Literary Analysis Of Maya Angelou's 'Still I Rise'

Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise,” uses various literary devices to convey her message to the reader. Angelou incorporates similes, metaphors, imagery along with other devices to reach out to her audience and capture the attention of the reader. Angelou’s poem may first be understood as a feminist statement to show her strengths as an African American woman. However, as the reader digs deeper into her work, one can understand that due to the obstacles that she has been faced with in her life, they have given her the immense amount of wisdom and strength to overcome any difficult situation with the mentality that she reveals she has in the poem. Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1928 on April fourth. Throughout her life, she held

She incorporates this rhetorical question to give the audience the perspective of what they are making it seem that they want to see her like. Angelou appeals to the reader’s perception focusing on the sense of sight with imagery. She constructs an image of defeat with the lowered head and eyes and the downward posture signifying dissatisfaction and defeat. She continues this when adding “weakened by my soulful cries.” Angelou adds this to her poem to accompany the imagery with the sense of audibility when listening to her painful and depressing shrieks. She asks the audience if they are offended by her snob and pride because she is successful. She exaggerates this by comparing her happiness and pride as if she had millions of dollars that she could find in her backyard. Angelou continues the poem by telling them that she will allow them to tell her what they wish and make all the faces at her and her success as much as they want to, but she will not let that bring her down. Along with the way that they attempt to beat her down with all the hatefulness that others try to hold her back with, the reader can assume that she is only motivated by this by the way that she then says that like air, she will rise. Again, adding the device of simile to her