Blog 21: Making Connections

For the past two days, your class has viewed the I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings film and responded to teacher-constructed questions during your viewing; all participating students received credit for these worksheets.

Now it is your turn to develop questions and make connections between the film and book! With a partner or individually, post five questions you realized you had about Marguerite's story from viewing the film--a question can be formed from something you were wondering about. After you have developed your questions, find the answers in the book! Challenge: Cite quotations to support your answers. Include page number.

1. Q: Why does Uncle Willie walk with a limp and what's with his stutter?

A: A babysitter dropped him as a child, but Momma says it was God's will, so she's not mad about it.

2. Q: Why aren't Bailey and Maya enthusiastic to meet their father?

A: Neither of his parents had ever written them or bothered to visit, so they felt offended that all of a sudden he shows up. They were also confused because Bailey Jr. thought that he saw his dead body the night before.

3. Q: Were "the boys" apart of the KKK?

A: Yes, even though they weren't dressed in white hoods, they were still part of the racist group.

4. Q: Why were the children upset that their parents sent them gifts?

A: They felt that their parents were showing off their big city lives while Bailey Jr. and Maya were left to live on a farm, forever abandoned by them.

5. Q: When did Maya's parents seperate?

A: Maya was only 3 years old.

Blog 20: Segregation Presented in Chapter 8

1. How did the Depression impact the black community of Stamps?

Maya says that "whatever was given to Black people to other Blacks was most probably needed as desperately by the donor as by the reciever." By this she meant that everyone was in a terrible financial state.

2. Did it change them much?

It didn't change them so drastically, considering they weren't accustomed to the life of a white person with pretty dresses and gems, but it only made life harder.

3. Did it alter their view of life?

Some were deterred but Momma in the story kept her store going and the strong people had hope. It was really a test of who could be strong and pull through.

4. Were they better or worse off than the white community?

They were better off than the whites in the sense that they weren't that far out of their usual element, but the whites had to adapt to a life of not spending, which they were very used to.

5. Which would recover faster?

The Blacks would recover faster because their normal state wasn't too far off from poverty.

At this time, I would have rather been Black. Maya Angelou makes it clear that the Blacks live in a tight-knit community where everyone has each other's backs and cares about family. Even though the Depression was going on, Momma kept her store going. I think it would really test who was strong and who was weak, and separate the ox from the mice.

Blog 19: Angelou's Life, Times, & Message

1. We discussed the famous Scottsboro case in which 9 African American boys were convicted of rape just because of their race.

2. Maya Angelou was raped at the age of 8 by her mother's boyfriend. This caused her to remain silent for 5 whole years.

3. Hitler's actions at this time were racist and caused a mass murder of all those who he was racist against.

4. Maya Angelou is mainly a poet but wrote I Know Why the Caged Bird sings as a nonfiction novel.

5. Racism exists everywhere in the U.S. Thousands of hate crimes are committed each day. Although, different races have also gained more acceptance since the 30s and 40s when blacks were lynched just because of their skin color. Racism has come a long way but still lurks in the shadows.