In Maya Angelou’s “And Still I Rise”, Maya Angelou presents herself as a soulful African-American woman that will not be oppressed. She writes herself as a person that is above all the racial discrimination. Maya Angelou weaves a beautiful poem that embodies the resilience that is held by all the African-American people, and she even adds remarks about her sexuality. During this time period, African-American people were greatly oppressed, and they fought back for equal treatment. However, women were treated just as badly, and if someone happened to be both African-American and female, they were viewed as the lowest of the low. Even though Maya Angelou was an African-American woman, she was proud of her race and her gender, and she made that …show more content…
Throughout “And Still I Rise”, Maya Angelou shows that she is not afraid to stand up to society’s oppression. She shows that she is in high spirits even though all white people around her want to put her down. In the opening lines, she starts by addressing the reader as the enemy. According to an analysis done by eNotes.com, “Much of its energy derives from its bold and cheeky self-assertiveness. Clearly addressed to the white oppressors of black persons, the poem presents us with a black woman willing to speak up for herself, for other living blacks, and even for her black ancestors.” (Locklear). Throughout the entire poem, she is making this fight personal. She keeps saying “you” or “your” in powerful and enraged tenses to put the blame on the addressed white people, more specifically white men. In the second stanza, she asks, “Does my sassiness upset you?” (5). She asks this because she is a strong-willed woman and she knows that white men believe her sass to be a form of disrespect- and that they earned that respect because they were born of a higher 'breed'. She continues her blunt speech throughout the work to show her determination against the white men that rule society and to make her message that much stronger. From the get-go, Maya Angelou says, “You may trod me in the very dirt, But …show more content…
Stanzas one through seven, with a minor break at stanza three. The stanzas are four lines each, with the second and forth rhyming. The second and forth lines also carry seven syllables. Within these stanzas, she verbally assaults the reader with questions and a variety of similes which are used to bring more fire to her attack. However, these stanzas can also represent her being chained down. She is fighting back and breaks form once in the third stanza, and then finally completely breaks from the form in the eighth and ninth stanza. In those stanzas, Angelou uses metaphors, and switches the structures of the stanzas. Stanzas eight and nine have six lines, with the first and third line rhyming, the second and forth lines being the same, and the fifth and sixth lines rhyming. The two stanzas have very similar styles except for the differences in syllables in the rhyming lines and stanza nine has three repeated lines at the very end. Stanzas eight and nine also carry the strongest images and meaning. In stanza eight, lines 29 and 31, “Out of the huts of history’s shame […] Up from the past that’s rooted in pain […]” (29 and 31), Maya Angelou shows images of huts, which can be represented as African tribal huts, put into “history’s shame” (29), which is the enslavement of the African race. Their past is deeply covered in pain and misery due to the oppression of the
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
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
Walker, Pierre A. Racial protest, identity, words, and form in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Vol. 22. West Chester: Collage Literature, n.d. Literary Reference Center. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. .
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.
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.
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...
Often times in today's society, we stumble upon instances of racism and oppression. About 60 years ago, innocent civilians were poorly treated and ridiculed on a day to day basis during the time of segregation. The courage and strength of those men and women was indescribable. So now we ask ourselves, what was it like? In Maya Angelou's “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” Maya effectively uses multiple writing strategies to bring awareness to the prominently apparent issues of racism and oppression that still exist in our society using imagery, pathos, and strong diction to craft her overall message.
I believe this is the theme because just by reading the title of her poem; “Still I Rise” i can tell its about a person who has faced many difficulties and has been ridiculed many times throughout her life and instead of giving up she decides to stay strong and continue to stand up even though the world is trying to push her down. Also another reason why i believe the theme of her poem is, “to never give up” because of her history. Maya Angelou is a Black- American who was born in the year of 1928. she has been discriminated throughout her life only being judged by the colour of her skin. Just as how Harriet Tubman was a black- Canadian who helped many slaves through the use of the underground railway as a escape path back to their native land, she has also suffered being discriminated by the use of words and in further cases, being abused. In that era African- American women were treated brutally and were always being pushed down and were not even treated like humans. They never got the respect they deserved and were treated like absolute disgrace just because of the colour of their skin. The theme of Maya Angelou’s poem is very significant because she was born during the generation where black people could not say what they wanted without others reacting with distraught and anger. Just by the title of the poem it tells us that no matter what difficulties we come across in our life we have to manage to stay strong and keep
Maya Angelou’s excerpt from her book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” reveals the challenges facing a young black girl in the south. The prologue of the book tells of a young Angelou in church trying to recite a poem she has forgotten. She describes the dress her grandmother has made her and imagines a day where she wakes up out of her black nightmare. Angelou was raised in a time where segregation and racism were prevalent in society. She uses repetition, diction, and themes to explore the struggle of a black girl while growing up. Angelou produces a feeling of compassion and poignancy within the reader by revealing racial stereotypes, appearance-related insecurities, and negative connotations associated with being a black girl. By doing this she forces the
“Dr. Angelou experienced the brutality of racial discrimination, but she also absorbed the unshakable faith and values of traditional African-American family, community, and culture”(www.mayaangelou.com, 2014).
The authors state that “health and reproductive rights and advocacy for combating domestic violence and sexual discrimination can be directly attributed to the liberal feminist thought,” domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence deprive women of their fundamental ability to live with dignity (Bernard and Onwubiko 61). Maya Angelou gives African American women hope to not let anything from the past affect them. Maya Angelou uses a tone of confidence, fulfillment, and sincerest when she states, “Just like moons and like suns/ With the certainty of tides,” in which she is going to conquer every single one of her difficulties (9,10). The reader can infer that the speaker will rise up even if life has gotten difficult for her and she will not let others manipulate her.
Her use of repetition, imagery and alliteration all helped the reader set the theme for her poem. The theme she tries to establish is of it is not how a woman looks or what she does that makes her phenomenal, but how she carries herself and her inner mystery. It 's about confidence in oneself. Maya Angelou had a very hard upbringing, poverty, a rape at a young age. She was a victim of discrimination, abuse by men, even turning to prostitution. She rebounded by finding the confidence and self-worth in herself. This poem is about how even though you may not be a classic beauty your beauty lies in you and is exuded in being confident and the ability to believe in yourself. It is about acceptance and appreciation who we are.It 's Self confidence, finding that beauty within regardless of other people 's perception. It 's knowing why you were made to be so much more than the average woman. It 's not ego or conceit. She is proud to be Maya Angelou.In a time where black women were not considered beautiful by any
The tone can be confident, proud, complementary, cheerful and sassy. Confident because, in each stanza Maya states some type of criticism that has been said, then overpowers it using her voice to reveal what she thinks. She uses “I say” in every stanza is a cue that she is about to speak her mind. In stanza four she describes her confidence, saying “Now you understand just why my head 's not bowed. I don’t shout or jump about or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing, it ought to make you proud”. The message that she is trying to say is that when she is put down by others, she does not get down or have to attract attention, because of her confidence, she attracts attention when she walks by. Another example, proud because of the several times she uses phenomenal throughout the poem. When she explains why she is a phenomenal woman it sets the tone that she is proud of who he is. Complementary because if reading the poem aloud, it would sound like the reader is complimenting themselves. With Maya Angelou writing all the positive things of being a phenomenal woman, the readers are complimenting themselves of being phenomenal and should be proud of it. Although, the poem may come across as cheerful, when the reader deeply analyzes the poem a serious tone is displayed. Angelou wants the reader to actually feel what she is saying, not just read it as if it has no meaning. This poem shows her strength
In the excerpt “Mary”, Angelou recalls her poverty-stricken childhood and the struggles she went through while growing up in the racist south, post-slavery. Angelou remembers how she thought that white people were strange and had developed a negative attitude towards them. Though only ten years old, Angelou worked as a kitchen servant to a woman by the name of Mrs. Cullinan (Angelou 4). She remembers how her identity was taken away when Mrs. Cullinan and the white women that would visit Mrs. Cullinan. These women changed Angelou’s first name from Margaret to “Mary” without her consent because they felt that her name was too long to say (Angelou 5). Margaret and many other African Americans of her time felt that being called “called out of his or her name” in the south was considered to be as insulting as if they were being called “niggers, spooks, blackbirds, crows, or dinges”(Angelou 6). Maya had also encountered being calle...
Poems can leave you laughing with a stich in your side, or they can leave you thinking, pondering deeper meanings. The poem “Still I Rise” was written in 1978 by Maya Angelou, an African American poet, and civil rights activist. The poem “Still I Rise,” by Maya Angelou may have a humors surface, but if you dive underneath the exterior you will find a deeper, more somber meaning. The contributions to the more profound meaning of this poem are the poem’s context, subject, and figurative language.