Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers

1. We talked about the title of Maya Angelou’s first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. What did Angelou say is the reason a caged bird sings? What does that mean? Do you agree with or understand that idea?

Angelou said that the reason the caged bird sings is because it is singing for freedom. It means that the bird does not want to be in the cage and wants out so it’s chirping, is bird screams but we don’t hear that, instead we hear a pretty chirping noise. I agree and understand that idea. I mean I never thought about that before but now that I have I believe it.

7. Angelou says she often has “total recall” of the events in her life. Are you a person who remembers everything or someone who remembers almost nothing? Which is better to be? Which periods or times in your life are clearest? Fuzziest? Do you have better recall of the times you consider happy or the ones you consider sad or embarrassing or uncomfortable or humorous?

I’m a person who remembers almost everything. I think it’s better to be one to remember some but not all. The clearest time I remember is my childhood. Yes there was good in it but a lot of sad. It gets fuzzy when I really try to remember specific things. I have a better time remembering sad times. I don’t really like that though.

9. Angelou plays solitaire with a deck of cards to occupy her “small mind” when she is trying to get focused to write. What things do you do to occupy your small mind in a positive way? What are your biggest distractions when you need to get something done?

Things I do to occupy my “small mind” are listening to music and writing my stories. Some of my biggest distractions are really anything. At times I can be easily distracted.

10. Angelou quotes Nathaniel West as saying, “Easy reading is damned hard writing”and says writing is “just hard work, you know?” Do you agree with this? What is easiest and hardest to you about writing? Is writing hard work?

I agree with the quote because I write stories and when the reading is easy it’s hard to think of what to write when you are trying to make it simple and easy. And writing is hard work if you aren’t really into it. When you aren’t into it nothing seems to work, and you end up getting easily frustrated. It’s hard to think what you want to happen next and how to say it.