Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the first of five volumes of Maya Angelou's autobiography, which cover the years from the early 1930's, up until about 1970. Out of the five, it is probably the most popular and critically acclaimed volume, dealing with Angelou's childhood, up to her coming-of-age at sixteen. All of her volumes center around the themes of family, self-discovery, and motherhood, though in terms of writing style and plot each of them …showed first 75 words of 408 total…

…showed last 75 words of 408 total…black women, were a way of asserting the importance of women's lives, and examining issues of particular importance to women. Angelou's book, although it is meant for a broad audience, is also concerned with conveying the difficulties of being black and a woman in America. Angelou addresses these issues in such a way that they appeal to all her readers for understanding, and also speak to the particular segment of her audience that she represents.