"still i rise" by maya angleou
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Maya Angelou’s Life
Maya Angelou was born on April 4th 1928. She was born in St Louis, Missouri. Her early career was not focused on Poetry or literature at all. Maya Angelou took dance classes when she was young and started to go into the acting career, performing in San Francisco. However she never became successful and after a number of other occupations she decided to go to Africa as a journalist. Commenting and reporting on the decolonization of African nations at the time. She spent most of her time in Ghana. Maya Angelou was very active and a big part of the Civil rights movement in America. She worked alongside Martin Luther King, the leader of the revolution. Her poems though are the things that made her famous. Maya Angelou’s poem “I know why the Caged Bird Sings”, was her most famous poem. She was an extremely inspirational Women. Just before she died she was rewarded with a presidential medal of freedom. She died in May 2014. Leaving behind a legacy of how powerful poems can really be. |
Context
Maya Angelou’s poems are very similar to Kath Walkers, as they are both trying to get the message across that discrimination should be non-existent. Maya Angelou in her poems brings to light the issues in America at the time and how black people feel trapped and unable to speak out because they had very little rights. She was a big part of the civil rights movement in America, being one of Martin Luther King’s most loyal counterparts. Maya Angelou’s poems reflect her relentlessness about the topic and how black people felt. In the end her civil right passion and her utter relentlessness helped America become a more equal and free society for black people.
Maya Angelou’s poems are very similar to Kath Walkers, as they are both trying to get the message across that discrimination should be non-existent. Maya Angelou in her poems brings to light the issues in America at the time and how black people feel trapped and unable to speak out because they had very little rights. She was a big part of the civil rights movement in America, being one of Martin Luther King’s most loyal counterparts. Maya Angelou’s poems reflect her relentlessness about the topic and how black people felt. In the end her civil right passion and her utter relentlessness helped America become a more equal and free society for black people.
Still i rise
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries. Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own back yard. |
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise. |
Analysis of the poem Still I rise
Still I Rise by Maya Angelou uses poetic techniques to strengthen the themes that are prominent in the poem. The poem focuses on how whatever the white Americans do to her, she always feels like she will be able to overcome them. Kath Walker’s poem Acacia Ridge has very similar themes. In hers though she is targeting the treatment of Aboriginals. Repetition of the words “Still I Rise” happens constantly in the poem. I think that this helps to reinforce the theme that she is strong and so are the Black Americans that have no rights because of their skin colour. This poem may be trying to deter white people from restricting Blacks because they as a population group they are strong and will protest. The repetition of the phrase, is used to make sure that when reading the poem, they are constantly going back to the theme of “Still I Rise”. Repetition and metaphors are used in both poems. This is because they are techniques that work well in protest poetry. Another technique that is used in the poem are metaphors. “I am a black ocean, welling and swelling”. This line talks about how people see her as a dull creature. However she talks about how she is active but also powerful ‘welling and swelling’. This helps us create an image in our heads of her yelling and protesting for her rights. Maya Angelou also uses the rhythm and rhyme. “My ancestors gave, bring the dream and the hope of the slave”. I think these techniques are crucial in a protest poem because it makes us remember the poem more easily and read it more clearly. Maya Angelou uses rhythm throughout the poem, making it easier to read and understand for a younger reader. In conclusion Maya Angelou in her poem Still I Rise uses a theme of discrimination against the minority group. Much like Kath Walker, Maya Angelous poems are memorable and that is what makes them great.
Still I Rise by Maya Angelou uses poetic techniques to strengthen the themes that are prominent in the poem. The poem focuses on how whatever the white Americans do to her, she always feels like she will be able to overcome them. Kath Walker’s poem Acacia Ridge has very similar themes. In hers though she is targeting the treatment of Aboriginals. Repetition of the words “Still I Rise” happens constantly in the poem. I think that this helps to reinforce the theme that she is strong and so are the Black Americans that have no rights because of their skin colour. This poem may be trying to deter white people from restricting Blacks because they as a population group they are strong and will protest. The repetition of the phrase, is used to make sure that when reading the poem, they are constantly going back to the theme of “Still I Rise”. Repetition and metaphors are used in both poems. This is because they are techniques that work well in protest poetry. Another technique that is used in the poem are metaphors. “I am a black ocean, welling and swelling”. This line talks about how people see her as a dull creature. However she talks about how she is active but also powerful ‘welling and swelling’. This helps us create an image in our heads of her yelling and protesting for her rights. Maya Angelou also uses the rhythm and rhyme. “My ancestors gave, bring the dream and the hope of the slave”. I think these techniques are crucial in a protest poem because it makes us remember the poem more easily and read it more clearly. Maya Angelou uses rhythm throughout the poem, making it easier to read and understand for a younger reader. In conclusion Maya Angelou in her poem Still I Rise uses a theme of discrimination against the minority group. Much like Kath Walker, Maya Angelous poems are memorable and that is what makes them great.