<P> The book's reception has not been universally positive; for example, author Francine Prose considers its inclusion in the high school curriculum as partly responsible for the "dumbing down" of American society . Prose calls the book "manipulative melodrama", and considers Angelou's writing style an inferior example of poetic prose in memoir . She accuses Angelou of combining a dozen metaphors in one paragraph and for "obscuring ideas that could be expressed so much more simply and felicitously". Many parents throughout the U.S. have sought to ban the book from schools and libraries for being inappropriate for younger high school students, for promoting premarital sex, homosexuality, cohabitation, and pornography, and for not supporting traditional values . Parents have also objected to the book's use of profanity and to its graphic and violent depiction of rape and racism . </P> <P> When Caged Bird was published in 1969, Angelou was hailed as a new kind of memoirist, one of the first African - American women who was able to publicly discuss her personal life . Up to that point, Black women writers were marginalized to the point that they were unable to present themselves as central characters . Writer Julian Mayfield, who called Caged Bird "a work of art that eludes description", has insisted that Angelou's autobiographies set a precedent for African - American autobiography as a whole . Als insisted that Caged Bird marked one of the first times that a Black autobiographer could, as Als put it, "write about blackness from the inside, without apology or defense". Through the writing of her autobiography, Angelou became recognized as a respected spokesperson for blacks and women . Caged Bird made her "without a doubt...America's most visible black woman autobiographer". Although Als considers Caged Bird an important contribution to the increase of Black feminist writings in the 1970s, he attributes its success less to its originality than to "its resonance in the prevailing Zeitgeist" of its time, at the end of the American Civil Rights movement . Angelou's writings, more interested in self - revelation than in politics or feminism, freed many other women writers to "open themselves up without shame to the eyes of the world". </P> <P> Angelou's autobiographies, especially the first volume, have been used in narrative and multicultural approaches to teacher education . Jocelyn A. Glazier, a professor at George Washington University, has used Caged Bird and Gather Together in My Name when training teachers to appropriately explore racism in their classrooms . Angelou's use of understatement, self - mockery, humor, and irony causes readers of Angelou's autobiographies to wonder what she "left out" and to be unsure how to respond to the events Angelou describes . These techniques force white readers to explore their feelings about race and their privileged status in society . Glazier found that although critics have focused on where Angelou fits within the genre of African - American autobiography and her literary techniques, readers react to her storytelling with "surprise, particularly when (they) enter the text with certain expectations about the genre of autobiography". </P> <P> Educator Daniel Challener, in his 1997 book Stories of Resilience in Childhood, analyzed the events in Caged Bird to illustrate resiliency in children . Challener states that Angelou's book provides a useful framework for exploring the obstacles many children like Maya face and how a community helps these children succeed as Angelou did . Psychologist Chris Boyatzis has used Caged Bird to supplement scientific theory and research in the instruction of child development topics such as the development of self - concept and self - esteem, ego resilience, industry versus inferiority, effects of abuse, parenting styles, sibling and friendship relations, gender issues, cognitive development, puberty, and identity formation in adolescence . He has called the book a highly effective tool for providing real - life examples of these psychological concepts . </P>

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