I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Chapters 24–36

by Maya Angelou
In this classic autobiography, the accomplished poet and writer recounts her childhood and teenage years.

Here are links to our lists for the text: Prologue–Chapter 5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–17, Chapters 18–23, Chapters 24–36
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. bailiwick
    one's particular area of interest or branch of knowledge
    I had two cavities that were rotten to the gums. The pain was beyond the bailiwick of crushed aspirins or oil of cloves.
  2. desiccated
    thoroughly dried out
    The Black newcomer had been recruited on the desiccated farm lands of Georgia and Mississippi by war-plant labor scouts.
  3. gauche
    lacking social poise or refinement
    The air of collective displacement, the impermanence of life in wartime and the gauche personalities of the more recent arrivals tended to dissipate my own sense of not belonging.
  4. rarefied
    of high moral or intellectual value
    For the first semester, I was one of three Black students in the school, and in that rarefied atmosphere I came to love my people more.
  5. bourgeoisie
    a socioeconomic group that is neither wealthy nor poor
    When I met Dolores she had all the poses of the Black bourgeoisie without the material basis to support the postures.
  6. approbation
    official recognition or commendation
    It would have been futile to tell him of my mastering his car and driving it nearly fifty miles. I didn’t expect or even need, now, his approbation.
  7. obeisance
    dutiful or submissive behavior
    If Mother was a beautiful woman who exacted the tribute of obeisance from all men, she was also a mother, and “a damn good one.”
  8. gumption
    fortitude and determination
    In fact, she’d be pleased to think that I had that much gumption, that much of her in my character. (She liked to speak of herself as the original “do-it-yourself girl.” )
  9. supercilious
    having or showing arrogant superiority
    While I spoke in supercilious accents, and looked at the room as if I had an oil well in my own backyard, my armpits were being pricked by millions of hot pointed needles.
  10. rococo
    having excessive asymmetrical ornamentation
    Old buildings, whose gray rococo façades housed my memories of the Forty-Niners, and Diamond Lil, Robert Service, Sutter and Jack London, were then imposing structures viciously joined to keep me out.
  11. aphorism
    a short pithy instructive saying
    Another time she reminded me that “God helps those who help themselves.” She had a store of aphorisms which she dished out as the occasion demanded.
  12. ostensibly
    from appearances alone
    I only knew that one day, which was tiresomely like all the others before it, I sat in the Railway office, ostensibly waiting to be interviewed.
  13. malaise
    a vague sense of unease or dissatisfaction
    One evening as I walked up the hill suffering from youth’s vague malaise (there was simply nothing to do), the brother I had chosen came walking directly into my trap.
  14. brouhaha
    a confused disturbance far greater than its cause merits
    As always, her major concern was to live the life given to her, and her children were expected to do the same. And to do it without too much brouhaha.
  15. guileless
    innocent and free of deceit
    All my motions focalized on pretending to be that guileless schoolgirl who had nothing more wearying to think about than mid-term exams.
Created on Tue Oct 22 17:02:47 EDT 2013 (updated Tue Jul 01 17:19:36 EDT 2025)

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