Comparing Life Doesn't Frighten Me and Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

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Comparing Life Doesn't Frighten Me and Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

This essay will compare and contrast 'life doesn't frighten' me by

Maya Angelou and 'still I rise' by Maya Angelo the theme of fear and

pride will be explored in this essay. The theme of fear and pride is

discussed in this essay because in one of the poems she is scared of

little things that scare and they is nothing to be scared of like the

dark, but in the other poem pride is the theme because she is proud of

her color.

One of the main similarities between the texts is that the poems both

use repetition. This is displayed in 'Life Doesn't Frighten Me'

because she says

"Not at all, not at all, life doesn't frighten me at all"

The quotation proves that this is like a chant. She is reassuring

herself that she is not scared however, the repetition ironically

emphasizes that she is actually scared.

Similarly 'still I rise' also uses repetition because she says

"I rise, I rise, I rise"

The evidence above demonstrates that unlike life doesn't frighten me

where the repetition is used to comfort her , in still I rise the

repetition is used to stress her confidence in a brighter future

therefore the poem ends in hope.

However a significant difference between the two poems is that they

are both set in different stages in her life. This is displayed in

'Life Doesn't Frighten Me' because she uses onomatopoeic words like

boo and shoo this highlights that the speaker is a child. "I go boo

make them shoo" the quotation proves that the child is trying to scare

away her fears. Conversely 'still I rise' discourse her adults life

"does my sexiness scare you......

... middle of paper ...

... that no matter what happens she will rise

"I rise, I rise, I rise"

However another significant difference between both texts are talking

about different types of fear this is shown in 'Life Doesn't Frighten

Me' because it is about childhood fear, imagery fear. "Mean old mother

goose, lions on the loose……dragons breathing flame" the quotation

above shows that she is scared of all the things children are scared

of. Conversely in still I rise it is bout discrimination "you may

write me down in history with your twisted lies" the quotation above

shows a negative vision on black people in the history.

In conclusion of the theme of pride and fear is displayed because in

one poem she is growing up through the fear of being bullied and

picked on but in the other she is proud of being black and she is

stronger.

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