask them to write a journal entry on how the poem made them feel and how it pertains to the novel that they chose. We will discuss each one after as a class. Then after my brief introduction to Maya Angelou�s novel, we can begin reading as a class. Below are Anderson and Angelou�s poems:

a) �Listen� by Laurie Halse Anderson

You write to us
from Houston, Brooklyn, Peoria,
Rye, NY,
LA, DC, Everyanywhere USA to
 my mailbox, My
Space Face
Book
A livejournal of bffs whispering
Onehundredthousand whispers to
Melinda and
Me.

You:
I was raped, too
sexually assaulted in seventh
grade,
tenth grade, the summer after
graduation,
at a party
i was 16
i was 14
i was 5 and he did it for three
years
i loved him
i didn�t even know him.
He was my best friend�s brother,
my grandfather, father, mommy�s
boyfriend,
my date
my cousin
my coach
i met him for the first time that
night and —
four guys took turns, and  —
i�m a boy and this happened to
 me, and  —

� I got pregnant I gave up my
daughter for adoption �
did it happen to you, too?
U 2?

You:
i wasn�t raped, but
my dad drinks, but
i hate talking, but
my brother was shot, but
i am outcast, but
my parents split up, but
i am clanless, but
we lost our house, but
i have secrets – seven years of secrets
and i cut
myself my friends cut
we all cut cut cut
to let out the pain

� my 5-year-old cousin was
raped –
he�s beginning to act out now �
do you have suicidal thoughts?
do you want to kill him?

You:
Melinda is a lot like this girl I
know
No she�s a lot like
(me)
i am MelindaSarah
i am MelindaRogelio i am MelindaMegan, MelindaAmberMelindaStephenTori
PhillipNavdiaTiaraMateoKristinaBeth
it keeps hurting, but
but
but
but
this book cracked my shell
it keeps hurting I hurt, but
but your book cracked my shell.

You:
I cried when I read it.
I laughed when I read it
is that dumb?
I sat with the girl —
you know,  that girl —
I sat with her because nobody sits with
her at lunch
and I�m a cheerleader, so there.

speak changed my life
cracked my shell
made me think
about parties
gave me
wings this book
opened my mouth
i whispered, cried
rolled up my sleeves i
hate talking but
I am trying.

You made me remember who I
am.
Thanks.

P.S. Our class is gonna analyze this thing to death.

Me:
Me:
Me: weeping

b) �I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings� by Maya Angelou

The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun 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 fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and is tune is heard
on the distant hillfor the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
an 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.

Extending the Unit:

1) Throughout the assigned reading for home and the occasional days of reading I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings in class, students will be expected to keep a journal to write down a summary of character conflicts after each chapter and compare them to the conflicts of characters from the book they have read over break.

2) In addition to the summaries for I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, it would help students to keep the events fresh in their minds if the character conflicts are lied out in chronological order, filling them in on a timeline that they have created. For example, one of the first character conflicts on the timeline would be Maya and her brother Bailey�s journey to their grandmother�s place because of their parents� divorce. Below their entry, they would need to write out an explanation as to how that event is significant to the main character, or how it brings about conflict. For the example above that I gave, the explanation would be something like: This event is significant in Maya�s life because it is not only where her journey begins, but it is the beginning to her disrupted childhood. Maya and Bailey feel abandoned by their parents, not knowing the reason as to why they have to be sent away. This creates an internal conflict for Maya, as well as her brother, because she is so young that she does not know the reason why she and her brother have to be separated from their family, left to venture for days by themselves in search for their grandmother.

3) As a part of a larger whole, these mini projects and exercises will be used to help students with their presentation and essay, comparing and contrasting Maya Angelou�s novel with the novel that they chose. Their main focus will be I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, but they will use the novel they have previously read to use as a foil to the main character/other characters from Maya Angelou�s book, explaining how each novel coincides with the other.

Concluding the Unit:

By the end of the unit, students should have a strong understanding of young adult identity and the struggles that it can come with, including rape/abuse, racist conflicts, freedom, and the strength of family. With their new understanding, I hope that students will become better at identifying conflicts in a character and to appreciate the battles and triumphs that have/can occur to other people, if not only for themselves.

Works Cited

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little Brown & Co, 2007.

Anderson, Laurie H. Speak. New York: The Penguin Group, 1999

Anderson, Laurie H. �Listen.� New York: Puffin Books, 2009

Angelou, Maya. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Sparknotes. Web.

Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk. Unites States:Laurel-Leaf Books, HarperCollins Children�s Book, 2005.

Omer, Amina. Book Talk Presentation. Sold.

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. California: Simon & Schuster Inc, 1982.