Maya Angelou demonstrates the theme in “Still I Rise” of, Through perseverance anyone can rise up to challenges in their lives, by Figurative language, Symbolism, and Repetition. First of all, She uses Figurative Language to show the theme to the reader by describing how people act to her. According to the Angelou, “You may shoot me with You words you may cut me with your eyes You may kill me with your hatefulness.” This tells how people talk to here look at here and hate her because she is African american. Also, according to Angelou, “I walk like I’ve got oil wells pumping in my living room, I laugh like i’ve got gold mines diggin’ in my own backyard.” This shows that although she may be poor or a slave she acts like she has no worries and that she doesn’t care that she is poor or is an slave. These tie back to the theme of, Through perseverance anyone can rise up to challenges in their lives, because she said “May” she means that she doesn't care that others discriminate her for her race. That is how Maya Angelou with figurative language she demonstrates the theme. …show more content…
In the poem, Angelou says, “I am a black ocean, leaping and wide, welling and swelling I bear in the tide.” This is clear when she says that she is a ocean, like the ocean she can’t be stopped by anyone or anything and she keeps rising when she can. This comes back to the theme, because she says that she is a ocean, and like oceans she will not be stopped by anything to rise up. That is how the theme is established because of
This piece of autobiographical works is one of the greatest pieces of literature and will continue to inspire young and old black Americans to this day be cause of her hard and racially tense background is what produced an eloquent piece of work that feels at times more fiction than non fiction
No matter what happens, she will always keep her head up. “You may tread me in the very dirt/ but still, like dust, I’ll rise” (Angelou 3-4), she will go above whatever anyone says or does towards her. Maya is saying how she is going to rise like dust, rising up to get away from everyone and everything, but everything has to come down at some point, she’ll make a mess but quietly. No matter what someone does, she’ll rise above it all. “You may kill me with your hatefulness/ but still, like air, I’ll rise”(23-24), even if you kill her, Maya’ll just float up. She’s saying how she will go up and watch from above rather than with everyone else. While she’s had a hard life, she just keeps on moving forward. “Up from the past rooted in pain/ I rise”(31-32), after everything she has gone through, she won’t let this hold her back. Whatever you throw at Maya, she’s just going to put it behind her, it helps build up her ladder, it helps her rise. Remaining calm creates a ripple outward, sending off good, calm vibes in this time sets everyone else
She did not complain about her childhood, racism, divorce, losing her friends, or rejection. She has overcome all the obstacles with courage; that is another lesson we can learn. In her poem, she says, “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!” Angelou knew who she was. She learned not to live according to people’s opinions.
"Angelou, Maya (née Marguerite Annie Johnson)." Encyclopedia of African-american Writing. Amenia: Grey House Publishing, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 12 March 2014.
Maya Angelou was one of America’s greatest writers in history. She was known for her many writings and for her part in Civil Rights Movements. Maya Angelou went through many hardships during her childhood, the most prevalent of those, racism over her skin color. This racism affected where she grew up, where she went to school, even where she got a job. “My education and that of my Black associates were quite different from the education of our white schoolmates. In the classroom we all learned past participles, but in the streets and in our homes the Blacks learned to drops s’s from plurals and suffixes from past tense verbs.” (Angelou 221) Maya Angelou was a strong believer in a good education and many of those beliefs were described in her
`Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl' and `I Know Why the Caged Bird
... all audiences can face their personal hardships. No matter the color of your skin or gender, Maya Angelou’s works are timeless testaments to the potential of the human spirit to overcome adversity, and constant reminders that even if the world is against us, we must still rise.
Two well regarded and recognized poets, Maya Angelou and Alice Walker, wrote lots of different renowned poetry that is appreciated for its beauty and its truth. Both poets are African American woman, although in different times, many of their words rang true to one other. Their work can be compared and contrasted by understanding the poems as two separate pieces of work, and then looking at how each are similar and different in their own respects.
Maya Angelou lived through a time where she was discriminated against for not only her race but also her gender. In her poem “Still I Rise” Angelou sarcastically talks about how no matter what is thrown at her she will rise above it and she will do it with resilience and confidence. Her poem discusses racism and sexism and gives minorities and women a sense of hope to overcome and endure both of those things. Angelou’s self-assurance in the poem makes you believe that you too can overcome whatever obstacle. Although this poem was intended for blacks, and women, and specifically black women, the poem helps build up strong and courageous people no matter what race or gender you are. Maya Angelou in “Still I Rise” uses both pathos and ethos to
Rising Up in Still I Rise by Maya Angelou ? Still I Rise? by Maya Angelou is directed towards blacks on how to be proud of their ancestry, themselves, and their overall appearance. The poem is a special and motivating poem that African-Americans (and other races for that matter) should read and take to heart. According to African-Americans, Maya Angelou states that no matter what white Americans (slave owners) say or do to African-Americans (slaves) they can still rise up to make a better life for themselves and their race as a whole.
"I had decided that St. Louis was a foreign country. In my mind I had only stayed there for a few weeks. As quickly as I understood that I had not reached my home, I sneaked away to Robin's Hood's Forest and the caves of Alley Oop where all reality was unreal and even that changed my day. I carried the same shield that I had used in Stamps: 'I didn't come to stay.'"
Maya Angelou describes the situation, feelings and descriptions of a person (probably herself) who does not need people to try and lift her up. Maya shows us within the poem that all those oppressed in general are strong. Within the poem we are shown some of the feelings and thoughts people have displayed against her, but in reality she won’t let them get her down. Maya’s moral opulence allows her to rise above where her ancestors fell to slavery; carrying herself as a strong woman. Her ancestors dream was to have a life in society without the fear of what might happen to them (slavery). The author herself is portrayed in the...
Every child searches for individuality; what makes everyone unique? As a child, surroundings will shape who a person becomes. So a child raised in secure suburbs might be more trusting than a child who lives in a large city. Different environments will without a doubt put people in uncomfortable and sometimes unfortunate circumstances. Environment as a whole is what affects how a child behaves, thinks, and reacts to certain situations. In the novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou exposes her own struggle to find identity as she endured racial hardships and sexual abuse.
Maya Angelou is an author and poet who has risen to fame for her emotionally filled novels and her deep, heartfelt poetry. Her novels mainly focus on her life and humanity with special emphasis on her ideas of what it means to live. The way she utilizes many different styles to grab and keep readers’ attention through something as simple as an autobiography is astounding. This command of the English language and the grace with which she writes allows for a pleasant reading experience. Her style is especially prominent in "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", where the early events of Angelou’s life are vividly described to the reader in the postmodern literary fashion.
Maya Angelou's life growing up was not always perfect. Given the birth name of Marguerite Ann Johnson, Maya Angelou was borin in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4th, 1928. Although she was born there, she spent most of her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas with her Grandmother, Annie Henderson and in San Fransico, California with her mother. Maya Angelou is still living today and teaches at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. Maya had to deal with many hard things growing up and although it wasn't perfect, she's lead a very eventful life.