Question

Read the passage from “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”

For nearly a year, I sopped around the house, the Store, the school and the church, like an old biscuit, dirty and inedible. Then I met, or rather got to know, the lady who threw me my first life line.

Which phrase from the passage most helps the reader to identify author Maya Angelou’s viewpoint about Mrs. Flowers?

I sopped around the house
an old biscuit
dirty and inedible

Answer 1

"dirty and inedible."

This phrase emphasizes Angelou’s low self‑regard before meeting Mrs. Flowers, which helps the reader understand why Mrs. Flowers’ intervention (throwing her a “life line”) is seen as so important and positive.