I
Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,
Maya Angelou
Written Productions
- Write a review of the film version of “I Know Why the Caged
Bird Sings". Be specific about your audience (e.g. readers of a popular
“teen” magazine) and attempt to write in an appropriate style.
- Compare the original text of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” with
the film version. You will need to show an awareness of why the director
and scriptwriters had to make changes and make reasoned judgements about
the strengths and weaknesses of the two genres.
- In Chapter 34 of “Caged Bird”, Maya decides that she wants to become
a streetcar “conductorette”, a position never previously held by a “colored”
person. (The year is 1944. The famous Rosa Parks incident on
a Montgomery bus took place 11 years later.) Imagine that Maya writes
to The San Francisco Chronicle protesting about the racial discrimination
she encounters. Write her letter. You may refer to other instances
of discrimination that Maya would have been conscious of at that time.
- Create a “Caged Bird” home page for the World Wide Web. (Only
the verbal element will be assessed; you will not be rewarded for technical
expertise or use of images.) You may include links to existing websites
but your own page must contain original material, such as character profiles,
a time line, a commentary on language, discussion of themes etc.
Try to be specific about your audience (e.g. A2 students).
- Choose any scene from the autobiography and rewrite it as a playscript.
This will probably contain directions, though visual directions will not
be taken into account in grading the production. Your subsequent
analysis/explanation should comment on the choices you had to make (e.g.
reducing/increasing dialogue, representing thoughts/narration as dialogue
and so on).
- In the 1950s and 60s Maya Angelou was active in the US Civil Rights
movement and worked alongside Dr Martin Luther King Jnr. Write a
speech that Maya might have made during that time, possibly including some
reference to her own experiences. In view of the powerful role of
the Bible, its imagery and rhythms in Maya’s life, you might try to write
the speech in a “biblical” style. (Martin Luther King’s famous “I
Have a Dream” speech is a good example of such a speech.)
- In Chapter 24 Maya fantasises about her “Momma” humiliating a racist
white dentist. Choose a similarly degrading experience from elsewhere
in the book (e.g. the speech by a white politician at Maya’s graduation
ceremony) and turn it into a fantasy. Be prepared to comment in your
analysis/explanation on the style you adopted (e.g. Marvel comic)
and point to specific examples.
- Write a poem based on an experience described in “Caged Bird” or
on one of the themes of the autobiography. Your analysis/explanation
of the poem (e.g. its theme, tone, structure, imagery and diction) will
be especially important.