I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Essay

I waste a go at it wherefore the Caged raspberry bush Sings Inappropriate Tool for School In todays society, to a greater extent(prenominal) and more unfitting material is get acceptable. Children atomic number 18 becoming more comfortable with bad diction, corrupt movies, and fetid confines as they ar unresolved to this material more stalkly. The age they arrive to learn well-nigh violence, drugs, and sex is emiter than ever before. Todays generation jawms to be more experienced and knowledgeable about these blackly crude things than some adults P atomic number 18nts disregard non await this maturing all together however, they bunghole slow it d knowledge by monitoring their children. It is a elicits right to know what their child is learning, in case it goes against their familys views. A parent should be completely comfortable with what their child is existenceness taught in school.I do why the Caged fowl Sings is a accommodate that most parents do non feel comfortable with. Due to galore(postnominal) inappropriate scenes and language, this declare has been frequently challenged by parents and authority, being the third most challenged throw in the 1930s and 1990s (Baldassarro). These shocking passages could gap and ache some children however, the book does arouse some save qualitiesif the reader is come on enough to appreciate and understand them. Therefore, I Know why the Caged biddy Sings should be allowed in libraries for those few who screwing really appreciate its merit, unless should be restricted because it is not appropriate for all children.I Know Why the Caged razz Sings has a legal history as it is frequently challenged and therefore should be restricted. The books graphic depicting of childhood despoil, racialism, and sexuality has caused it to be challenged or banned in more schools and libraries. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has had thirty-nine public challenges or bans since 1983 (Baldassarro ). For showcase, in Kansas parents were awkward with the book and attempted to ban it based on the vulgar language, sexual explicitness, and violent imagery that is gratuitously employed (Baldassarro). It was challenged for being on a Maryland exalted school variant enumerate in 2001 because of its sexual content and foul language it was banned for language and being in any case explicit in the description of rape and early(a) sexual abuse in 2002 It was challenged in 2003 as required cultivation in Montana due to sexual exploration by teenagers, rape and homosexuality and finally, it was challenged inVirginia school libraries by the group Parents Against Bad Books in Schools for profanity and descriptions of drug abuse, sexually explicit conduct and torture.2005 resulted in a banning due to racism, homosexuality, sexual content, offensive language and being contrary for the age group (Baldassarro). With so many challenges and bans, one git see how controversial I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is. This book has been challenged for years, ceaselessly offending parents as they find the material unacceptable. People usually only if take the duration to challenge a book if they feel potently about its content. Going to court takes a lot of time and effort and obviously these parents are very uncomfortable with their children being exposed to this material. Therefore, due to its history in court, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is not appropriate for children and should be restricted in schools. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings should be restricted because it contains many inappropriate scenes and a lot of crude language. For example, the main character, Maya, is referred to as a grandiose little bitch in one of the opening scenes.There are many other shocking intelligence informations and phrases used throughout the book such as nigger, shit, sex, titties, pubes, kept woman, hell, pervert, queer, and vagina (PABBIS). At times, these interchanges a re unessential and take away from the overall merit of the book. Even if children in high school hear these things everyday from their peers, it is inappropriate for the students to hear them in a classroom setting. These words and phrases can make some kids uncomfortable and ail from their learning (Boudreau). In addition to the language, there are shocking scenes in this book as well. For example, the main character gets molested by her stepfather at eighter years old, and vividly describes the experience I awoke to a pressure, a grotesque feeling on my left leg it was his thing on my leg. He said, Just stay right there, I aint gonna accidental injury you. I wasnt afraid I knew that pot did it and they used their things to go through the deed Mr. F. put his decease between my legs. He threw back the blankets and his thing s tood up like a brown ear of corn.He took my hand and said Feel it. It was mushy and squirmy like the inside of a newly killed chicken. He slowly dragg ed me on top of his chest. His right hand began pathetic so fast and his heart was beating so hard that I was afraid he would die. Finally he was quiet, and then came the nice part. He held me softly.. Then he rolled over, leaving mein a stringent place and stood uphe said, do you love your brother? If you ever testify anyone what we did, Ill have to kill him. (Angelou 72) This scene is absolutely inappropriate. It goes into too oftentimes detail and can even make adults uncomfortable. And worse, there are more scenes like this, including another rape, a murder, and prostitution. Children should not be exposed to this suit of behavior unless they are mature enough to give care it and most children are not (Boudreau). With such explicit material in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, it is not appropriate to be read in a school setting.Students should not be forced to read this book in a classroom because it could offend and hurt some people with already low self evaluate. Low se lf esteem is a very serious issue facing the majority of todays teenagers.There are problems with depression, anorexia, and low self-esteem as teenagers desperately hope to assure like someone else, or have what others have (Brothers). In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the main character, Maya, always hates herself as well. For example, she longed for pureness white skin, blonde hair, decent clothes, and simple recognition (Fox-Genovese 37). Maya always hoped for what she could not have, never being content with what she was given in disembodied spirit. This is not a good example for teenagers in this day-and-age to be looking up to or reading about. This shows kids that not accepting themselves is okay. Also, although this book is written to show the racism of the time period, it offends people of different colors.They feel bad about themselves as Maya always believed she had the awry(p) hair, and the wrong legs, however also the wrong face. She was the wrong color (Smith 51 ). This phrase has a very negative connotation, using the word wrong to describe a skin color. This hurts kids of color who already engagement with their race and their own self-image. Also, throughout I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings the word nigger is used very often. Nigger was an informal talk word used by knuckle down owners in reference to blacks. It derived from the word negro.Slave owners used the word to refer to their slaves so that they did not have to dignify them with a real name. It is considered insulting to black people because it is a symbol of the way they used to be treated and it can insinuate that they are undeserving of a birth-given name, simply because their skin is dark (Barns). The frequent use of this word in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings can still seriously offend someone of color. This book can definitely hurtor offend people with already low self-esteem and therefore should not be read in schools. disdain this bad material, I Know Why the Caged Bir d Sings has some redeeming qualities for the mature reader. Because this book is an autobiography, it makes it more relatable because the events in truth happened. Angelou wrote this book to probe her identity, to stop lying to herself to cover her fear. She turns to her pen to atone for past falsities and to acknowledge the verity about herself (Fox-Genovese 37). Angelou was brave enough to share her own story with the world, and a mature reader could recognize and appreciate this. The fact that it is an autobiography creates a stronger effect as the reader can picture the story actually happening in real life (Didion 34). Since Angelou lived through it, this book is a rare piece of social history of the time and a personal look into the lives of all African Americans when they were forced to face the continuation of slave mentality and racism (Bloom 16).But, as it adds to the story for those mature readers, it also can make the book less fit for reading. If the reader is already uncomfortable with the storyline, the fact that it actually happened can unsettle the reader even more, save if the reader can handle it, the fact that it is an autobiography adds merit. The way that Angelou introduces herself as Maya, a tender-hearted child, allows her story to range in an extraordinary fashion on the field of human emotion, allowing the mature reader to connect with the characters easier (Kelly 24).Ernece B. Kelly recognizes that this book may not have excellent syntax, plainly that it makes up for the lack so with the insight she offers into the effects of the social conditioning on the lifestyle and self-concept of a black child growing up in the South in the 1930s (24). Despite its inappropriate content, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings definitely has some literary merit, giving the reader turn over on knowledge of what sincerely yours happened during that time period. But, the reader would have to be mature enough to look past the inappropriate material to truly appreciate the novel. For a sophisticated reader, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is full of redeeming qualities.I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings can offer some insight and knowledge forsome steady readers, but can offend and hurt others who are not ready for it. Therefore, it should be allowed in libraries, for the few who will understand and appreciate its input, but it should not be on a required or suggested reading list. This society attempts to turn a blind eye to actual events which it deems too troubling to admit to, let alone deal with (Baldassarro). This book is about real situations that actually affected real people and real lives. By banning this book altogether, schools would be covering up the truth and dissembling it never happened. Therefore, the book must be available in the depository library to any student who is interested in reading it on their own time.Schools however, cannot require I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as a class reading assignment. Despi te the literary merit, there are too many students that are not ready to overlook its shocking language and detailed scenes. It should be up to the individual student and their parents whether or not they are ready to read and understand this book. A teacher can never assume that a student can handle such a book and by assigning this book, a teacher is assuming that all their students are prepared for the inappropriate material, which is usually not the case. Schools must find middle ground, being careful not to offend anyone. Therefore, to make the book available to those who will appreciate it, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will be in the library, but to harbor those who are not ready, the book will not be delegate in a classroom.I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings should be available in libraries for those few who can appreciate its merit, but should not be assigned because it is very inappropriate. This book has been challenged almost forty times by passionate parents. It contain s crude language and horrid scenes that are not appropriate for children to be reading. This book is a bad example for teenagers with already bad self-image as the main character struggles with self esteem as well. Despite these drawbacks, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings does have some redeeming qualities.Because it is an autobiography, the reader has a better insight into her life during this time period. Because this book can teach some mature readers that are willing to look past the shocking material, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings should be available in libraries. But because of the offensive, inappropriate material, this book cannot be read in classrooms. This compromise will makeparents more comfortable as they can control what their child is learning. This control can be important in todays society as children are becoming more and more accepting of inappropriate material.