The Differences and Similarities Between 'Caged Bird' and 'Still IRise'

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The Differences and Similarities Between ‘Caged Bird’ and ‘Still I Rise’

‘Caged Bird’ and ‘Still I Rise’ are in their own ways similar, because they are both noticeably about the coloured race and the entrapment of that race and their bid for freedom. But both poems also display many differences, like the use of metaphors and ways of expressing their determination and the segregation of their race. Their titles almost sound like opposites with a capture of something and a rise above something, but ‘Still I Rise’ would also be a rise above a capture or an attempt at a capture

Maya Angelou, the author, was raised in segregated, rural Arkansas, and so this could be the reason for the content of her poems. I think that she has intentionally expressed these themes strongly in both of these poems because she felt strongly at the time of the segregation of the black communities, being part of one herself.

‘Caged Bird’ is, in my view, a really well written poem, by using a bird as the metaphor of the poem to get the message of the poem across to the reader. By doing this, the author opens up lots of verbs to be used to describe slavery, but also the freedom the bird has in the first stanza, and the adventures that are open to the bird.

‘Still I Rise’ is aimed at the white race and the treatment that the blacks received from them. This is stated right at the beginning to make sure the reader knows this, and is pulled into the poem straight away. However, the writer is not easily down-hearted by this treatment, and is determined to rise above it; she is proud of her colour and willingly declares this throughout the poem.

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This is similar to ‘Caged Bird’ in which when the bird is captured it always knows that it has its song and it can ‘Sing for freedom’ and although it gets captured and tied up, no one can stop its song. The structure of ‘Caged Bird’ is clearly stated in the verses and the poem moves at a steady pace, exploring the bird’s actions and feelings throughout the poem.

The first verse of this poem starts with the freedom of the bird and its joys of being able to do what it wants, but this is short lived ...

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