Maya Angelou author study

Why were some African American children sent from the North back to the South to live with their grandparents?

• The children would have better educational opportunities in the South.

• There were more jobs in the South and children could work in the fields.

• It was hard to find places to live that allowed children in Northern cities.

• Their parents weren't as successful in the North as they had hoped.

In the poem "Caged Bird" the free bird symbolizes people who--

• are able to choose their own direction in life.

• are wealthy and can travel to new places.

• are always busy, like the woman in "Woman Work".

• have made dangerous choices in their lives.

The woman in "Woman Work" wants to be able to--

• be rich and have time to herself.

• find time to rest.

• have a family.

• have servants to help her with her chores.

Angelou's grandmother got her business started by--

• cooking and doing laundry for rich people.

• getting a small loan from the local bank.

• setting up a mobile lunch counter.

• having her grandchildren sell her meat pies door-to-door.

Why does Angelou become furious when she sees pictures of happy, singing cotton pickers (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings)?

• The cotton pickers have ended up in poverty because machines have taken over their work.

• Those pictures paint a false, misleading image of the actual hard work done by the workers.

• The pictures remind her of how hard her grandmother had to work to feed those workers.

• She longs for the old, happy days of her childhood in the South.

The ending of "New Directions" is

• sad because the family will never get out of poverty.

• uplifting because it encourages people to take charge of their lives.

• filled with anger because of all the injustice in the world.

• challenging because it recommends that people do as they are expected to do.

The woman in "Woman Work" says that the only thing she can call her own is

• her children

• her home

• her private thoughts

• nature

Which of the following excerpts from "New Directions" best illustrates the point Angelou is making in "Caged Bird" when she writes "his wings are clipped and his feet are tied"?

• "They parted amicably, Annie keeping the one-room house..."

• "She had indeed stepped from the road..."

• "The burdensome fact that Mrs. Johnson was a Negro..."

• "She told me herself that she wasn't a fancy cook."

Which of the selections is an autobiography?

• "Caged Bird"

• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

• "New Directions"

• "Woman Work"

In "Caged Bird", the phrase "But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage/can seldom see through his bars of rage" can best be interpreted as meaning

• each of us is responsible for fighting injustice.

• people must be flexible and take the path that works best for them.

• people must learn to get over their anger because it will only harm them.

• anyone who is treated unfairly is going to be angry at the world.