Still I Rise By Maya Angelou Analysis

Improved Essays
‘Still I Rise’ by the American, Maya Angelou presents the character of a black woman who is oppressed in the 1970s but refuses to accept this. ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen, however, is concerned with a character who is ‘broken’ after the disabilities he suffers in the First World War at the beginning of the twentieth century.
The poem ‘Still I Rise’ is about a woman who discloses that she will overcome anything due to her self-confidence. The line ‘But still, like dust, I’ll rise’ is a metaphor that expresses that she will not be downtrodden by others. Instead, she will be the dust that rises from the dirt. Furthermore, the bold words ‘I rise’ exaggerates that she is a defiant character that will not be put down. Additionally, her relentless
…show more content…
This represents the defiant movement that will happen instead of her. She uses natural imagery to convey that she cannot be stopped, demonstrated by the lines ‘Just like moons and suns’/ ‘With the certainty of tides,’/ ‘Just like hopes springing high,’. The repetition of the two words ‘Just like’ is anaphora which enforces her point that she will rise. Also, she links nature with the moon, sun and tide all emerging like her. This accompanies the natural world in the personification of ‘hopes springing high’. This exposes the confidence she has, as a character, to change things, therefore, demonstrating her self-confident character. These three lines are defiantly cut short by the monosyllabic words ‘Still I’ll Rise.’ Angelou uses repetition on the defiant words “Still I Rise” to convey her relentless character who refuses to bow down to white pressure and stereotypes. Furthermore, she does not shy away from being arrogant. This is indicated by the rhetorical question ‘Does my sassiness upset you?’/ ‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells.’ She does not feel sorry for herself illustrating her fearless character. This transforms the oppressed black woman to a person proud of their background. …show more content…
Additionally, the miserable wounded soldier in Disabled is full of grief and reflects on his naïve decisions in the past which he wishes he regrets. Angelou uses language defiantly to convey her strength through similes, metaphors and repetition. Owen uses specific examples of before and after being a soldier. The latter uses rhyme and half rhyme “Years/Fears” to add a lyrical rhythm to the

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Maya Angelou: Strength of the Human Spirit “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty”, [are the famous words of former author, singer, dancer, and poet, Maya Angelou. The famous role model has won many awards including two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work category, achieved many goals by becoming an activists, and left many marks on the world in her various poems, stories, and biographies. She was beyond successful and carried out a career like no other. Not only has she lived what most people would call an amazing life, but she worked her way towards it using every pound of her strength in doing so. ] Maya Angelou was one of the strongest African…

    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I strongly agree with Maya Angelou. We live in a society where women are seen as fragile things. It’s an insult if you’re told, “you hit like a girl”. Why? Today's society has one thought planted in their brain.…

    • 84 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I chose the song “Still I Rise” by Rosephanye Powell and for the purpose of this paper I chose Wellesley College women’s choir. In my high school career, I’ve sung this song twice, one time my freshman year and again the spring of this year, my junior year. Rosephanye Powell’s song was inspired by a poem called “Still I Rise” by poet Maya Angelou. Written in 2005, the song was meant to be a women’s anthem, it was to show that even after a past full of; tears, struggle, and heartache, a woman can grow stronger and rise above the challenges, hence the name “Still I Rise”.…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In both the novel and poem the narrator displays an attitude of silencing those who don’t accept them in a distinct way. The character doesn’t feel as though he/she need to go with what everyone told. Instead this individual makes their own rules. In Still I Rise the central theme is revealed when Maya Angelou exclaims “Does/my/sassiness/upset/you?”…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Maya Angelou Tone

    • 152 Words
    • 1 Pages

    In this poem, Angelou provides us with a strong, powerful, and independent tone by using repetition throughout her poem. The speaker is telling themself ¨ I rise¨ (Angelou 30), and that they will rise above all of this hate and negativity and also announcing to everyone that they will rise up. Throughout the poem, the speaker keeps repeating ¨I rise¨ (Angelou 30) and not only does this does this send a powerful message, it also shows that the speaker is not giving up and is holding their head up high and not letting their words bother them. While the speaker is being brought down, they never become broken, but become stronger and more independent no matter what people say about them. Therefore, even though the speaker may be getting down by…

    • 152 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    This goes along with the theme of not giving up. Even despite how bad of a situation she got in, she didn’t throw her hands up and give up on trying to have a better life. Another character in this book is Ms. Sasaki, who, similarly to how Mrs.…

    • 1559 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Hero's Journey

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The mountain stood high, and she stood beautiful. It’s peak was a calling and its side a deterrent. It was as if life had metaphorized…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Champion of the World” by Maya Angelou,this excerpt chronicles how a boxer named Joe Louis captivated the world by being one of the first black boxer to be heavyweight champion of the world. In the late 1930 when segregation and inequality for African Americans was so prominent, something like that captivated the world and boosted the spirits of African Americans who were being depressed and were treated horribly by whites. This story lets you see inside a store of African Americans who are listening to the radio of the championship between Joe and a white challenger. During this fight Angelou connects the fight to the pride of all African Americans and how every African American shared the same pride in him and were counting on him to solidify to the white people that they are strong and are not sub- humans. She uses paragraph 16 and 17 to get the point across to readers that it was a huge deal for African Americans that he won because they felt they would end up staying at second class citizens and go back to being slaves if he lost which at the time could have been completely probable.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “On the Pulse of Morning” was written by a famous African American writer and poet Maya Angelou. At the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton on January 20, 1993, because of her public reputation she able to become the second poet in history to read at a presidential inauguration; and the first African American woman. Her poem spoke of the United States as a place where disparate elements of history could come together and describes how all human are more alike than different. This particular piece by Maya Angelou does not follow a consistent rhyme scheme throughout the entire poem; majority of it is written in blank verse to capture her thoughts. She uses personification to celebrate their sense of similarity, unity, and human solidarity.…

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    ) In class we went over the transcendentalist movement which in turn, led to learning about the different tenets of transcendentalism. We also learned that the tenants, although used in different context necessarily have one meaning. I decided to analyze Still I Rise by Maya Angelou which has a specific tenant of transcendentalism, self-reliance. Which I then compared it to stanza 1 and 52 in Song of Myself by Walt Whitman which is also a poem.…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Home is where the heart is” a known motto said by many but can have different meanings. Home is symbolized as the one safe haven many people turn back to and have the most affection for. In the poems “Africa” by Maya Angelou and “A Far Cry from Africa” by Derek Walcott both show significant importance of how their home is for them. In both poems Africa is the main theme based in each of the author’s viewpoints Africa is expressed in its actions instead of a being harmonious and a place to return to, almost breaking the image of home but instead giving you a story of how “home” really is.…

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    By aligning herself with a female figure of power, she at once establishes a female precursor but also empowers herself in fighting the alienation of hegemonic criticism.…

    • 2393 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the poems “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes and “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou both authors convey the same message which is overcoming hardships in life. In the two poems they show their similarities through repetition which will be shown in the first paragraph and literary devices such as figurative language,metaphors and similes, while also showing their differences through parallel structure of both the poems, and through rhetorical questions. Hughes and Angelou show their similarities through repetition which helps the reader grasp the key concept of both poems which is to overcome obstacles. In “Mother to Son” it repeats “Life for me ain’t no crystal stair” (Hughes 2). Meaning that life has not treated the narrator of the…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    When Britain declared war on the Axis powers in 1914, many young English men saw this as an opportunity for bravery, glory, and chivalry. As the war escalated many people started to change their view as they saw the brutalities of the fighting. This war had a big influence on poetry in future decades. The main difference between the attitude towards the war sparked from the poet's tone. The tone varies from seeing the war as glorious, to it being a dreadful experience.…

    • 1302 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Compare and contrast the way the poets explore the theme of discrimination in ‘Disabled’ and ‘Still I Rise’. Both poets portray the theme of discrimination expressing their memories about key moments in their lives. Owen faced World War 1 at a young age and saw enough pain and suffering for more than a lifetime. On the other hand, he still gained experience from this and shared the loneliness of discrimination with other people. Angelou, however was abused at a very young age which saw her muted for over 5 years; in this time she was isolated from everyone until she found poetry as a medium to express her thoughts and feelings about discrimination.…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays