Synopses & Reviews
Bestselling author and poetess Maya Angelous profoundly moving personal story is revealed in these, the first four volumes of her continuing memoir.
Set includes 1 trade paperback edition each of:
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Gather Together In My Name
Singin And Swingin And Gettin Merry Like Christmas
The Heart Of A Woman
Synopsis
In the first volume of an extraordinary autobiographical series, one of the most inspiring authors of our time recalls--with candor, humor, poignancy and grace--how her journey began....
Reading Group Guide
Memoirist, novelist, poet, and dramatist, Maya Angelou is one of the best-loved writers of our time. She is widely acclaimed for her searing, inspiring writings--and she has been praised for confronting both the racial and sexual pressures on black women, and for infusing her work with a perspective on larger social and political movements, including civil rights.
In the volumes of her bestselling personal story--one of the most remarkable narratives ever shared--Maya Angelou writes about the struggles and triumphs of her extraordinary life with candor, humor, poignancy, and grace. These include:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The classic autobiography of her young years.
Gather Together In My Name
The coming-of-age story of her struggle for survival as a young unwed mother.
Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas
The saga of her show business career, her failed marriage, and her early motherhood.
The Heart of a Woman
The turbulent story of her emergence as a writer and a political activist.
Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now
Her exhilarating collection of wisdom, spirituality, and life lessons.
1. The memoir opens with a provocative refrain: "What you looking at me for? I didn't come to stay ... "
What do you think this passage says about Ritie's sense of herself? How does she feel about her place in the world? How does she keep her identity intact?
2. Upon seeing her mother for the first time after years of separation, Ritie describes her as "a hurricane in its perfect power." What do you think about Ritie's relationship with her mother? How does it compare to her relationship with her grandmother, "Momma"?
3. The author writes, "If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat." What do you make of the author's portrayal of race? How do Ritie and her family cope with the racial tension that permeates their lives?
4. Throughout the book, Ritie struggles with feelings that she is "bad" and "sinful," as her thoughts echo the admonitions of her strict religious upbringing. What does she learn at the end of the memoir about right and wrong?
5. What is the significance of the title as it relates to Ritie's self-imposed muteness?