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- 1. Multiple Choice
What does the caged bird represent?
The oppression of the African American community.
A bird with clipped wings and tied feet.
The fight for women's rights.
Maya Angelou's anger at being lonely.
- 2. Multiple Choice
What does the free bird represent?
The freedom of living without friends.
A bird that has never had its wings clipped.
The freedom of living without fear of slavery or racism as a white individual.
Feeling strong after working in the fields.
- 3. Multiple Choice
What is this poem mainly about?
The lives of birds
The dreams of birds
Joy and singing
Freedom and slavery
- 4. Multiple Choice
The poem alternates between describing the free bird and the caged bird. This structure emphasizes
the complicated struggle of being free.
the contrast between being free and confined.
the similarity between the experiences of being free and confined.
the caged bird and free bird are the same species.
- 5. Multiple Choice
Which line of the poem shows that the caged bird has never been free?
“his wings are clipped and / his feet are tied / so he opens his throat to sing.” (lines 12–14)
“his tune is heard / on the distant hill / for the caged bird / sings for freedom.” (lines 19–22)
“The caged bird sings / with a fearful trill / of things unknown / but longed for still” (lines 31–34)
- 6. Multiple Choice
What does the caged bird’s singing reveal about him?
He is terribly unhappy.
He prefers to sing rather than to fly.
He does not know how to sing.
Singing is the only way he can talk to other birds.
- 7. Multiple Choice
Read these lines from the poem.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
What do these lines reveal about the caged bird?
The caged bird is aware of its surroundings.
The caged bird has strong feelings about his situation.
The caged bird is satisfied with its life.
The caged bird has difficulty flying.
- 8. Multiple Choice
In stanza 2, the only rhyming words are ____________ and _________.
stalks and through
sing and tied
rage and cage
bird and bird
- 9. Multiple Choice
What do the rhyming words rage and cage in stanza 2 emphasize?
the anger that can accompany a lack of freedom
the sadness that can accompany a lack of freedom
that it is possible to feel free even in a cage
that the caged bird cannot sing
- 10. Multiple Choice
What does the word trill most likely mean, based on its context in stanza 3?
trembling or quivering sound made a bird or insect
strong, confident tone
a peaceful song sung by a bird or insect
another animal of a similar species
- 11. Multiple Choice
The content of stanza 3 is repeated in stanza 6. This repetition reveals that the bird
has resigned himself to a captive life.
has never known freedom, but understands what it is and hopes for it.
is now content, understanding that life in the cage is safer.
sings a song of freedom that is not heard by others, but he accepts it
- 12. Multiple Choice
Which of the following lines is the best example of personification?
on a distant hill
the caged bird stalks
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
of things unknown but longed for still
- 13. Multiple Choice
The grave of dreams represents
a feeling of ignorance
the possibility for the future
where the bird will die
a feeling of hopelessness
- 14. Multiple Choice
Identify TWO lines of repetition in this poem.
his wings are clipped
his feet are tied
the free bird thinks of another breeze
and he names the sky his own
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