Black writers play a major role in our literature today. Maya Angelou's work began a new era for blacks everywhere. She wrote an autobiography called I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This book was written in the time period during the depression, just before the war. She has also written poems, plays, musicals, and other novels. Through I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, one can see her troubles and success growing up in a time period when racism and hate were at a peak.
             In this novel, Angelou uses a black southern dialect in her diction. From this one can draw conclusions about her life. The black southern accent she uses, demonstrates what kind of person she is, and how she grew up. Her education also is reflected in her diction, as in how she uses the words she uses. The dialect she uses comes in when she is talking about how the people around her speak. She uses this effectively to make the reader understand what kind of life situation she is in. An example of her dialect in this sense would be: "Stamps, Arkansas, was Chitlin' Switch, Georgia; Hang 'Em High, Alabama; Don't Let the Sun Set on You Here, Nigger, Mississippi" (Angelou 49) Her diction shows good planning and a thought out choice of words. This book makes the reader feel what it was like to be there at that time, and she does this all with her word choice.
             When this book is read, one automatically knows her point of view. The whole book is about this women's journey though life. She is coming from the standpoint, of a black family in the depression. This, unlike many, was not as bad off as some, but because they were black, they still had many problems. She is trying to show what it was like for others along with her in this terrible time. She writes in a way, which is against the fact of prejudice, but not against whites as a whole. She makes references against prejudice rather than against whites. Her point of vie...