Maya Angelou and E. L. Doctorow both write about nomads in America, finding a place which feels like home. Angelou speaks about herself, mainly her childhood. She and her brother set out nation-wide, to find their true home. A place which accepts them, and removes the negative label placed on them by their heritage. They hope to discover a place which embraces them as people, and not see them as different figures.

Doctorow's Ragtime portrays poor immigrants Tateh and his daughter, as they struggle to find and live the American Dream, so warmly promised to them. This symbolizes the struggle of all immigrants at the turn of the century, particularly in the Progressive Era. Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, follows the life of an African American woman's struggle which depicts many young black children who are abandoned by parents in the late 1950s and even...