"Still I Rise” and “Pretty Beyond Belief" show different perspectives of alienation. Digression of alienation of an individual is shown in “Still I Rise,” evident in Amy Tan’s struggle to fit in into the norm of beauty. Progression of alienation of an individual is shown in “Pretty Beyond Belief,” evident in Maya Angelou’s tone of confidence in the poem. Firstly, in the tone of Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise,” Maya is not feeling alone. Maya’s use of similes and metaphors to compare her confidence shows the progression of alienation of her. The progression of alienation is shown in her strong metaphor comparison to oil wells, “Cause I walk like I’ve got oil well Pumping in my living room.” (stanza 2) Maya’s use of a strong metaphor by comparing her confidence to an oil well pumping strongly shows her lack of loneliness she feels from people. As she progresses into her poem, her confidence increases and use of metaphors and similes deliberately shows her digression. In contrast, throughout the poem, the similes show another side of the digression of Maya Angelou’s confidence. The other side of her confidence shows her self-respect and positivity of herself, “Just like …show more content…
In the beginning, Amy is struggling with her looks because of her mom’s comment about not fitting into the Chinese beauty standard. As she struggles with the problem, she begins to realize that the only way she could overcome her problem is to find self-love. Throughout the story, digression of alienation of an individual is used through personal narrative from Amy Tan’s narrative, “If beauty is bad luck, why do I still want it?” (line 11) In line 11, Amy Tan’s problem is not solved at the end of the story because of her lack of self-love. Because of her struggle to fit into a standard, she feels alienated from
she must learn how to overcome. She goes from being this person who doesn’t fit in at
Maya Angelou’s “Equality” depicts a more patient yet tenacious rebel than described in Dunbar’s poem. “You declare you see me dimly”, she begins, “through a glass that will not shine.” Maya describes the denial of her boldness, of her rebellion; but, she continues to march, chanting “Equality and I will be free. Equality and I will be free.” She identifies herself as a shadow, unimportant to those she opposes— but she intends to repeat the mantra “Equality and I will be free” until she is heard. The sixth stanza left me in literal tears (and I am not an emotional person, thank you very
Does Amy’s beauty and mystique represent something deeper? In Katherine Anne Porter’s “Old Mortality,” there is an obvious obsession amongst most of the novella’s characters with Amy’s beauty. Most of the female characters throughout the novella are often compared to Amy by her family’s elders. These characters are often described as coming close to embodying Amy’s beauty (or not at all), but it is generally recognized that no one will ever be able to be quite as beautiful as Amy was. While there are a few descriptions of Amy’s physical appearance throughout the novella, there seems to be more of a focus on her careless behavior. Many of the novella’s central figures identify this kind of behavior as something that contributed to her charm
Maya Angelou and Collective Soul’s poetry are similar in some ways when broken down correctly. Collective Soul writes “ why drink the water from my hand? Contagious as you think I am'; reflects the same ideas that Maya Angelou shares when She says, “Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom'; These two parts of their writings are asking a similar question. Why do you choose to seclude me from you’re world am I something you wouldn’t expect from another human? “Don’t scream about don’t think aloud turn your head now baby just spit me out don’t worry about don’t speak of doubt turn your head now baby just spit me out.'; This is a complex way saying why is you disrespected me because you can’t stand the way that I am. Just walk all over me treat me different act as if I’m a piece of crap. What good does it do for you by bringing me down?
The poem “Sometimes the Words Are So Close,”(963) written by Julia Alvarez, discusses how words like a person can be stripped down and made uncomplicated. People are full of layers that surround them everyday. Each layer can be discarded one at a time, down to the bare essentials and in that space, people can be who they truly are. This is also where she explores her voice as a woman. Andrea Schaefer said, in reference to the “33” Sonnet collection, “...Alvarez further explores the themes of her voice taking flight and the powers of language to effect personal and political change. These poems more explicitly address her Dominican roots and her 'childhood in a dictatorship/ when real talk was punishable by death'...” During another interview, Alvarez stated; “...The page is where I learned to put together my different worlds, where I've put down the deepest roots...” Although born in New York, Alvarez lived in the Dominican Republic with her family for her first ten years. Unfortunately, they had to flee back to the United States as political exiles in 1960. On writing, Alvarez stated, “...Not understanding the language, I had to pay close attention to each word -- great training for a writer. I also discovered the welcoming world of the imagination and books...” Alvarez's poem addresses the two worlds she grew up in, the Dominican Republic and the United States and the differences of language in each. Through an implied metaphor, the speaker of the poem unveils herself, a line at a time, while simultaneously building upon the “figure”(7) of the poem to reveal at its core, a woman.
In Maya Angelou’s third book of poetry And Still I Rise, the personal struggles of the African American Woman are brought to life through poetic works. With inspirations drawn from personal journeys of Maya Angelou herself, powerful poems praise, celebrate, and empathize with the feminine colored experience. Angelou’s writing sheds glaring light on themes of feminine power, beauty, and perseverance, raising the African American Woman to a pedestal that demands respect and adoration. For Angelou’s audience, the everyday woman is presented equipped with all the necessities to thrive and shine in the face of adversity. In Maya Angelou’s works “Phenomenal Woman”, “Woman Work”, and “Still I Rise”, audiences are able to connect to the strength and virtue of the woman that is brought to life through the praising of femininity, and through its power to make an impact on society.
This seminar paper will look at a poem written by Maya Angelou, Still I rise, 1978. An analysis of this poem will be provided, exploring the meaning of the poem and the language used to present a certain image to the audience.
Ms. Angelou's rhetorical strategy of comparison and contrast serves as effectively as her brilliant, flowing sentences sprinkled with colorful simile and imagery. Poetic phrases describing a voice "like a river diminishing to a stream, and then a trickle" or the audience's conditioned responses as "Amen's and Yes, sir's began to fall around the room like rain through a ragged umbrella" paint vivid images.
Amy Tan, in ?Mother Tongue,? Does an excellent job at fully explaining her self through many different ways. It?s not hard to see the compassion and love she has for her mother and for her work. I do feel that her mother could have improved the situation of parents and children switching rolls, but she did the best she could, especially given the circumstances she was under. All in all, Amy just really wanted to be respected by her critics and given the chance to prove who she is. Her time came, and she successfully accomplished her goals. The only person who really means something to her is her mother, and her mother?s reaction to her first finished work will always stay with her, ?so easy to read? (39).
Maya Angelou is a internationally respected, brilliant poet, and author. Maya Angelou says "In all my work I try to tell the human truth, what it is like to be human, what makes us stumble and somehow miraculously rise and go on from the darkness and into the light”. This theme is consistently exemplified throughout Angelou's greatly acclaimed poem ‘Still I rise’. The poem shows us the true life story of Maya Angelou's tragedies, and their dreadful conditions she had encountered in her youth. But in Angelou's poem, she escapes the night to go into the light, leaving all the hurt and shame to prosper in a new life she has created.
Realistically, I believe this is because society that is around her has not generated a construction of privilege and oppression in order for her to behave logically in that way. The society that she lives and operates simply as is, inexperienced to any differences from the “norm”. However I can say that once people move out of their own society and enter into a newly world, where one may not be the “norm”, they become oppressed and essentially will not receive the privileges they once enjoyed. Basically, the social construction of difference is recognizing that people are different in society including a person race, sexual orientation, etc, but his theory is that we need to change the world by changing the way we think and act so we be successful in many ways in which can potentially accept each other and it makes a difference when “we participate in the world become part of the complex dynamic through which the world itself will change.” (Johnson,
of the difficulty in acceptance. In the first few stanzas the poet creates the impression that she
In Maya Angelou’s poem, As I Rise, she utilizes multiple forms of literary devices, two of these include similes and stanzas. Throughout the poem Angelou uses similes to convey her message to the people that read her works. One simile that can be found is, “Just like moons and like suns, / With the certainty of tides, / Just like hopes springing high, / Still I’ll rise”(Angelou, “Still I Rise” 9-12). Angelou is comparing the consistency and stability that she rises as a woman and person to the moon, sun, and tides. We can consistently rely on the sun and moon rising respectively in the morning and at dusk, just as we can rely on her to rise with just as much consistency and persistence.
Maya Angelou uses repetition, figurative language, and includes different examples of different people to convey and illustrate how a person needs someone. In this poem, repetition is continuously used throughout. One of the main characteristics that a reader will recognize about this poem, is that it contains large amounts of repetition of words and phrases. Throughout the poem, Angelou repeats the words "alone" and "nobody" numerous times. In fact, there is a three line stanza that repeats "alone" three times and "nobody" twice (11-13).
Maya Angelou’s word choice in “Phenomenal Woman” is simple and dull, but it fits the poem perfectly once it is read. The words used in the poem are not powerful but it keeps you reading. It makes the readers a have different opinion on the poem. Also it makes the readers analyze what she is really trying to say. For example, in the poem Maya Angelou states “Men themselves have wondered, What they see in me. They try so much, But they can’t touch, My inner mystery.” It is a little confusing on what she is trying to say because of her word choice and the way the sentences are connected, but reading furthermore into the stanza, it begins to become more understanding. Then too, If she had used a different word choice the poem would not have been so intriguing. For example, if she would have said “Men don’t really understand my personality”, instead of “Men themselves have wondered, What they see in me.” then the readers would not have to put much attention into it and the theme would be completely different. Moreover, another example would be “ It’s the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I’m a woman Phenomenally’’. She uses simple phrases like “fire in my eyes”, “flash of my teeth”, “swing in my waist”, etc. to show the phenomenal woman she is. The word choice that Maya Angelou portrays in this poem, makes woman realize that