Maya Angelou's Still I Rise

“Still I Rise,” written by poet Maya Angelou, has a blend of tones. Some are playful, funny, angry, confident, and bitter. However, the poem’s tone, as the title implies, is conquering."Still I Rise" is a poem about strength, perseverance, and confirmation. It is about what is expected of a person and what that person is able to do in spite of the expectations.

The poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou (1928-2014) an African American poet contains an intriguing mixture of tones such as playful and defiant, comical and angry, self-assured and bitter. However, the poems title gives us a sense of triumph within the poem. The poems first word being you is an obvious disclosure that the poem is addressed to other people. Potentially to those who had tried to oppress her, or those who tried to belittle her. Being born into the few years prior to the great depression Angelou and her family may have still been experiencing a form of slavery from the previously rich white class. Angelou refers to oil wells, gold mines, and diamonds in her poem which had just become the newly booming businesses at the time. Angelou’s poem continuously refers to success; possibly her success as an African American woman and an enormous human rights activist overcoming her oppressors and having a large impact on society. The poem can be looked at through a Marxist, Feminist,

Maya Angelou, was an honorable and wise woman. She had many accomplishments, starting with being a civil rights activists to publishing TV series. One of her most famous poems, Still I Rise, says, no matter how hard some situations in life can get, they can still be overcome. Dr. Angelou uses figurative language and an encouraging tone to develop her theme in her poem.

Majority of African American women get judged on the day to day basis. When scrolling through social media there will be large amounts of individuals who will bully or even belittle a colored female because of the natural kinks of her hair, her sense of fashion, the full shaped curves of her body, and the color of her skin . The poem “Still I Rise” by the well-known poet, Maya Angelou, specifically describes the reasons why she had so much confidence; even if she were to be judged by her appearances and mindset. This poem is about embracing females, but it mainly introduces similar life situations that many African American women have experienced. The symbols and point of view that Angelou specifically added in her poem made her readers realize that there are many meanings to this poem.

In the poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou the speaker is an African American woman who has a high self-esteem about the situation that she is living and she keeps going with her life. The poem gives a beautiful message about never let someone bring us down. The tone of the poem is admiring, hopeful, and passionate.

The poem “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou sharply contrasts to the description of black people in Macomb country in To Kill a Mockingbird. The poem and the novel are about the same theme discrimination but it has different aspects. In the poem, Maya Angelou says “You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lies, you may trod me in the very dirt but still, like dust, I’ll rise”(Stanza 1). In this poem Maya Angelou is discriminated and treated badly by the whites’ but she is still strong and confident about what she is doing. In To Kill a Mockingbird the black man, Tom Robinson is accused of raping white women (p.223).

Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise”, was first published by Random House in 1978. This poem discusses mean and vicious actions and words from the oppressors of black women. Black women barely had any rights in the late twentieth century, and Maya Angelou spoke of not only the hardships she went through, but of the hardships all black women in this time period went through. Although they were facing hard times, this poem sends a very powerful message demonstrated by the words, “Still I Rise.”

Discrimination of people with different religions and races is a theme that is explored throughout many texts like the ‘Still I Rise’ Poetry from Maya Angelou, ‘The Dollhouse’ short story by Katherine Mansfield, The movie ‘Gran Torino’ directed by Clint Eastwood, and the Documentary film ‘Born into Brothels’ by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman.

The poem “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou takes on the conflict of racism as one individual uses her identity to stand up against the oppressive society around her. The speaker is able to be identified as a proud black female who has overcome racism throughout her life. This identity as a strong woman who has faced adversity lets the speaker use powerful literary devices to help emphasize the injustice of racism. First off, the speaker begins by saying, “You may write me down in history/ With your bitter, twisted lies…” (lines 1-2). These two lines show the bitterness that the speaker feels towards those that oppress her but then follows with saying, “You may trod me in the very dirt/

Racism and sexism have been used for hundreds of years in order to keep the population where the person in power wants it to be, though in the words of Abraham Heschel, “Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason” (Heschel). These ideologies were grand problems in the life of Dr. Maya Angelou, an African-American woman born and raised in the late 1920s in Missouri, U.S.A, a place known for its discrimination against black people. Maya Angelou wrote her poem “Still I Rise” in 1978 at the age of 50, though that only adds to the power behind the poem itself. With her use of imagery, metaphorical language and similes, as well as repetition, this poem is Dr. Maya Angelou's most famous work, as well as

Still I Rise Analysis Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise”, is a fascinating poem that compels a mixture of tones. From playful and defiant, comical and angry, to self-assured and bitter. The poem’s tone is triumphant just as the title implies. The story in this poem is about an African American woman who has been hurt physically and emotionally by diversity and has risen above everything.

In the poem “Still I Rise” by the African-American poet Maya Angelou is a work that reflects the oppression African Americans have faced historically by their white oppressors. The poem uses extended metaphors to show the reader the attitudes towards the African-Americans through history. Also, Angelou uses a one-sided dialogue to illustrate how people want to see you fail but as an individual, you must rise above. The poem keeps reminding the interlocutor about the dark history of America’s past and also the author’s personal experiences during her lifetime.

The poem "Still I Rise," by Maya Angelou, uses language to achieve her purpose of showcasing her confident rise from the horrible history that her people, African Americans, had to overcome. In this poem, her strong attitude and tone further reinforces the theme regarding the slave trade, and black history.

Maya Angelou’s poem Still I Rise is an astonishing piece of art. The reason I chose this poem is because it’s not only a poem, it’s a story. The poem is about Maya Angelou’s beliefs being a women of color about discrimination. It’s not just her personal story but a universal experience for those with an African American background. Throughout the poem, Maya Angelou uses many poetic devices to give us more in-depth meaning behind what is in the poem. These poetic devices help her poem flow, create emotion, and makes the read more interesting. The poetic devices Maya Angelou focused on throughout her poem are repetition, rhyme, metaphor, and symbols. These poetic devices work together to create an overall

Still I Rise is a Women’s Right and Protest poem about Angelou’s struggle of oppression being an African-American woman living during segregation era in USA but has universal appeal. Angelou uses her experience to convey a message of resilience overcoming adversity. The poem has an obvious link to my previous text responses such as The Help, Hamilton: An American Musical, Dear White People and The Color Purple. All these texts have a character that is a strong African-American woman fighting the status quo and the poem itself embodies this character.