You are on page 1of 15

Autobiography & Fiction

Hayley, Sam, Simran

This story, though allegorical, is also


historical; and it is as reasonable to represent
one kind of imprisonment by another as it is to
represent anything that really exists by that
which exists not.
Daniel Defoe

Table of Contents

Autobiography vs. Fiction


Elements in I Know Why The Caged Brd Sngs

Plot graph discussion

Fictitious Elements in Black Autobiography

The Tradition of Black Autobiography

Definition of Autobiography
1. A history of a persons life written or told by that person.
2. A biography written by the person it is about.
3. An account of a persons life written by that person.

Elements of an Autobiography
Four broad types of autobiography: thematic, religious, intellectual and fictionalized

Characters are well-developed and true-to-life

Details include subjective and objective

Usually in chronological order, from childhood to adulthood

Personal pronouns

Definition of Fiction
1. The class of literature comprising works of imaginative narration, especially in
prose form.
2. Something feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story.
3. Written stories about people and events that are not real: literature that tells
stories which are imagined by the writer

Elements of Fiction in the Book

Fiction writers use elements of fiction to develop a theme

Setting

Stamps, AR; St. Louis, MO; Mexico; Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Francisco, CA

Character

Not all characters are true-to-life; some are an amalgamation of several less independently
interesting people

Conflict

Mayas childhood and transition to adulthood as a young black girl

Specific events, such as her rape

Elements of Fiction in the Book

Symbols

Point of view

Christmas gifts, Mayas Easter dress, food, the baby

Written from a present point of view rather than looking back on her life

Themes

Racism/segregation

Resistance

Displacement

In your opinion, does I Know Why The


Caged Brd Sngs conform to an
autobiography, fiction novel, or both?

Discussion about Plot Graph

Autobiography and fiction, then, are simply


different means of arriving at or recognizing the
same truth: the reality of American life and the
position of the Afro-American subject in that
life.
Selwyn R. Cudjoe

Fictitious Elements in Black Autobiography


No black American author has ever felt the need to invent a nightmare to make
[her] point Roger Rosenblatt

Universality of Maya Angelous autobiographical works

Themes of racism and resistance are common to the Black experience

Can any elements then be condemned as false if they are representative of the
Afro-American experience?

Multi-faceted face of oppression

The Tradition of Black Autobiography

Slave narrative common to Black autobiography

Corresponds with increasing importance placed on political message

Book offers a black, female perspective

Black literature must confirm its status prior to political to acceptance

The use of literary language aids this

Language as a tool of the masters

This work was written in a literary fashion in


part to allow our acceptance of its validity, yet
we use the presence of fictitious elements to
then question its legitimacy in the genre.
Discuss the implications of this statement.

Bibliography
Agins, Donna Brown. Maya Angelou: "Dversty Makes for a Rch Tapestry"
Berkeley Heights: Enslow, 2006. Print.
Angelou, Maya. I Know Why The Caged Brd Sngs. Bantam ed. New York:
Bantam, 1971. Print.
Gilbert, Susan. "Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Brd Sngs: Paths to
Escape." Maya Angelou. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2002. 73-83. Print.

You might also like