"Sympathy" and "Caged Bird"

According to the speaker in “Sympathy,” how does the caged bird feel?

• bright, happy, perfumed

• alarmed, shamed, fearful

• constrained, oppressed, imprisoned

• faint, clinging, ill

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.4

Which of the following BEST explains the title “Sympathy”?

• The speaker feels bad for the caged bird because of its injuries.

• The speaker also shares the caged bird’s desire for freedom.

• The speaker is critical of the caged bird’s reasons for singing.

• The speaker admires the caged bird’s courage.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

Which of the following BEST summarizes lines 10-11in "Sympathy"?

• The bird stays in his cage because his injuries might cause him to faint.

• The bird stays on his perch because he is afraid of the wind.

• The bird must return to the perch when he would rather be on a swing.

• The bird has to stay in the cage when he would rather be perched on a swinging tree branch.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.2

Lines 12-14 of “Sympathy” suggest that...

• the bird is so crippled it will never be able to enjoy freedom.

• the bird has not given up hope despite a lifetime of captivity.

• as the bird gets older, its desire for freedom increases. (

• the bird could enjoy its captivity if only it would stop fighting.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.4

Dunbar compares the caged bird’s song to a ...

• lullaby

• symphony

• prayer

• carol of joy

Tags

CCSS.L.6.5A

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.4

In “Caged Bird,” how many stanzas are devoted to the experience of the caged bird?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

In this poem, Angelou is comparing and contrasting...

• a free bird to a caged bird.

• a sympathetic bird to a songbird.

• the bird in her poem with the bird in “Sympathy.”

• pet birds and birds in a zoo.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.9

What is the most likely reason Angelou chose this title for her poem?

• The poem is her critique of Dunbar’s “Sympathy.”

• Like Dunbar, she enjoys studying birds.

• The poem is her way of explaining something that cannot be fully understood.

• Like Dunbar, she writes to express her own desire for freedom

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.5

"Sympathy" and "Caged Bird" both talk about the Black American struggle for freedom. Which figurative language element do they use to describe this in their poem?

• metaphor

• onomatopoeia

• alliteration

• hyperbole

Tags

CCSS.L.6.5A

CCSS.RL.6.4