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ESL Worksheets

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou

 (Heinemann New Windmill Series, 1995)

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Materials by Frankie Meehan
(ESL Teacher, United World College of SE Asia, Singapore)

 Sympathy - Laurence Dunbar Poem
The poem from which Maya Angelou took her book's title.
Caged Bird - Identity
Notes on the factors that shape Maya's emerging identity (discrimination against Black people; oppression of women; Literature; the Bible; heroes/heroines).
 Caged Bird - Language Variety
A table for analysing the different varieties of English spoken in Caged Bird.
 Caged Bird - Style
Worksheet directing students to examine the use of dialect, imagery (including Christian imagery) and narrative voice in Caged Bird.
Caged Bird - Settings
An analysis of the different settings in "Caged Bird".
 Caged Bird - Text Productions
A list of "text productions" (writing in different genres) for the International Baccalaureate English A2 examination.
 Fiction and Autobiography
A table comparing features of fiction and autobiography - demonstrating that they have more in common than we normally suppose.
 Sympathy and RSPCA Webpage
A table comparing stylistic features of the Laurence Dunbar poem, Sympathy (see above), and an RSPCA webpage.  Preparation for an English A2 Comparative Commentary.