Maya Angelou's Caged Bird: Life of Racism and Trauma, Lecture notes of English

Download Maya Angelou's Caged Bird: Life of Racism and Trauma and more Lecture notes English in PDF only on Docsity! Plot and Characters Analysis On Novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou A Paper Presented To The Faculty Of Letters And Humanities As a Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For The Degree Of Strata 1 By Ratu Aliyah NIM: 101026021591 English Letters Department ADAB AND HUMANITIES FACULTY State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta 2010 APPROVAL SHEET Plot and Characters Analysis On Novel J Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou A Thesis Submitted to Faculty ADAB And Humanities In Partial Nifillment Of The Requirement For The Degree Of Strata I By Ratu Aliyah REG: 101026021591 Approved By Advisor Elve Octafiyani S.S MLHUM English Letters Department ADAB AND HUMANITIES FACULTY State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta 2010 ACKNOWLEDGMENT In the name of Allah, the beneficent the merciful. Before we embank on the major discuss, we all must thank to our god Allah Azza Wa Jalla, it is he who always gives his very much grace. All praise is to Allah, who bestwed upon the written is completing this paper. Shalawat and salam may Allah shed to our great beloved prophet, he is the real leader for the whole mankind in the world. Peace and blessing be upon to our prophet Muhammad SAW, his companions and his beloved humanity. The writer would like to say his great honor and deepest gratitude to the beloved parents: H. Tb. Aliyudin and Hj. Eneng S, who always give their never ending attention and affection, say thank also she lovely brothers and sister Hj. Ratu Afiyah, Tb. Lukman Hakim S.Ked, Tb. Lutfi and his wife, Tb. Fahrudzy, and for my best friend Rahmawaty, Nenti, Sina, Rina S.Ked and the last for my beloved friend mamang. Many thanks also dedicated to those who become the motivator for the writer, Asep Rachmatullah, Meisya Salsabila, Raisha Alfa Meida my husband and the two cute-funny beloved daughters. The written also has a great willingness to say a lot of thanks to Mrs. Elve Octafiyani, S.Ss, M.Hum, as the writer’s advisor, thanks a lot to her for new time, guidance, kindness, contributions, and patience in correcting, evaluating, giving a favor and helping the written for finish this paper. The written also realizes that she would never finish this paper without the help of some people around him, therefore, she would like to give a special gratitude to : 1. Dr. Abdul Wahid Hasyim MA, the faculty of Adab and humanities state Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. 2. Dr. Muhammad Farkhan, M.pd, the head of English letters Department Faculty of Adab and Humanities Faculty. 3. Drs. Asep Saefudin, M.pd, the secretary of English letters Department 4. All lecturers who had taught and educated during the written study at state Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta 5. The entire staffs and officers at Adab and Humanities Faculty 6. The whole who finished in English letters Department 2001, her beloved friends Marlia, Euis, Lia R, Dewi, Waty, Upunk, Hafas, Norman, Thanks for advices, kindness, disappointment fun and everything. May Allah the almighty bless them all and show then to the right way, Amien, finally, the written realized that this search paper still has some weakness and mistakes. Therefore, the written would like to accept any constructive suggestions to make this research paper better. APPROVAL SHEET LEGALIZATION OF PAPER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT... ABSTRACT DECLARATION. TABLE OF CONTENT CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION A. B. € TABLE OF CONTENT Background of The Study .............. Statements of the Research ............ Objective of the Research ... . Significance of The Study .............. . Scope and Limitation «0.0... Methodology of the Research ........ 1. Method and Data Collection ..... 2. Analysis of Data ........cccecseeee 3. Unit Analysis... cece 4. Instrument of the Research........ 5. Place and Time of the Research iii Caged Bird Sings is a novel of social protest by African American to the government of America and white American in 1930. Angelouu adapted it in her works like themes to the black experience of oppression, discrimination and prejudice in America. The novel of J Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is a view personal author, Maya Angelou. The great interesting from this novel is talking about personal author’s life from memory of past in every character as a real reflection of author’s life. Maya Angelou (born Marguerite Johnson April 4, 1928") is an American poet, memoirist, actress and an important figure in the American Civil Right Movement. She has been honored by numerous academic institutions throughout her career. She has been awarded a fellowship by Yale University, and also served as a Rockefeller Foundations Scholar in Italy. Angelouu has taught at the University of Ghana, University of Kansas and at Wake Forest University, where she holds a lifetime chair as the Z. smith Reynolds Professor of American Studies. Outside academic, Angelouu has achieved recognition for her poetry from bodies honoring achievement in music and theater. She has received a nomination for the Tony Awards, and in 1993 won the Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word Album for On the Pulse of Morning. In 2005, Angelouu was honored by Oprah Winfrey at her “Legends Ball” along with 25 other African-American women whom Winfrey considered inspirational.* 4 www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/maya-angelou/background., June 25, 2007. 10 pm. Angelou’s first work of literature, J Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, is an autobiography. Angelou’s disruptive life inspired her to write this book. It reflects the essence of her struggle to the restrictions that were placed upon her in a hostile environment. Angelou wrote with a twist of lyrical imagery along with a touch of realism. The title of this book is taken from the poem “Sympathy” by the great black poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar. The work displays an impulse towards transcendence. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is a 1969 autobiographical novel about the early years of author Maya Angelou’s life. The autobiographical explores the isolation and loneliness faced by Angelou, and the attributes of her characters that helped her cope with the prejudice of society. Quite graphic in nature, the text deals with issues including childhood, rape, racism and sexism, which has generated controversy. The novel is the first in a six-volume autobiographical series, covering her childhood and young adult experience. The background of study above makes the writer in deep curiosity to research it in this humble paper. This matter has interested the writer to analyze the theme or idea author which author wants to tell through her novel and the writer checks it with analyzing intrinsic elements. Those intrinsic elements are finding how the story running is, what roles the characters were, social setting in America. The writer would like to analyze the novel J Know Why The Caged Bird Sings from its intrinsically side. B. Statements of the Research Based on analysis above, the points of question in this research are : 1. How is the plot described in the novel of J Know Why The Caged Bird Sings? 2. How the major characters influence the development of the plot in the novel of J Know Why The Caged Bird Sings? C. Objective of the Research Instantaneously, the aims of this research are : The research is intended to know the plot structure of the novel J Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. It is especially aimed at knowing the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution on the storyline and also the characters develops on the novel. D. Significance of the Research By analyzing the plot and characters on the novel, the writer hopes the result of this research would be advantages for the reader who like reading novel and can be used for the English Letters Department as one references in studying of literary work. E. Scope and Limitation CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK A. The Definition of Novel A novel (from French Nouvelle Italian “novella”, “new’’) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. Until the eighteenth century, there word referred specifically to short fictions of love and figure as opposed to romances, which were epic-length works about love and adventure. Literary theory of genres has not yet managed to isolate a “single definite, stable characteristic of novel” that holds without reservations. During the 18" century the novel adopted features of the old romance and became one of the major literary genres. It is today defined mostly by its ability to become the object of literary criticism demanding artistic merit and a specific ‘literary~ style or specific literary styles.” One meaning of the English word novel has remained stable: “novel” can still signify what is new owing to its “novelty”. When it comes to fiction, however, the meaning of the term has changed over time: a. The period 1200-1750 saw a rise of the novel (originally a short piece of fiction) rivaling the romance (the epic-length performance). This development, which one could describe as the first rise of the novel, > Bakhtin, Mikhail. Op.cit. occurred across Europe, though only the Spanish and the English went one step further and allowed the word novel (Spanish: novella) to become their term for fictional narratives. b. The period 1700-1800 saw the rise of a “new romance” in reaction to the production of potentially scandalous novels. The movement encountered a complex situation in the English market, where the term “new romance” could hardly be hardly be ventured, after the novel had done so much to transform taste. The new genre also adopted the name novel : this new novel was a work of new epic proportions, which the effect that the English (and Spanish) eventually needed a new word for the original short “novel” : the term novella was created to fill the gap in English, “short story” brought a further refinement. The novel is probably the most popular literary from in this present age, and reasons for it is popularity is not hard to discover. Public attraction to the novel the other major literary from.° Novel is a story in prose about imaginary people long enough to cover a book. There two important to understand a novel. They are the intrinsic and extrinsic elements. The intrinsic elements are the analysis of the literature its self without looking to the relation with the extern aspects. They are theme, plot, character, setting, and point of view. And the extrinsic elements are the analysis of the literature work its self looking to the 6 Durleme and Hughes. Op.cit. p.440 relation with the extern aspects such as sociology, psychology, religious, and philosophy. B. Intrinsic Elements of Novel The intrinsic elements of novel include plot, character, setting and theme. Our discussions of each of these elements individually allow us to highlight the characteristic features of novel in a convenient way. We should remember, however, that analysis of any single element of novel (plot, for example) should not blind us to its function in conjunction with other elements (such as character). When characters do something, action takes place this action provokes other actions. Action takes place somewhere at some time; this is the setting of the play. A plot is a causal sequence of events, the “why” for the things that happen in the story. The plot draws the reader into the character’s lives and helps the reader understand the choices that the characters make. Setting is where the story takes place. It also when the story takes place in some cases. Basically, setting is an environment for the action and the characters. Setting sometimes minimized by the writer to emphasize other elements of the story.” Panuti Sudjiman and Hudson differentiate setting as: 1. Physical setting Physical setting are the geographical location, including topography, place, and scenery even the details of a room interior, building and region. 2. Social setting 7 Larry M. Sutton, et al. op. cit. p.6 12 The writer’s task is to communicate on common ground with the reader. Although the particulars of your experience may be different from the details of the story, the general underlying truths behind the story may be just the connection that both you and the writer are seeking. Each literary work has its own message. This message can be moral, political, and religious, etc. usually the theme of a literary work represents the theme than the writer tries to convey, describe or criticize. For knowing the theme of a literary work. Theme is the basic idea of literary work. We can say that the theme is the essence and has a goal or an idea of a literary work, theme is the basic idea of literary work. We can say that the theme is message that the author tries should notice the relationship between the theme and the other elements in the central meaning discovered by the writer in the process of writing and the story only by throughout and responsive reading of the story, involving a constant awareness of the relation among the parts of the story and the parts of whole.'! C. Description of Character Character is presumably an imaged person who inhabits a story although that simple definition may admit to a few exceptions. Characters classified based on their function into two types, namely the main character (central character) and subordinate characters (supporting character). Main character (central character) is the most dominant character and often involves with other characters that exist in 41 Kenny William, How to Analyze Fiction, (New York: Monarch Press, 1966), p.94 13 a story.'? A character who holds the leading role is the main character or the protagonist. Protagonist always becomes a central character in a story. He even becomes a central attention in a story. The criterion, which is used to identify the main characters but on the highest intensity of their involve men in the story. And the subordinate character (supporting character) is the character that supports the main character. A subordinate character is the character that is not posited in the central of the story, but the presence is really needed to support the main character. '* Characters are often described as being flat or round, static or dynamic. A flat character is not fully developed. The writer may reveal only one two personality traits. A round character is a very complex individual, more like real life with several facts to his personality. A static character is one who does not really change in the progress of the story: he is the same person at the end as he was in the beginning. But a dynamic character does change, psychologically, physically, or otherwise.'* The author can describe his character physically: age, height, weight, and so forth. He can develop a character though action and can also depict character though dialogue. Characterization is the player’s emotion, attitude, desire, and the others.!> 12 Aminuddin, Pengantar Apresiasi Karya Sastra, (Malang: FPBS IKIP, 1987), p.80 18 Panuti Sudjiman, Memahami Cerita Rekaan, (Jakarta: PT. Dunia Pustaka Jaya, 1988), p.19 14 Larry M. Sutton, et al., Journey: An Introduction to Literature, (Boston: Holbrook Press, Inc., 1971) p.4-5 1 Ibid 14 D. Description of Plot A plot is a series of related events or episodes that make up a story. Plot is a structure of events a rising out of a conflict and this is consists of prolog. Unity (completeness) is achieved as these rises to a climax, a “dramatic height”, and on to a conclusion. At times, of course, the conclusion may be unexpected or even absurd, but nevertheless it should grow out of the story. In general, the plot of a story is a conflict and it is resolution.'® In narrative, a plot is the rendering and ordering of the events and of a story, particularly towards the achievement of some particular artistic or emotional effect. If an author writes, “The king died and then the queen died”, there is no plot for a story. But by writing, “The king died and then the queen died of grief”, the writer has provided a plot line for a story. A plot's structure is the way in which the story elements are arranged. Writers vary structure depending on the needs of the story. For example, in a mystery, the author will withhold plot exposition until later in the story. In William Faulkner‘s “A Rose for Emily” it is only at the end of the story that we learn what Miss Emily has been up to all those years while locked away in her Southern mansion. The basic plot of any story is moving through five distinct section or stage, namely: 16 Tbid 17 CHAPTER III RESEARCH FINDINGS Generally speaking, at this point, the writer will elaborate the inquiry of Angelou’s work, especially J Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, concerning about intrinsic elements, it should be done, because of a novel, usually, comprising the idea whom the authors intend to expose, either explicitly or implicitly based on their experiences. That is why, this research now tends to disclose the missing in disguise based on Angelou’s work, J Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. A. The Synopsis of the Novel The novel follows Marguerite’s (later called My, or Maya, by her brother) young life and the struggles she undergoes in the racist South. Abandoned by their parents at an early age, she and her older brother, Bailey, live with their grandmother “Momma”, and her crippled uncle in Stamps, Arkansas, where her grandmother operates a general store. Many of the problems Marguerite encounters in her childhood stem from the prejudices of her white neighbors who treat her family at the best with cool respect and, at the worst, blatant contempt. Furthermore, despite, the fact that Momma is wealthier than most of the white neighbors, the white neigbors’ children hassle them insolently, one girl even revealing her pubic hair to Momma. These events, along with Marguerite’s feelings of inferiority to other white and 18 black children, despite her above-average intelligence, cause her to initially start out as a self-conscious and short- tempered girl. A turning point in the novel occurs when Marguerite and Bailey’s father unexpectedly appears at their home to send them to live with their Mother in St. Louis. While there, Marguerite, only nine years old at that time, is raped by her mother’s boyfriend, Mr. Freeman, which traumatizes her. Mr. Freeman is later murdered after escaping jail time, which further burdens her with guilt and causes her to withdraw from all other people except for her brother. Even after moving back to Stamps, Marguerite remains reclusive until she meets the amiable Bertha Flowers who supplies her with books to encourage her love of reading, and coaxes her out of her shell. As Marguerite grows up, she experiences many other instances of racism, including an old white woman who shortens her name to “Mary”, hence reducing her name to more common one; white speakers at a graduation ceremony who disparage the black audience by implying their limited job opportunities; and the white town dentist’s refusal to operate on Marguerite’s rotting tooth, even when Momma reminds him of a loan he owed her. Finally, when even her brother Bailey is disturbed by the discovery of the corpse of a black man whom some white men took pleasure in seeing, Momma decides to move the family to permanently live with their mother in San Francisco, California for their mental well-being. 19 Marguerite, now more frequently called “Maya”, enters adolescence, but not without awkwardness. She becomes worried that she might be a lesbian (which she equates with being a hermaphrodite), and initiates sexual intercourse with a teenage boy she knows only vaguely to dispel this fear. The encounter cause her to become pregnant which she hides from her family until in her eighth month of pregnancy to be able to graduate from high school. Maya gives birth to a beautiful baby boy and begins her trek to adulthood by accepting her role as a mother to her newborn son. B. Analysis of Main Characters 1. Maya Angelou (Marguerite Ann Johnson) Maya Angelou-named Ann Johnson at birth at birth-writes about her experience growing up as a black girl in the rural south and in the cities of St. Louis, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Haunted by her displacement from her biological parent and her sense that she is ugly, Maya often isolates herself, escaping into her reading. Angelou’s autobiography traces the start of her development into an independent, wise, and compassionate woman. At the beginning of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya is a Precocious young girl suffering not just from the typical traumas associated with being black and female in America, but also from the trauma of this placement. Smart and imaginative, optimist and strong, like in page 268 paragraph of I know Why the Caged Bird Sings: 22 “ sister, I'll have two cans of sardines.” “I’m gonna work so fast todey, I'm gonna make you look like standing still”. 3. Annie Henderson (Momma) Maya and Bailey’s paternal grandmother, Momma raises them for most of their childhood. She owns the only store in the black section of Stamps, Arkansas, and it serves as the central gathering place for the black community. She has owned the store for about twenty-five years, starting it as a mobile lunch counter and eventually building the store in the heart of the black community. Not knowing that Momma was black, a judge once subpoenaed her as “Mrs. Henderson,” which cemented her elevated status in the mind of the black community. Similarly, Momma is the moral center of the family and especially of Maya’s life. Momma raises the children according to stern Christian values and strict rules. She is defined by an unshakable faith in God, her loyalty to her community, and a deep love for everything she touches. Despite the affection she feels for her grandchildren, she cares more about their well-being than her own needs, extracting them from the Stamps community when the racist pressures begin to affect Bailey negatively. While in Stamps, Momma teaches Maya how to conduct herself around white people. She chooses her words, emotions, and battles carefully, especially when race plays a role. Momma considers herself a realist regarding race relations. She stands up for herself but believes that white people cannot be 23 spoken to without risking one’s life. When three nasty poor white children mock Momma from the yard one afternoon, Maya watches furiously, but Momma maintains her dignity by not even acknowledging their taunts. Though stern and not given to emotional or affectionate displays, Momma conveys the depth of her love for Maya and Bailey throughout the book. From the analysis above, the writer conclude that Maya is a Precocious young girl suffering not just from the typical traumas associated with being black and female in America, but also from the trauma of this placement, and she endures many personal traumas in her lifetimes as well. But as she grows up, all problems she felt become the power to rise up and motivate her to be the powerful woman. C. Analysis of Plot The author may present a story’s events in strict chronological order with the event that actually occurred first presented in the sequence in which it took place. Many sequences are possible as the writer manipulates events to create interest, suspense, confusion, wonder, or other effects. 1. Exposition The novel follows Marguerite’s (later called My, or Maya, by her brother) young life and the struggles she undergoes in the racist South. Abandoned by their parents at an early age, she and her older brother, Bailey, live with their 24 grandmother “Momma”, and her crippled uncle in stamps, Arkansas, where her grandmother operates a general store. 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. It is an unnecessary insult. (Angelou, p.4). This vivid assertion ends the opening section of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Although this section, which acts as a prologue, mostly emphasizes the point of view of Maya at five or six years old, this statement clearly comes from Angelou’s adult voice. Looking back on her childhood experience, Maya notes that she not only fell victim to a hostile, racist, and sexist society, but to other social forces as well including the displacement she feel her from family and her peers. Maya feels displaced primarily because when she was three years old, her parents sent her away to live with her grandmother. This early separation, as well as subsequent ones, leaves her feeling rootless for most of her childhood. Angelou’s autobiography likens the experience of growing up as a black girl in the segregated American South to having a razor at one’s throat. Her constant awareness of her own displacement-the fact that she differed from other children in appearance and that she did not have a sense of belonging associated with anyone or anyplace-becomes the “unnecessary insult” that she must deal with at such a young age. Over the course of the work, Maya details numerous negative effects of such displacement, including her susceptibility to Mr. Freeman’s sexual molestation. 27 “My race groaned. It was our people falling. It was another lynching, yet another Black man hanging on a tree. One more woman ambushed and raped. This might be the end of the world. If Joe lost we were back in slavery and beyond help. It would all be true, the accusations that we were lower types of human beings. Only alittle higher than the apes.” (Angelou,p.135). During the annual summer firs fry, women show off their baking and men fish in the nearby pond. Music and the noises of children’s games fill the air. Maya wanders into secluded clearing to sit on a tree and stare at the sky. Louise Kendrick’s, a pretty girl of the some age, comes upon her. At first shy toward each other, they soon hold hands and spin around while looking at the sky. They become best friends and spend hours trying to learn the complicated “Tut” language because it is even more esoteric than pig Latin. While in the seventh grade, Maya receives a note form an eighth-grader, Tommy Valdon, asking her to be his valentine. She shows it to Louise, and Louise explains that valentines mean love. Maya says aloud, “Not ever again.” She does not explain what she means to Louise. They tear the note into tiny pieces and throw it into the wind. The day before Valentines Day, Maya’s teacher call the children by name and reads aloud cards sent to them from the eight-grade class. Tommy sends another letter to Maya, stating that he saw Maya and her friend tear up his note, but he does not think she meant to hurt his feelings. He signs the note with his initials. When Maya decides to throw caution to the wind and flirt with him, Tommy’s crush has already begun to wane. It was a nice letter and Tommy had beautiful penmanship. I was sorry I tore up the first. His statement that whether I answered him or not would 28 Not influence his affection reassured me. He couldn’t be after you know-what if he talked like that. I told Louise that the next time he came to the Store I was going to say something extra nice to him. Unfortunately the situation was so wonderful to me that each time I saw Tommy I melted in delicious giggles and was unable to form a coherent sentence. After awhile he stopped including me in his general glances. (Angelou, p 145-146). 3. Climax After returning home, Maya overhears an argument between Dolores and Big Bailey. Dolores feels that Maya has come between them. Big Bailey leaves the house in a huff, leaving Dolores sobbing alone. Maya approaches Dolores and tells her that she never meant to come between them. Maya feels strong and honorable doing her good dead, but Dolores rebuffs Maya’s peaceful gesture and insults her, calling her mother, Vivian, a whore. Furious, Maya tells Dolores she is going to slap her and then does so. Dolores retaliates and Maya realizes that Dolores has stabbed her with scissors. Bleeding, Maya runs out of the house and locks herself in her father’s car. Big bailey hears Dolores screaming and returns to investigate. He takes Dolores inside the house, where a woman bandages Maya’s wound. Afterward, he drivers her to the home of another friend, where she spends the night. Big Bailey visits her at noon the next day and gives her some money, promising to return later that evening. Dreading having to face her father’s friends. Maya packs some food and leaves. She cannot return to Vivian, however, because she would never be able to hide her wound. Telling Vivian would only precipitate trouble between Vivian an Big Bailey, and Maya guiltily remembers Mr. Freeman’s death all too clearly. 29 My father come down the steps in a few and angrily slammed into the car. He sat in a corner of blood and I gave no warning. He must have pondering what to do with me when he felt the damp on his trousers. ( Angelou, p. 247) After leaving Big Bailey’s friends’ house, Maya spends the night in a car in a junkyard. When she wakes, a group of black, Mexican, and white homeless teenagers stand outside laughing at her through the windows. They tell her she can stay as long as she follows the rules: people of the opposite sex cannot sleep together, stealing is forbidden because it attracts police attention, and everyone works, committing their earnings to the community. Maya stays and her partner wind second prize during her last weekend. Maya learns to appreciate diversity and tolerance fully that month, something that influences her the rest of the life, she notes in retrospect. At the end of the summer, Maya calls Vivian and asks her to pay her airfare to San Francisco. The group accepts the news of her impending with detachment, although everyone wishes her well. Now that I was out free, I set thinking of my future. The obvious solution to my homelessness concerned me only briefly. (Angelou, p. 250) 4. Falling Action I would have the job. I would be a conductorette and sling a full money changer from my belt. I would. (Angelou, p. 268) Maya decides to take a semester off from school and work. For weeks, she persists in trying to get a job as a streetcar conductor despite racist hiring policies. She finally succeeds in becoming the first black person to work on the San Francisco streetcars. When she returns to school, she feels out of place among her classmates. American black women, she says, must not only face the common 32 CHAPTER IV CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION Conclusion Based on this study, the writer concluded that Novel of J know why the caged bird sings, that presented the autobiography at the early years of author Maya Angelou’s life, description about racial discrimination, particularly, based in about her experience persisted since her age was seventeen, either the provoked to Maya herself or to black community at large. This novel has a valuable point that describes the story based on Maya’s experiences. This novel also has a meaningful intrinsic elements consists of plot, setting, character and theme. Based on the intrinsic elements analysis, the point of view of this novel describes that Maya Angelou speaks in the first person as she recounts her childhood. She writes both from a child’s point of view and from her perspective as an adult. The setting of time is 1930s—1950s, and the setting of place consists of Stamps, Arkansas; St. Louis, Missouri; Oakland, California; San Francisco, California. The major conflict in this novel consists of the time when Maya Angelou coming of age as a southern black girl, confronting racism, sexism, violence and loneliness. From rising action side, this novel describes about the condition of Maya when her parents’ divorce, so that Maya and Bailey are sent to Stamps and they move in with their mother in St. Louis, and so move to San Francisco to live with Vivian. Finally, Maya spends the summer with her father. In climax, this novel stated the condition of Maya when she runs away from her father, 33 displaying her first true act of self-reliance and independence after a lifelong struggle with feelings of inferiority and displacement; here, she displaces herself intentionally, leading to important lessons she learns about humanity while in the junkyard community. Some of falling action elements are talking about Maya’s condition when Maya lives for a month in the junkyard with a group of homeless teenagers, she becomes San Francisco’s first black streetcar conductor; she also becomes pregnant that made her in loneliness. The writer concluded from character element of the novel that Maya is a Precocious young girl suffering not just from the typical traumas associated with being black and female in America, but also from the trauma of this placement, and she endures many personal traumas in her lifetimes as well. But as she grows up, all problems she felt become the power to rise up and motivate her to be the powerful woman. Suggestion This study suggest that for understanding a novel is needed to know about the condition of Black American society at the twentieth century portrayed in story of novel J know why the caged bird sings. This is the humble study about intrinsic elements analysis from the writer. It might be useful for the writer specially and also the next researcher at the same analysis. The writer suggest for the next researcher in order to analyze the novel deeper and more perfect. It might be useful also for the institution of UIN as the treasure of knowledge. 34 BIBLIOGRAPHY Angelou, Maya, J Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, (USA: Bantam Books Inc. 1969) Aminuddin, Pengantar Apresiasi Karya Sastra, (Malang: FPBS IKIP, 1987) Bakhtin, Mikhail. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Ed. Michael Holquist. Trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist. Austin and London : University of Texas Press, 1981. [Writen during the 1930s} B. Ivor Evans, A Short History of English Literature, (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1951) Dennis Walder, Approaching Literature The Realist Novel, (London: The Open University, 1995) Durlame and Hughes, Literature, (New Jersey: Prenne Hall, inc, 1965) Endraswara, Suwardi, Metodologi Penelitian Sastra, Yogyakarta: Pustaka Widyatama, 2004 Gwynn, RS, Fiction: A Pocket Anthology, (New York: Addison Wesley Publishers Inc., 2002) Http://www .learnear.org/exhibits/literature/read/theme.html, accessed on june 4" 2007 Http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/maya-Angelouu/background., June 25, 2007. 10 pm. Kenny William, How to Analyze Fiction, (New York: Monarch Press, 1966) Larry M. Sutton, et al., Journey: An Introduction to Literature, (Boston: Holbrook Press, Inc., 1971) Panuti Sudjiman, Memahami Cerita Rekaan, (Jakarta: PT. Dunia Pustaka Jaya, 1988) Pradopo, Rachmat Djoko, beberapa Teori Sastra Metode Kritik dan Penerapannya, Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2003 Steven Croft and Helen Cross, Literature, Criticism, and Style, (UK: Oxford University Press, 2000)