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Tasks: Sympathy by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Discuss:

Work in a group and discuss the following questions.

  1. What do you think the poem is about?

  2. What do you know about the situation for African Americans in the United States in the late 1800s?

Analyse:

Write down the answers to these questions.

  1. Dunbar uses contrast to make us understand the caged bird's situation. Explain how contrast is used in the poem.

  2. The poem uses a lot of striking images. Choose three of these images and interpret them. Why you think Dunbar chose to use them?

  3. The bird is a metaphor. What does it represent?

  4. Can the whole poem be interpreted as a metaphor? If so, for what?

  5. The personal pronoun 'I' is used throughout the poem. What does the poet achieve by using the first-person perspective?

Choose:

  1. Which of the two pictures illustrates the poem best? Give reasons for your choice.

  2. What do you think each picture expresses? How does this relate to the theme of the poem?

  3. If you were going to make an illustration for the poem, what would it look like?

Picture 1:

Illustration: We see a bird in a gilded cage, and many other birds flying around it.
Artist: Jo Empson. Govva: Jo Empson / CC BY-NC 4.0

Picture 2:

Photo art: We see a large Ara parrot splattered with paint against a concrete background.
Artist: Chiaralily. Govva: Chiaralily / CC BY-NC 4.0

Compare:

  1. The famous author Maya Angelou (1928-2014) used the line "I know why the caged bird sings" from Dunbar's poem as the title for one of her autobiographies. The metaphor of being a bird in a cage recurs in much of Angelou's writing as an image of how racism and oppression kept African-Americans trapped.

    Angelou also wrote a poem called 'Caged Bird', which you can find by following the link to the Poetry Foundation's website or by making an internet search.

    Read 'Caged Bird' and compare it to Dunbar's poem. Look at theme, message, and use of imagery.

  2. In an interview, Maya Angelou recited Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem, 'Sympathy'. You can watch her recite the poem by following the link below.

    Did listening Angelou's recitation change your perception of the poem in any way?

Create:

Choose one of the tasks.

  1. Draw inspiration from the poem 'Sympathy' and write your own poem.

  2. Make an illustration for the poem 'Caged Bird' by Maya Angelou. Be prepared to give a brief presentation of your work.

  3. Make a booklet of African-American poetry that contains at least eight poems. Explain why you chose these eight poems.

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