Still I Rise

Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise” was published in 1978 at one of the most productive and successful periods of Angelou’s career. “Still I Rise” tells about bouncing back and rising up past oppression and hate. The speaker in Angelou’s poem talks to a direct audience, asking them questions, announcing to them that no matter what they do, she will always rise back up. The poem is broken up into quatrains, although the last two stanzas use the repetition of the phrase “I rise” between the complete lines. The author uses figurative language in every stanza of her poem and uses similes and metaphors to create imagery and to get the tone and the theme of the poem across to the reader. Angelou uses figurative language to convey the message of resilience and succeeding even through hatred.

“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.

Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise,” written in 1978, acknowledges the racism and segregation during the Civil Rights Movement. During this time, although no longer slaves, the African Americans have been given little rights and opportunity in America. Maya Angelou wrote this poem to prove to other American citizens that she is unfazed by their hate, while she strengthens her people’s motive to reach equality. Angelou utilizes metaphor, imagery and repetition to reveal how proud she is of her minority’s strength.

‘Still I Rise’ show other aspects of the problems that women face. Within the poem, Angelou uses repetition to accentuate powerful imagery. She repeats “I Rise” throughout the poem and frequently leaves it as a two-word line. This draws, even more, attention to the image of her continuously rising up against anyone may put her down. Angelou also employs the use of a

Maya Angelou, an African-American woman, wrote the poem, “Still I Rise,” in 1978 when racism was still prominent. Maya Angelou was reaching out to a racist community to prove oppression will not bring her down. Angelou brings up topics of what she and every other African-American person has to endure when living in their communities, and how they feel. She also brings up topics of oppression and marginalization throughout this speech to state that she will continue to rise up above it. Maya Angelou utilizes rhetorical questions, hateful diction, as well as, similes and metaphors to prove to others that she, and other African-American’s will rise against the racism and oppression they face.

She compares herself to a "black ocean, leaping and wide," an indication of the infinite power of her resilience. She closes the poem claiming that she is the "dream and the hope of the slave" followed by the thrice repeated phrase, "I rise." “Angelou captures the both the repression and the progress of the African American people over the course of history.” (Bouchard 1) I will use this essay in my final paper to analyze and determine the importance of simile in this poem and how it deeply affects the way in which the poem is meant to be

“Still I Rise”, written by African-American writer Maya Angelou, includes a character who rises “Up from a past that’s rooted in pain.” No matter what words are said against her, lies are told about her, threats are made towards her, or words are written against her, she takes the past and uses it to fuel her confidence. The way she writes creates a deep sense of pride and feeling, while giving the poem life and helping the audience realise that they, too can rise. The diction, literary devices, and theme help the speaker portray her feelings about the topic of oppression in her experience.

Society has an overpowering voice that can cause many negative affects on one’s mindset. Society has various expectations, sometimes forcing one to give up on what they strive for because the expectations seem impossible to achieve. In “Graduation Day,” written by Maya Angelou, her dignity becomes challenged by the discouraging words left by Mr. Donleavy. Throughout graduation, Angelou’s attitude transitions from anger to proud. Although Angelou faces adversity, through the astonishing experiences of her graduation day, she gains a greater mentality of herself.

“Although she feeds me bread of bitterness/ And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth/ Stealing my breath of life,...” it sounds as though he blames America for his problems (1,2,3). In the poem he portrays America as a female who is taking advantage of him almost as if he is her servant. He starts to feel backlash from America, he states, “Giving me strength erect against her hate” with this he is starting to feel stronger from the hate that he is receiving (6). With the rancor that he endures he still “stands within her walls with not a shred/ of terror, malice, not a word of jeer” which in turn makes him a better person. The impression of power he is portraying in this poem is supported by “Her vigor flows like tides into my blood” which gives off the belief that he is being strengthened by America (5).

This poem states, “You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like dust, I rise.” This quote resembles empowerment because it makes people feel very powerful, and it lets people know that even if you are at your worst that you will find some way to rise to the top. This is similar to the book, A Good Man, because Sarge and his wife were two very powerful people. They did great things and it makes others want to be with them at the top. In addition, the ending to the poem reiterates, “Still I rise” three times in a row.

Harry Potter, Titanic, and Night are just a few stories that contain separations of people, and they all portray separation differently with their tones. The poems “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou and “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas are two pieces of literature that also show separation through their tones. Their tones show how the speaker of the poem views that separation in the story. Although, they both contain the same main idea, the poems “Still I Rise” and “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” contain tones that are monumentally different. “Still I Rise” is a story in which the speaker is talking towards someone who seeks to hurt her.

Maya Angelou is one out of the best known poets. She has written a lot of poems that inspires and assist people with their lives. She has a “desire humbleness to learn and experience all that life has to offer her” (gale biography in context, “Maya Angelou More than a Poet”) which makes her poems have a meaning to them. In addition, Maya Angelou got a lot of pieces of poems considered equality to her experience as a human of the United States during race times and her experience as a person who worked with other civil right activist. Maya Angelou uses deep themes that leaves the reader to think about the topic is being talked about. In her poem, “Still I Rise” she talks metaphorically about discrimination. In the poem, it states, “does my haughtiness offend you? ( the poetry foundation, “Maya Angelou”). This quote from the poem shows how the rest of the poem is about people believe they is better than other people and that the other people should suffer because they are inferior to the people, but the people being abused should not be embarrassed of who they are and be thankful for life(“Maya Angelou More than a Poet 1”).

The powerful message of the depiction and strength of the characters—men or women, young or old, rich or poor—tell the story of their strength and will to stand up against their oppressors and achieve success. Success is this sense, is not necessarily measured by economic or monetary goals, rather it is determined by if they fight against and prevail over the meaningless future that white America has predestined for them. Angelou creates a tone of resilience when the character the poem tells her oppressors, “You may shoot me with your words/ You may cut me with your eyes/ You may kill me with you hatefulness/ But still, like air, I’ll rise” (“Rise” 20-25). Hughes creates the same tone when the man in his poem is not discouraged by the manner in which he is treated by his “family”.

This emphasizes the powerful message of the poem by giving the reader the opportunity to fully absorb each individual thought behind each written line, so

Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” takes place in the mind of Maya Angelou. She is talking about someone who is saying bad things about her. Even though they are saying bad things about her she won’t let it bring her down she will rise. She shows her Confidence by saying that she will rise, another way she is showing her Confidence is by being confident in her heritage, and her Confidence is evident through her displays of literary devices.