poem

I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou

A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange suns rays
And dares to claim the sky.

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage
Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
And the trade winds soft through
The sighing trees
And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright
Lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams
His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with
A fearful trill of things unknown
But longed for still and his
Tune is heard on the distant hill
For the caged bird sings of freedom.


Maya Angelou uses central metaphor in her poem to compare a caged bird to one who feels trapped and hopeless,and a free bird to one who is able to pursue their dreams. The caged bird's thoughts linger on what it is missing, because it longs to be free. To one who feels trapped and unable to pursue their dreams, like the caged bird, all the good around them is overshadowed by the sinking feeling that they are missing out on a very important part of life. One does not necessarily know exactly what they are missing out on, they are "things unknown but longed for still"(12), but it is enough to put a damper on a day's happenings. Unable to change a situation, the caged bird sings,like a cry for help. Much like when one finds themself in a binding situation, they find a way to ask for help. A cry for help is not alway heard, or heard just enough to make one feel uncomfortable to ignore it and go about their business. When the caged bird in the poem sings, "tune is heard on a distant hill"(27), but the poem makes it seem like the bird goes un-answered. The caged bird stands on the "grave of dreams"(20), while the free bird "dares to claim the sky"(6). By making this comparison, Angelou suggests that all people desire freedom, and those who are free should truly appreciate their fate.

q1 reflection

i thought i did well quarter 1 over all. i though enriched might be too much but i think i'm doing ok. This quarter i learned how to write a thesis, and paragraph. I also learn how to write a literary analysis parper and support my arguments with cited quotes and examples from text. i need to work on following direction and making sure i understand assignments. i think i could also work on paying attention more.my goal for this quarter is to get an A or A-. :)

osr5-devil wears prada

A common idea shared with other books/movies we have read/watched this year is rebellion. Although Andy does her best to obey miranda, she is always silently cursing her in her head. Like richard resents his father in black boy, because he is a controlling,selfish and greedy man, so also Andy hates Miranda for the same reasons.

What i thought of the book: interesting, I like all the description of clothes in the book, but the way it ended was very irritating. It was still worthwhile to read it though.

osr4-devil wears prada

Andy deals with more than one major struggle in the book. Andy tries to manage her personal life and keep it separate from her work life. She finds it very diffucult to even have a personal life on the side of her work life. Andy struggles to keep up a relationship with her boyfriend and best friend. Andy basically drops her relationship with her family because they live an hour or two away, and to be that far from miranda for a weekend is impossible. What if Miranda needs someone to pick up her coffee? Andy soon realizes that her job is literally full time...like 24/7. Miranda will call Andy at 3am with requests. Anyway ..Andy can't relly mange her personal life outside of the fashion world. She finds herself making new "fashion friends" and having romances(unknown to her bf) with "fashion men" (straight of course). I think there is a part of Andy that would have like to have kept living that glamourous lifestyle, but i think her pervious values were too deeply ingrained in her for her to change and stay changed.

osr3-devil wears prada

Andy faces many challenges in the book. She has to please Miranda and try to keep her job. Doing so is on the borderline of impossible. Andy drops her entire old life for the new job. Everything she cares most about has to be put on hold for the year she works for miranda : writing, her boyfriend, old best friend, family. From the stress of it all and because she has to look good for her job, and already thin Andy loses 15 pounds in the first few months of working at runway. She barely has time to eat anyway, considering nobody is allowed to eat in front of miranda, and when andy is out of the office she is always rushing aroud doing errands. Eventually when Andy's friend goes into a coma and miranda doesn't permit Andy to leave fashion week, the stress becomes too much for Andy and she quits. After quitting her job, Andy understands that in trying to realize her dream, she lost sight of everything most important to her. But that year ended up being worth it i think because she got a great job at the new yorker because of miranda.

osr2-devil wears prada

main characters continued-

- Emily- senior executive assistant- Emily is very motivated to do the very best she can at her job so she doesn't get on Miranda's bad side. Emily loves prestige and nice clothes. She gives up her her life to a few years of servitude to Miranda in order to get a dream job in the fashion industry. Unlike Andy, Emily definatly has respect for Miranda, although she secretly hates her at the same time.

-Lily- at the begining of the story lily is the one mostly watching out for Andy, but as you get deeper into the novel she becomes a drunk, and ends up seriously needing Andy's help when she can't give it. When lily ends up in the hospital, Andy know she can't just ignore her friends and family anymore, and so she quits her job and flies home to see lily. BFFs<3

Photography post

OSR1 - Devil Wears Prada

the characters in my book:

- Andrea..main character..she takes job at fashion magazine because she is told that it is the key to her future.. she loathes fashion at first and then gradually comes to like it.. but never love it. She eventually leaves her job because it costs Andrea her personal life outside of fashion..DUMBEST MOST ANNOYING ENDING EVER. she totally should have kept her job because seriously its true a million girls would die for that job including me, she was making friends in the industry, SHE GOT TO WEAR COUTURE. i mean, really, what more could u ask for.. its like an amazing future was handed to her on a silver platter( no bread, of course) and she just turned up her nose at it. like what the heck is that? anywayyyyy i like her towards the very end before she gives up her job and after she gains a bit of intelligence in the world of fashion... which she never does compleltly tho.

- Miranda priestly on the other hand..amazing! she is Anna Wintour under under the pseudonym Miranda Priestly because the author can't just use her name. but ya, she is and amazing woman and everybody in the book complains about her allllll the time except for Emily,the senior assistant because who only has the occassional sigh about her which is understandable. But you know what? Miranda Preistly has a right to be selfish, wasteful, excessive, and firm because she IS the woman behind the industry and intelligent people bend to her will because they know her genius... for instance, ( REAL LIFE example) , just awhile ago rachele zoe insulted Anna Wintour saying that she was more influential to the industry than Anna Wintour. Rachel Zoe was Immeadiatly dropped from her agency. Now im not sure if u kno who rachel zoe is, so i'll tell you. She is a celebrity stylist. She is an enormously powerful woman who dresses many, many of the most well dressed celebrities including Kiera Knightly, Mishka Barton,Cameron Diaz, Paris HIlton, Kate Beckinsale , Nicole Ritchie (no longer) Lindsay Lohan and many many more. The fact that Rachel Zoe could be dropped from her agency just like that for saying something degrading about Anna Wintour really says something about Anna Wintour, and therefore, the character Miranda Preistly as well. I like Miranda Preistly's character a lot, and admired Emily (senior assisant) for her devotin to her job. Without Miranda Preistly, the Devil Wears Prada would just be another boring book giving readers a false perception of 'life from the inside'.

BB2

What types of things does Richard "hunger" for
and what are the effects (positive and negative) of hunger?

Richard hungers for actual food, but he also hungers for security. Like you know how he used to hide food when he first moved to granny's wayyy back, because he was secretly scared that in the morning there would be no food left? Or how Richard gets a job to make sure he can afford to hang out with friends and do the activities that they do -which also include buying snacks at the store.

Richard hungers for power and control over his own life. Richard often rebels against those in authority. he wants to control his own life and he is sure that he knows best. Richard learns the art of rebellion and that it is the key to his freedom.

I think Richard hungers for knowledge, because i think subconciously, he knows that his life will be the same as those before and after him, indistinguishable from the thousands of other blacks living in his town/state and era unless he sets himself apart. I don't think that richard is completely aware of his hunger for knowlege though. If you asked him what he wants the most, i have a feeling that he wouldn't say knowledge.

thoughts??

Black Boy 1

Is Richard a "bad" boy?
When should behavior be blamed on the person and when should it be blamed on the environment?

I think that richard is not a bad boy, but his nature isn't enirely good either. For instance, when richard goes to the saloon, he repeats dirty comments for money. But you can't really blame him . Richard is poor and repeating dirty things is an easy way to earn money, a way to get attention, and heck, he's drunk! So I don't think that Richard is entirely a bad boy. But something about his lack of attatchment to his family bothers me. I find it strange that he can just let go of his father so easily. Or when Richar runs away form the orphanage, he doesn't even stop to consider his brother. Richard tells us that his life will be very different from his father's, saying"...my father was a black peasant who had gone to the city seeking life,but who had failed in the city; a black peasant who's life had been hopelessly snarled in the city, and who had at last fled the city-that same city which had lifted me upin it's burning arms and borne me toward alien and undreamed shores of knowing"(35). so we will see....

my guess is that Richard will do something bad to a white man , and then a black man will hide him, educated him, and send him out back into the world to fight against racism and religous discrimination...

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