Problem 1: What is literary imagery? Give 2 examples of imagery from the reading this week.
Problem 2: What do you think Ms. Angelou means when she says on p. 107, "My pity for Mrs. Cullinan preceded me the next morning like the Cheshire Cat's smile?
Problem 3: On p.112, Ms. Angelou describes herself as "a mote imprisoned on a shaft of sunlight." What figure of speech is she using? What is a mote and what do you think she means by this statement?
Problem 4: After Bailey was whipped by Uncle Willie for being late home from the movies. Ms. Angelou says, "For days the Store was a strange country, and we were all newly arrived immigrants" (117). What do you think she is saying?
Problem 5: Define frivolity and describe what Ms. Angelou means when she uses this word at the top of p.123.
Problem 6: Who was John Brown and why would Ms. Angelou mention him when talking about who would get into heaven? (129).
Problem 7: Who was Joe Louis and why was it so important that he win the fight? (135).
Problem 8: In Chapter 19, Ms. Angelou describes the annual summer picnic fish fry. She says, "The amount and variety of foods would have found approval on the menu of a Roman epicure" (138). What is a Roman epicure?
Problem 9: After receiving a love note from Tommy Valden, Maya exclaims, "Why? Why me? Was it a joke? (143). Why do you think this upset her so much?
Problem 10: In Chapter 22, Baileys' first love Joyce disappears. Maya describes Bailey's state of mind by saying, "He closed in on himself like a pond swallowing a stone" (150). What figure of speech is she using and what does this image suggest?