I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

In this chapter, Angelou describes the preparations for adulthood, which all Black girls have to undertake. Although they are different from those for white girls, they are just "as extensive and irrelevant" (104). For instance, in Black communities, girls have to learn embroidering and crocheting, but the only place where they can master more refined skills such as setting a table with real silverware are white people's houses. When Maya is ten, she takes a job at Mrs. Viola Cullinan's house, and the Cullinan kitchen becomes Maya's "finishing school" (104).

Mrs. Cullinan is originally from Virginia, where she grew up in a wealthy family. She keeps a rigid schedule around the house and expects her maids to serve the meals at exactly the same time every day. In late afternoons, Mrs. Cullinan invites her lady friends for drinks on the porch, which are served by Miss Glory, the cook. Maya feels bad for Mrs. Cullinan because she finds her "singularly unattractive" (105) and because, as Miss Glory informed Maya, she can't have children.

Mrs. Cullinan develops a habit of calling Maya “Margaret” instead of her real name, “Marguerite,” and then she goes even further and shortens it to “Mary” (107).