Advertisements
Advertisements
प्रश्न
What arc the poetic devices used in Maya Angelou’s poem “Caged Bird”?
Advertisements
उत्तर
Maya Angelou uses a myriad of poetic devices in the poem, including metaphor, rhyme, imagery, alliteration, personification, and repetition.In the poem, Angelou employs these poetic devices to contrast a free bird with a bird who is confined to a cage; the two different birds serve as metaphors for people free from oppression and people who are oppressed by society, respectively. Considering Angelou’s personal history and the themes of her autobiographies, the caged bird, more explicitly, is a metaphor for African-Americans who experienced racism and discrimination through slavery. Like the caged bird in the poem, African- Americans were physically confined or restricted due to slavery and segregation, but they still vocally demanded their freedom.
In addition to using metaphor, Angelou utilizes repetition to reinforce the idea that African Americans cried out for freedom from oppression even in the bleakest of times when their oppressors did not want to “hear” them. Angelou repeats the third and fifth (final) stanzas, with the caged bird singing for freedom:
The caged bird sings/with 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.
In the above quotation, the end rhyme in the second, fourth, and sixth lines with “trill,” “still,” and “hill.” We also find end rhyme as well as alliteration in the second stanza of the poem, when Angelou describes how the caged bird is physically confined. In the second stanza, the caged bird is in “his narrow cage” and “can seldom see through/his bars of rage” (“seldom see” forms the alliteration, while “cage” and “rage” form the end rhyme).
Finally, there is vivid imagery in the first stanza when the free bird “dips his wing/ in the orange sun rays” and personification and alliteration in the fourth stanza when the caged bird’s “shadow shouts on a nightmare scream.” In this example from the fourth stanza, note the repetition of the consonant “s” and giving the caged bird’s shadow the human quality of shouting, which emphasizes the bird’s nightmarish existence living in confinement.
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
In the following items, sentence A is complete, while sentence B is not. Complete sentence B, making it as similar as possible to sentence A. Write sentence B.
(A) No other planet is as big as Jupiter.
(B) Jupiter ...............................................................................
In the following items, sentence A is complete, while sentence B is not. Complete sentence B, making it as similar as possible to sentence A. Write sentence B.
(A) He is forgetful as well as careless with his work.
(B) Besides .............................................................................
Why couldn't the narrator sleep?
Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets. Do not copy the passage, but write in the correct serial order the word or phrase appropriate to the blank space.
Example:
(0) One morning, I (0) ……. (see) the python curled up on the dressing table.
Answer: saw.
It was (1) ……. (gaze) at its own reflection in the mirror. I (2) ……… (go) for grandfather, but by the time we (3) ……… (return) to the room, the python (4) …….. (move) on. He was seen in the garden, and once the cook saw him, (5) ……… (crawl) up the ladder to the roof. Then we (6) …….. (find) him on the dressing table again, (7) (admire) himself in the mirror. “He’s trying to look better for Aunt Mabel,” I said. I (8) ……. (regret) this remark immediately because grandmother overheard it and held up my pocket money for the rest of the week!
Have you heard any boatmen’s songs? What kind of emotions do these songs usually express?
Notice the following sentence patterns.
For song…duly with love returns
Rewrite the above sentences in prose.
Discuss in pairs or in small groups
The Indian family system offers more security to the aged than what is found in the West.
Find five words in the following paragraph, which are generally associated with trees. But here, they have been used differently. Underline the words.
Hari leaves for work at nine every morning. He works in the local branch of the firm of which his uncle is the owner. Hari’s success is really the fruit of his own labour. He is happy, but he has a small problem. The root cause of his problem is a stray dog near his office. The dog welcomes Hari with a loud bark every day.
Discuss with your partner the various hazards and risks that a mountaineer/ trekker has to face in an expedition.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Make a diary entry on the impact of a sports personality who is an inspiration to you.
Note
- Date your entry.
- Write naturally and truthfully.
- Use first person. (I read about Mithali, I like her playing style, etc.,)
- Make your entry informal and expressive.
- Use words that express feelings and write what you feel about it.
