Still I Rise By Maya Angelou: Oppressed African American Women

As an African American female, it is important to hold a degree of confidence that is higher than most. Motivation is essential to have while being a member of one of the most oppressed minorities. “Still I Rise” is a popular poem known by many African Americans. A legendary poet, by the name of Maya Angelou, published it in 1978. The themes of “Still I Rise” act as a reflection of oppressed African American women in America. She emphasizes how she finds her strength and overcomes her tormentors by using similes and metaphors, shifts in tone, and repetition. Angelou isn’t ashamed of her heritage and even boldly quoted, “For Africa to me… is more than a glamorous fact. It is a historical truth. No man can know where he is going unless he knows

For example, when she says “Just like moons and like suns, with the certainty of tides, still I’ll rise” (Maya Angelou 1978) the audience imagines the extremity to which Angelou will rise past her oppressors regardless of their attacks upon her. Throughout her poem, she also uses metaphors to intensify the attacks made by her oppressors and the counter attacks stated by her. The phrase directly from her poem that reads “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” (Maya Angelou 1978) creates an exaggerated demonstration of the vigorous actions done to her. Another metaphor she uses is when she says “I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, welling and swelling, I bear in the tide” (Maya Angelou 1978) . Typically, when visualizing an ocean, one imagines beautiful, melodic scenery. Angelou compares herself to the ocean because she is as powerful as the waves and will continue to rise and leave the past behind her. Together by using both similes and metaphors to make comparisons, the poet is trying to accomplish creating a vivid image of each one of her scenarios. These images are part of a larger structure within the text, connecting to the major theme of the