Maya Angelou:
Maya Angelou was born on the 4th April 1928. Throughout her lifetime she was and American poet, author, singer, dancer and actress. She was an activist for civil rights especially for African American people. She worked with the civil rights movement and ended up working with Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. Most of her poems and books were used to express the need for African Americans and women’s rights. Her most famous poem is called “I know why the cage bird sings” and shows how the black people have no rights or freedom compared to the white people. Over her life she had experienced a lot of prejudice and her experiences formed a basis for many of her poems and books. Through out her life she received many awards and has received over 30 honorary degrees. She died on the 28th of May 2014 after a life of great achievements and she gave our world one more step toward rights for everyone.
Maya Angelou was born on the 4th April 1928. Throughout her lifetime she was and American poet, author, singer, dancer and actress. She was an activist for civil rights especially for African American people. She worked with the civil rights movement and ended up working with Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. Most of her poems and books were used to express the need for African Americans and women’s rights. Her most famous poem is called “I know why the cage bird sings” and shows how the black people have no rights or freedom compared to the white people. Over her life she had experienced a lot of prejudice and her experiences formed a basis for many of her poems and books. Through out her life she received many awards and has received over 30 honorary degrees. She died on the 28th of May 2014 after a life of great achievements and she gave our world one more step toward rights for everyone.
Context in her Poem: Still I Rise
In her poem still I rise by Maya Angelou she uses context to make you understand how she and many other people feel when they are discriminated. She describes throughout the poem how people show so much hatred toward her and those who are being discriminated. She describes how the people hate it when she is able to do something or when she is feeling joyful. They repeatedly put her down and try to get rid of her but as she repeats the line “still I rise” this shows how Black Americans have learnt to be resilient and fight back for their rights.
In her poem still I rise by Maya Angelou she uses context to make you understand how she and many other people feel when they are discriminated. She describes throughout the poem how people show so much hatred toward her and those who are being discriminated. She describes how the people hate it when she is able to do something or when she is feeling joyful. They repeatedly put her down and try to get rid of her but as she repeats the line “still I rise” this shows how Black Americans have learnt to be resilient and fight back for their rights.
Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll 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.
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll 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.
Analyst of the Poem: Still I Rise
In the poem ‘Still I Rise’ by Maja Angelou the use of similes and repetition helps convey the theme. The use of similes to express the theme, is shown as she keeps on giving examples of how she (African Americans) are being discriminated and put-down. An example of this is in the simile “Shoulders falling down like teardrops.” In which the use of the word ‘teardrops’ shows how lost the African Americans feel and describes how they are being put down, again and again. This is Angelou’s targeted theme of the poem and there are many other similes that convey this theme. Another instance of this is in the line “You may kill me with your hatefulness,” which clearly expresses how much hatred is felt towards the African Americans and how this makes them feel. But the real theme is show in the repetition of the line “still I rise”. This is used at the end of few stanzas and the use of repetition of those three words, drills the idea into your head that no matter how much discrimination and hatred is felt towards African Americans, they will always have spirit to regain themselves and stand up again. But this is different to the poem ‘ No more Boomerang’ by Kath Walker as that poem mainly gives examples of how the aboriginal rights are being taken away from them. While in ‘Still I Rise’ the use of the similes and repetition together creates a powerful message as the similes show the discrimination and hatred and the repetition of ‘still I rise’ at the end displays how the African Americans are becoming resilient and standing up for themselves. This is similar to the poem ‘No more Boomerang” as they both display how the rights and traditions of the Aboriginals and the African Americans are being taken away from them and how they are both trying to regain them. To conclude, the combined use of similes and repetition helps to strongly convey the theme of this poem and demonstrate how the African Americans are standing up for their rights in any circumstance.
In the poem ‘Still I Rise’ by Maja Angelou the use of similes and repetition helps convey the theme. The use of similes to express the theme, is shown as she keeps on giving examples of how she (African Americans) are being discriminated and put-down. An example of this is in the simile “Shoulders falling down like teardrops.” In which the use of the word ‘teardrops’ shows how lost the African Americans feel and describes how they are being put down, again and again. This is Angelou’s targeted theme of the poem and there are many other similes that convey this theme. Another instance of this is in the line “You may kill me with your hatefulness,” which clearly expresses how much hatred is felt towards the African Americans and how this makes them feel. But the real theme is show in the repetition of the line “still I rise”. This is used at the end of few stanzas and the use of repetition of those three words, drills the idea into your head that no matter how much discrimination and hatred is felt towards African Americans, they will always have spirit to regain themselves and stand up again. But this is different to the poem ‘ No more Boomerang’ by Kath Walker as that poem mainly gives examples of how the aboriginal rights are being taken away from them. While in ‘Still I Rise’ the use of the similes and repetition together creates a powerful message as the similes show the discrimination and hatred and the repetition of ‘still I rise’ at the end displays how the African Americans are becoming resilient and standing up for themselves. This is similar to the poem ‘No more Boomerang” as they both display how the rights and traditions of the Aboriginals and the African Americans are being taken away from them and how they are both trying to regain them. To conclude, the combined use of similes and repetition helps to strongly convey the theme of this poem and demonstrate how the African Americans are standing up for their rights in any circumstance.