Outline of Still I Rise
I. Introduction
a. Hook: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” (Angelou). This poem has made many people feel hope, and that all is not lost; they can still rise above all. Several famous people, like Nelson Mandela and Nicki Minaj, have recited this poem to share this feeling that Angelou wanted to be shared.
b. Thesis Statement: Maya Angelou wrote this poem to help woman to rise above the discrimination and disrespect they receive. This poem is the inward silent cry of everyone who has been discriminated against at some point in their lives in some shape or form, individually or collectively and it characterizes the
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Metaphor: How she is a black ocean who holds shame and pain of her race during tide, but when daytime comes, she can surface above that and hold pride and carry the legacy of her ancestors
b. There is a shift in tone from a negative tone about the things that haters are offended by to a positive tone about rising above everything
V. Figurative Language
a. “You”/ “Your”
i. Says it a total of twelve times ii. Poem starts with the word “You” making it clear that Angelou is addressing this poem to others
b. “me”/”my” and “I”/”I’ve”/”I’m”
i. Total 32 times ii. Angelou wants women to feel that they are not the only ones and that she went through it too iii. She wants when women to read it they feel empowered
c. ?
i. Seven questions ii. She is questioning the haters iii. Numerous times she asks if one of her personalities offend or upset them
d. “Still”
i. Angelou wants to put emphasize at this point
1. She wants to show that despite all this she is still able to rise
2. Up to now she has risen and she will continue to rise
e. “I rise”
i. Every time it is stated she is becoming more and more powerful ii. Angelou is saying she does not care what others think about her skin color iii. The torture and fear that people have thrown at her she wants to leave it behind and rise above
Angelou’s writings reflect who she was. We must learn who we are.
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
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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
Humans consistently make comparisons between themselves and the next person, over fashion, cars, jobs, the nation they belong to, religion, and the land they own. All of these are material things, yet their egos divide them into groups who feel superior to the other in order to pride themselves. Pride can be beneficial, but it has more detrimental effects than positive ones, as pride and ego make people feel more important to others, spark rivalries between groups such as how nationalism influences war and hatred, and caused white people to treat the black community as an inferior people such as in Maya Angelou’s memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In this deeply frustrating yet inspiring text we follow Maya Angelou’s emotional roller coaster as she gains more confidence and pride in both herself and her race despite extensive setbacks such as being raped at eight years old, and she explains her
...fe she really knew and felt deep down to the core of her being what the words truly meant. The words had brought back her hope and pride in herself and in her community. What Leavy had said was a fallacy and they could as they have in the past rise above the world's bigotry. Righteousness returned to Angelou and the entire community; "we were on top again."(841).
The poems “Sea Rose” by H.D and “Vague Poem” by Elizabeth Bishop were both written by two women who took over the Victorian era. H.D’s works of writing were best known as experimental reflecting the themes of feminism and modernism from 1911-1961. While Bishop’s works possessed themes of longing to belong and grief. Both poems use imagery, which helps to make the poem more concrete for the reader. Using imagery helps to paint a picture with specific images, so we can understand it better and analyze it more. The poems “Sea Rose” and “Vague Poem” both use the metaphor of a rose to represent something that can harm you, even though it has beauty.
In Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman”, audiences are drawn to the bold confidence and power of the female speaker. In this poem, Maya Angelou creates the image of a woman whose confidence is not hindered or threatened by imperfections and flaws. In many analyses of this work, audiences connect this poem to the expression of Maya Angelou’s individualism and self-love after having faced many personal struggles throughout her life. In a review found in the Virginia Quarterly Review, a critic states “Its theme [“Phenomenal Woman”]- the power and depth of women- echos her own personal history […]”. This theme of power is one that transcends this poem and is seen throughout many of Angelou’s works. Additionally, Angelou’s reflection on her own life through this poem is evident in the way in which she defines this power. Rather than emphasizing perfection and ideali...
Given these points, Angelou’s widely use of devices, sentence length, and tenses allows the reader to capture the theme of her poem Men. Angelou shows how women are somewhat treated then and now. She lets the reader know that even after a man may have hurt a woman, a woman still would have a desire to go back to them because we are curious to know of them. She presents the idea that women are oppressed to men – women like Angelou who have had bad experiences with them. Overall, Angelou’s poem is like a story that presents men as head honcho over women and the affect that they bring upon
The message from Angelou's poem is to tell people that no two are exactly alike, but they are more similar than different. In stanza nine the author says We are more alike, my friends,than we are unalike. This show that the author states people have more in common. In stanza eight the author states that in minor ways we are different in major we are the same. In other words the author says we are more alike than we think. In stanza seven and eight the author says we in almost every line for example, we love and lose in China. This shows that the author states we all love and lose in China which means we all have something in common.
Angelou uses repetition of words and phrases to emphasize King’s gentle strength and encourage the world to take up her lifelong fight. A sense of importance is imposed when she repeats the stem of her sentences, creating a rhythm compelling to her audience. For instance, the utilisation of “she believed,” said over and over again introduces an idea, while the repeated phrase “I stand here,” puts it into motion. She wraps up her use of anaphoras with the powerful call for action: “I mean to say I want to see…” Repetition is used to stimulate emotion and solidarity in the audience. The word “family” is constantly used, reminding listeners that although they not
in the first line of this stanza when she says “ I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide” i believe whats she is trying to explain is that she feels powerful just like the ocean and she can surfaces the earth feeling capable of defeating all her difficulties. Her use of metaphor was expressed very effectively because it allows us to understand her pain and it also allows us to acknowledge why she is writing this poem. She does not want someones words to break us and wants us to understand that we are in charge of our own happiness.
She says, "Storm clouds are gathering / The wind is gonna blow / The race of man is suffering / And I can hear the moan" (28-31). These four lines are Angelou's way of telling the reader that she sees more and more people suffering and that it is affecting humans of all races.
This poem is Maya Angelou speaking to the audience as she explains the problems she has overcome such as; racism, sexism, bullying and other problems in her life that she has managed to move on from.This poem is set in a first person narrative, Angelou explains to the audience about the good and bad times within her life, presented in a graceful way. By the poem being set in first person narrative, this allows the audience to connect to the poet on a deeper level because the tone of the poem is more intense throughout, making it more real for the audience. This genre of poetry is lyric poetry, relating to Angelou’s feelings and thoughts throughout the poem, addressing the audience directly.
Maya Angelou is a well acclaimed poet, author, and civil rights activist. Though she passed away in 2014, her work continues to awe and inspire people worldwide. Angelou had written numerous poems, but in this analysis I will be focusing on “Caged Bird,” “Phenomenal Woman,” and finally “Touched by An Angel.” In these works we see her approach issues such as equality, racism, feminism, love and many more issues as well. Angelou is a very skilled poet; though some people find her work too straight forward and little more than common text broken into stanzas. Maya Angelou 's poems are easy to understand; and though I do enjoy her work, I find that how she structures her poems can be confusing