“The Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou tell...

 

“The Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou tells of many different stages of a very unfortunate little bird’s life. The free bird flies downstream and attempts to wet his wings in the sun’s rays; the angry cage bird is unable to move; the caged bird sings of the unknown; the bird is caged and sings about freedom. Looking from a certain perspective, the bird has passed through a few depressing stages of his life.

 

            The words caged and freedom play very important roles in this poem. The word caged, “The caged bird sings with a fear full trill” (ll.7), means that the bird is captured and cannot escape, giving a negative connotation of some sort. On the other hand, “The free bird thinks of knew breezes” (ll.11) alludes to happiness and joy. This forces one to be perplexed so the reader would have to stall and sort of question where the story stands. Ms. Angelou did an admirable job with this section of the poem. These two words cause the overall poem to open up and develop into the nation renowned poem that it has become.

 

            The confusion that these two words, caged and free, cause really causes the poem to develop the way it did. In a way they brought the poem to its popularity. Even some college courses require the analysis of this poem that indirectly leads to there future graduation. And for us to be given this poem is amazing because really the only change is the way you can interpret the poem and where these words bring you. All because the concept and theme it is possibility to be open.

 

Is the poem connected with slavery and escaping out of captivity? For instance: “The angry bird is caged and unable to move,” (sequence of events) connecting to slavery when the slaves were chained up which causes them to be extremely upset about their confinement; “The caged bird sings about unknown things,” (sequence of events) meaning the freedom land, for it has merely no idea about what freedom is like or how to obtain it. This is almost exactly what the slaves desired because they weren’t absolutely clear about freedom but they would give anything for it. They both also couldn’t see the land the land that they held most dearly in their hopes and dreams.

 

“The bird thinks of another breeze, and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees.” (ll.12).  Sighing is an action sometimes associated with depression or frustration. Many people have quoted a philosopher that has said that, “We area direct product of our existing environment,” for better or for worse. The trees are symbols for sad (frustrated) or depressed people that he is passing by in his flight searching for a better place beyond the distant hills.

 

Moving upward in social standing requires being free and being able to over come social separation. Also, “The free bird… waiting… he names the sky his own.” The bird is free but yet it still attempts to claim one more thing, the sky. In earlier history the sky has been referred to as holy or divine meaning that it is nearly out of reach. The only thing left that it can hope for now because it’s free is civil right

Dreams. (basically planning my life)

Dreams. (basically planning my life) When i think about my future i look way in to it. What i find my self thinking about, well kind of wanting, is not stuff i would typically expect from a person. like when i imagine my future, its not much. all i want to have when i grow up is some sort of family. and the rest comes in the picture almost as "extremities". also, i am going to be living in a beautiful forestry/rural place. something like near a small town. i do not want to have a life entirely based on stuff i have, rather than stuff i do.

I think i feel this way because as i have been growing up, Family meant nearly everything. the need for family figures in my life when i am an adult can be contributed to my grandparents. they are the producers of one hundred family members. i let a lone have over one hundred family members in the city of Alameda so like everywhere i go there is a cousin or and aunt. sometimes even some nephews or nieces. I LOVE it. i cant even imagine going a day without seeing some kind of family member.

i want. i do not want a typical life. like most people would make comment and or even say it is less than an "average". like something simple. when i grow up i am going to be healthy, have a good job, vacation often (but it wont be vacationing), and enjoy everything/everyone in my life. even the simple things. i like the simple things... there are actually the greatest part of life. to be healthy i am going to eat healthy and work out almost everyday. to have good job i am going to need to going to have to go to a nice college, prob through football. :( i do not really want to but i am probably going to have to do college through football. and since i want to live in northern California near the sierra mountains, Guam, or basically any beautiful spot in the world. nothing plain. since ill be living in a vacation place it technically wont be vacationing. and for the simple things, everything beautiful.

None of this even possible without god. God is the center of everything. everything we know. everything we will know. weird right? at first, when i just started thinking on my own and being more responsible (such as making decisions or planning for my future), basically getting  freedom over my own life, i did not believe that any of this was true. this amazed my parents because they both were very firm believers and played an extremely active role in our church community. i think all of my "doubts" about religion came as i started having legit science classes.

Science classes started getting more serious and more in depth as i got older and older. i first actually noticed this in the eight grade when they started to teach us about all that evolution shit. i actually had a teacher that had the tenacity to look me in the eye and tell me that "god is not real. its just that a women stuck to her lie very well." we all know where he is going! but anyways, this was the first time in my life that someone has told me god was a lie. I was honestly pissed. i was like HOW RUDE! this mad me think, a lot. i ended up questioning the whole religion and basis of Christianity.

I later did research on things that have disproved Christianity or stuff that just argued it. on top of further depth in evolution and better standing off it i found some legit ass arguments convincing me otherwise. this wasn't the nail in the coffin of my faith in god. something else later to come did me off. one of the most disappointments in my life brought me down.

Auntie Carmen. She was my aunt that died in my eighth grade year. i felt that if someone can just die without any remorse there could not be anybody responsible. just like that, family, gone. this was absolutely devastating to everyone in our family. how could anyone do that to a family. couldn't be real.

i went for about a year thinking this. not until maybe early sophomore summer. right now i honestly cant remember why i have started believing in god but i really do believe in him. even though the events that have turned me away, my crisis is over and my belief is stronger than ever

(continuation of my last blogg)

(continuation of my last blogg)



None of this even possible without god. God is the center of
everything. everything we know. everything we will know. weird right?
at first, when i just started thinking on my own and being more
responsible (such as making desicions or planning for my future),
basically getting  freedom over my own life, i did not believe that any
of this was true. this amazed my parents because they both were very
firm believers and played an extremely active role in our church
comuntity. i think all of my "doubts" about religion came as i started
having legit science classes.

Science classes started getting
more serious and more in depth as i got older and older. i first
actualy noticed this in the eight grade when they sarted to teach us
about all that evoulution shit. i actually had a teacher that had the
tenacity to look me in the eye and tell me that "god is not real. its
just that a women stuck to her lie vey well." Haha. we all know where
he is going! but anyways, this was the first time in my life that
someone has told me god was a lie. I was honestly pissed. i was like
HOW RUDE! this mad me think, a lot. i ended up questioning the whole
religion and basis of christianity.

I later did researchon
things that have disproved christianity or stuff that just argued it.
on top of further depth in evolution and better standing off it i found
some legit ass arguements convincing me otherwise. this wasnt the nail
in the coffin of my faith in god. something else later to come did me
off. one of the most dissapointments in my life brought me down.

Auntie
Carmen. She was my aunt that died in my eighth grade year. i felt that
if someone can just die without any remorse there could not be anybody
responsable. just like that, family, gone. this was absolutely
devistating to everyone in our family. how could anyone do that to a
family. couldnt be real.

Charles Louis de Secondat was born in...

 Charles Louis de Secondat was born in Bordeaux, France, in 1689 to a wealthy family. Despite his family's wealth, de Decondat was placed in the care of a poor family during his childhood. He later went to college and studied science and history, eventually becoming a lawyer in the local government. De Secondat's father died in 1713 and he was placed under the care of his uncle, Baron de Montesquieu. The Baron died in 1716 and left de Secondat his fortune, his office as president of the Bordeaux Parliament, and his title of Baron de Montesquieu. Later he was a member of the Bordeaux and French Academies of Science and studied the laws and customs and governments of the countries of Europe. He gained fame in 1721 with his Persian Letters, which criticized the lifestyle and liberties of the wealthy French as well as the church. However, Montesquieu's book On the Spirit of Laws, published in 1748, was his most famous work. It outlined his ideas on how government would best work.

      Montesquieu believed that all things were made up of rules or laws that never changed. He set out to study these laws scientifically with the hope that knowledge of the laws of government would reduce the problems of society and improve human life. According to Montesquieu, there were three types of government: a monarchy (ruled by a king or queen), a republic (ruled by an elected leader), and a despotism (ruled by a dictator). Montesquieu believed that a government that was elected by the people was the best form of government. He did, however, believe that the success of a democracy - a government in which the people have the power - depended upon maintaining the right balance of power. Montesquieu argued that the best government would be one in which power was balanced among three groups of officials.