I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Introductory Pages & Chapters 1-5
- What did Marguerite hope the made-over lavender
dress would do for her?
- How do you think Marguerite feels about being an
- Why did the children’s parents send them to
- What is the guiding force in Momma’s life?
- How does Marguerite describe the
- How does Marguerite feel about Uncle Willie? How is he related to her?
- Do you think Momma’s dislike for white
writers reflects prejudice against whites?
- How do you know that Marguerite has a good deal
of self-discipline for a small child?
- How is opening the front door of the Store like
“pulling the ribbon off the unexpected gift”?
- Why did Uncle Willie hide in the vegetable bin?
- Describe Bailey. Include Marguerite’s
feelings about him.
- Would you describe Stamps as integrated or
segregated? How do Bailey and Marguerite regard
- What are Momma’s two most important
rules? Are these good rules
to live by for children today?
- Why does Momma “keep her cool” so
well when she is being aped by the “powhitetrash” girls? How does witnessing this incident
- Why is it important to Marguerite to rake the
yard after the girls leave?
- Why do the children loathe Reverent Thomas so
- Briefly describe the incidents that occur with
Sister Monroe in church. Were you overcome with “the giggles”
as you read this chapter?
- What is meant by the “fine line between
humor and hysteria”?
- Why was the judge from Pine Bluff so surprised
when he saw “Mrs. Henderson”? Why has the story become legend
- Why did it take so long for the Depression to
affect the African-American population of Stamps?
- Why do the children have such negative reactions
to receiving Christmas presents from their parents?
- What is Marguerite’s reaction to her
- With what illegal activities is Grandmother
Baxter involved? What do you
think Momma would say about the situation?
- How does the children’s lifestyle in St.
Louis differ from the one they were accustomed to in Stamps?
- How does the St. Louis school compare with that
- What are the children’s uncles like?
- How do Marguerite and her mother get along?
- Who is Mr. Freeman? How does he feel about
1. How does Marguerite’s feeling of “I
didn’t come to stay” affect her behavior while she is in St. Louis?
2. Why do you think Bibbi decided to live with Me.
Freeman? Why does Marguerite compare her pity for him to that felt for the pigs
being fattened for the slaughter?
3. How did Marguerite find herself in an abusive
situation? Was her mother irresponsible in trusting Mr. Freeman to sleep in the
same bed with her daughter?
4. Why didn’t Marguerite tell her mother the truth
of what Mr. Freeman did? Had she really understood what Mr. Freeman had done?
Why didn’t she feel lonely “for the encasement of his big
5. Why do you think Marguerite escaped into reading?
6. What do you think Mother and Mr. Freeman argued about
the night of the rape?
7. What are some of the feelings Marguerite had after the
rape. In addition to Mr. Freeman’s threats, what other reasons did she
have for not wanting her mother and Bailey to find out what had happened?
8. How does Bailey reassure his sister? Is she foolish to
9. Why did Marguerite feel so guilty about
10. What was
comforting to Marguerite about the resignation of the people in Stamps?
11. What was meant by the advice “Be intolerant of
ignorance but understanding of illiteracy”?
12. How does Mrs. Flowers come to Marguerite’s
1. Why was Marguerite sent to work at Mrs.
2. Why did she break Mrs. Cullinan’s favorite
china? Was she justified?
3. Why did Bailey stay in town so late? Why was he depressed?
4. What is Marguerite’s feeling about the portrayal
of Blacks in the Kay Francis movie? Do you think Blacks are portrayed
accurately in television and movies today?
5. What does the author note about standard of living and
its relationship to God’s will?
6. Why were the exhausted cotton-pickers anxious to
attend the revival meeting?
7. Who does the preacher mean when he refers to
8. What compassion does the author make between the
revival meeting and the activities at Miss Grace’s house?
9. Why is it so important to the people at the Store that
Joe Louis win the fight they are listening to on the radio?
10. Explain the last sentence of Chapter 19.
11. Explain: “…after being a woman for three
years, I was about to become a girl.”
12. Why do you think Marguerite thinks of love as a
treacherous, hateful word?
13. Why did Tommy Valdon finally stop paying attention to
- Who was Joyce?
- What did Bailey learn from Joyce? What did Marguerite learn?
- What do you find ironic about chapter 21?
- Whar were Marguerite’s feelings about
Florida Taylor’s funeral?
- How does the weather heighten the atmosphere for
the story told by Mr. Taylor?
- How is the white school different from the
Lafayette Country Training School? How are the black graduates different
than the white?
- Why is Marguerite proud of herself at the
beginning of Chapter 23?
- On graduation night, what is the first clue that
the ceremony will be a disappointment?
- Why is Marguerite so upset by Edward
Donleavy’s speech? What
would she have preferred for him to talk about?
- How did Henry Reed bring a feeling of redemption
to the graduates and the members of the audience?
- Why does the author call the entire human species
“an abomination” (page 153)?
- If you could talk to Dr. Lincoln, what would say?
- How does Marguerite’s imagined version of
Momma’s conversation with the dentist differ from what actually
- What incident prompts Momma to get the
children’s out of stamp? Do you think she made the right decision?
- Considering what you know about Momma and the
children’s mother, Vivian Baxter, how do you think the two women got
along? Do you image Momma was
relieved to get back to Stamps-or did she wish she could stay in
- Why did San Francisco change so much at the
beginning of World War II. Why do you think the Blacks were so willing to
profit from the displacement of the Japanese?
- Compare Marguerite’s experiences at the
neighborhood girls’ school, at George Washington High School, and at
the California Labor School.
- Who was Miss Kirwin? Was she a good teacher? Did
she treat students fairly?
1. Why is Daddy Clidell important to Marguerite?
2. The Black con-men in Chapter 29 feel that anything
they take from the white man is their just due. Do you agree with that philosophy?
3. How are Marguerite and her classmates
4. Describe Daddy Bailey’s girlfriend.
5. What excuse does Daddy Bailey make for his frequent
trips to Mexico?
6. Why is Marguerite so pleased when her father invites
her to go to Mexico with him?
7. Explain what is meant by, “How maddening it was
to have been born in a cotton field with aspirations of grandeur”(page
8. Why does Marguerite end up driving the car?
9. Does the conflict between Dolores and Marguerite
become resolved in a satisfactory way? Do their problems remind you of any you
have experienced or know about?
10. Why doesn’t Marguerite simply go back to her
- What does Marguerite gain from living in the
- Does it seem strange that no one seems to wonder
where Marguerite was for a month?
What would be the reaction of most fathers if their daughter
- Why does Bailey decide to move out? Is Mother supportive of his
decision? Is Marguerite?
- How is Marguerite treated when she goes to the
Market Street Railway Company to apply for a job? Why do you think she kept going
- What is meant by, “I had gone from being
ignorant of being ignorant to being aware of being aware”?
- Reread the last two paragraphs of chapter 34. Is
the plight of Black females still the same today—or have things
- Why is Marguerite, at 16, worried about her
sexual orientation? Is this a question which occurs to most teenagers?
- What prompts Marguerite to invite one of the
handsome brothers to be intimate with her? What is the result?
- Why does Marguerite to wait so long to tell her
mother about the pregnancy?
- How do Vivian Baxter and Daddy Clidell react to
- What feelings does Marguerite have when her son
- React to: “If you are for the right thing,
then you do it without thinking.” Would you consider this good advice for living?
thanks to Mrs. K’s work study girls, M.H. and T.R. for typing this!