The Million Man March by Maya Angelou

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Recommended: Maya Angelou’s “champion of the world” and discrimination

Almost a million people who were deprived of any sort of human rights had stood up against the government to make a change. The voices of the people come from the poem “A Million Man March” by Maya Angelou which proves that together people can make a big difference even when they go against the government. Before this big change had happened though the dark skinned part of the nation were treated horribly and were pushed over the edge, this was explained using imagery. Also a stanza was repeated very often to remind people of the horrors they had to go through and that is’s time for change using the power of metaphors. Finally during the march there was a fair amount of repetition which was used to make the people stronger and more united by drilling the idea of change into the peoples heads so no one would backdown. After years of torture and horror ,finally, the dark skinned people have rights.

The author didn’t just describe the life of dark skinned people while in the process of doing that she used a lot of good imagery. Using imagery Maya Angelou carried over a strong message of life before the change: “You couldn’t even call out my name. You were helpless and so was I” (Million Man March lines 8-9). “You couldn't even call out my name” shows how weak all the people were (They couldn't even speak). Another meaning for this is that the people had such an insignificant amount of power that even speaking is forbidden (relating to basic rights). “You were helpless so was I” shows that the people are controlled so much that they couldn't even help each other or do anything but what they were told to do. This proves that the people were deprived of freedom, but they were also treated like dirt and were shamed.As quoted from ...

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...art over.

In conclusion, the black people of America get human rights and start rising from very poor to high standards of living. The first use of poetic devices in “The Million Man March” was imagery which created a very clear image in threaders mind of what was going on. Another poetic device used were metaphors which helped build up the imagery and sometimes even created double or hidden meanings. Finally repetition was used to show the people courage and strength while reminding them of their feelings from the past. The people who got deprived of any rights were able to do what was thought impossible and create change using the power of words. What made these words “powerful” was the way they were used to show feelings, descriptions and actions. Anybody can make a difference!

Works Cited

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/million-man-march-poem/

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