The "Birds" & The Bees

Neither Momma nor Vivian ever discussed the facts of life with Ms. Angelou, leaving her with questions she is afraid to ask. The result of this is that Ms. Angelou conducts her own research and draws her own faulty conclusions. This is a dangerous thing to do, as Ms. Angelou becomes confused and disillusioned about intimacy, and ends up pregnant.

There are a lot of "what if" questions that can be drawn from this chapter. With a partner or by yourself, consider the following questions, and write your own opinions about them.

What is the likelihood of Ms. Angelou becoming pregnant if Momma or Vivian had discussed the subject with her earlier?

The likelihood of Ms. Angelou becoming pregnant if Momma or Vivian had discussed the subject with her earlier is very slim, when people talk about pregnancy they talk about marriage first and how you should get married before you have sex. Marguerite did not know that so now she is pregnant.

What if Ms. Angelou had never been sexually abused? Could her pregnancy have happened anyway? Why or why not?

If she was not sexual abused she probably would not have gotten pregnant to begin with because she still didn't know about it because she never asked questions.

What would happen to the baby's father if Ms. Angelou's uncles knew?

Marguerite would have to explain herself first she would have to say if she wanted the sex or if she was pressured. If she was pressured her uncles would probably kill the father.

Would Ms. Angelou have experimented with sex on her own if she hadn't been raped as a child?

I think she wouldn't know what sex was and that she would eventually get pressured into it.

What if she never got pregnant at this age, would it have changed her life?

If Marguerite did not get pregnant she wouldn't of had the baby and it would probably have changed her live dramatically because not having a child can give u more time, she would have had not stress about tewling her parents.