African-American writers, Maya Angelou and Lucille Clifton, use their words to express their individuality and the impact of oppression on the lives of blacks. These widely respected poets accentuate strength and persistence through adversity, with a sense of morality. They also touch on the influences of segregation and women’s suffering and inequality. In spite of these, every word read by the reader is analyzed and criticized. Even with such few words, the poems, “won’t you celebrate with me” and “Still I Rise” give us the opportunity to raise concerns on self-confidence and perseverance during times of injustice. Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” focuses on overcoming racial injustice, declaring that she will rise above history that has degraded,
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The tone in the poem is almost joyous. Instead of asking the reader to celebrate her life, she asks them to celebrate “a kind of life” (line 3) she has shaped. She is referring to the alterations the speaker perceives between the lives of others and her own developing self-consciousness. You then are able to get a hint of the poem’s real concern, which is developing self-awareness. The poem is constructed, regarding race, gender, and identity. The word “celebrate”, in this context, signifies doing something bigger than any one occasion and appreciating the life you have created. The poem ends on a more victorious note. It advocates the victory over the anticipated conformities of life. Because this poem is so universal, the term “somethings” that has tried to kill the speaker, could be anything from the stereotypes to degrade blacks to a negative, internal motive bringing you down. Although, in a racial setting, the speaker is signifying the discriminatory actions and mindsets to shame African-Americans. “won’t you celebrate with …show more content…
These poems are so relevant in the world today, in instances like racial injustice and inequality amongst genders. As mentioned before, identity is the predominate focus in these poems. Maya Angelou argues that her ‘haughtiness’ may insult some others and Lucille Clifton gives us an insight into her source of pride, her self-understanding. Angelou and Clifton connect African-American history to American history through their poetry, waking up those who don’t stay pay no attention to these issues and comforting those who experienced these
The tone in the poem is almost joyous. Instead of asking the reader to celebrate her life, she asks them to celebrate “a kind of life” (line 3) she has shaped. She is referring to the alterations the speaker perceives between the lives of others and her own developing self-consciousness. You then are able to get a hint of the poem’s real concern, which is developing self-awareness. The poem is constructed, regarding race, gender, and identity. The word “celebrate”, in this context, signifies doing something bigger than any one occasion and appreciating the life you have created. The poem ends on a more victorious note. It advocates the victory over the anticipated conformities of life. Because this poem is so universal, the term “somethings” that has tried to kill the speaker, could be anything from the stereotypes to degrade blacks to a negative, internal motive bringing you down. Although, in a racial setting, the speaker is signifying the discriminatory actions and mindsets to shame African-Americans. “won’t you celebrate with …show more content…
These poems are so relevant in the world today, in instances like racial injustice and inequality amongst genders. As mentioned before, identity is the predominate focus in these poems. Maya Angelou argues that her ‘haughtiness’ may insult some others and Lucille Clifton gives us an insight into her source of pride, her self-understanding. Angelou and Clifton connect African-American history to American history through their poetry, waking up those who don’t stay pay no attention to these issues and comforting those who experienced these