Still I Rise by Maya Angelou (pg 27)

Still I Riseby Maya Angelou (pg 27)

Still I RiseIt is useful to know a little bit about the poet before

revising this one. Maya Angelou is an African-American woman who was born in 1928 in a poor neighbourhood in St. Louis. Her childhood was extremely tough and in her first book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings she describes her rape, aged 8, by her stepfather. When she told her brother about the attack, her stepfather was arrested but released just four days later. On his release he was kicked to death. In turn, fearing her speaking out caused the death, Maya became mute and did not speak for nearly five years.

Angelou has campaigned for equal rights for blacks in America for many years. She is considered as important as other more famous civil rights campaigners such as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.

Still I Rise

This is a powerful poem about the survival against great hardship. It is about fighting back against racial prejudice and the leftovers of slavery that black Americans have endured for many years. You could also see it as a powerful statement of intent against the struggles Angelou experienced as a child.

The poem has a song-like simplicity. The repetition of the title is like a chorus and the final stanza is a triumphant refrain.

Themes and Subject

• Survival• Prejudice• Confidence• Racism• Changes in time

You may write me down in historyWith your bitter, twisted lies,You may trod me in the very dirtBut still, like dust, I'll rise.

By addressing the reader directly from the start, Angelou forces us to consider ourselves as racist or oppressive

harsh, aggressive adjectives representing the ruling white classes who misrepresented the blacks – plays on the idea that history is not necessarily factual – someone had to write it in the first place and they could be biased or racist

drive-word – change in tone: she is powerful and resilient; christ-like imagery or like a phoenix in this simile

rhyme scheme: abcb

Does my sassiness upset you?Why are you beset with gloom?'Cause I walk like I've got oil wellsPumping in my living room.

‘sassiness’ – confidence, charismarhetorical questions directed at the reader

simile - powerful, confident imagery

Just like moons and like suns,With the certainty of tides,Just like hopes springing high,Still I'll rise.

triumphant tone

similes – inevitability that she will survive prejudice

continued repetition of title – reads like a song’s chorus

Did you want to see me broken?Bowed head and lowered eyes?Shoulders falling down like teardrops.Weakened by my soulful cries.

images of pain and suffering. The opposite of the forceful similes earlier in the poem – important to note this contrast: where she was strong and powerful before, she is now weak and submissive thanks to the prejudice she had faced

Does my haughtiness offend you?Don't you take it awful hard'Cause I laugh like I've got gold minesDiggin' in my own back yard.

‘haughtiness’ – pride and confidence

this stanza returns us to the confident narrator of the earlier stanzas

‘gold mines’ – just like ‘oil wells’ in stanza two are symbols of wealth – something black Americans were not able to have for themselves. They would be employed to work in such places as oil fields and gold mines but not share in any of the wealth

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.

list of three – uses repetition on ‘you’

‘shoot’, ‘cut’, ‘kill’ – violent verbs reveal extent of hatred

Does my sexiness upset you?Does it come as a surpriseThat I dance like I've got diamondsAt the meeting of my thighs?

celebrates her sexuality – designed to make the white reader feel uncomfortable

‘diamonds’ – again another symbol of wealth that needs mining. She is taking back what she feels should rightfully be hers.

Out of the huts of history's shameI riseUp from a past that's rooted in painI riseI'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.Leaving behind nights of terror and fearI riseInto a daybreak that's wondrously clearI riseBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I am the dream and the hope of the slave.I riseI riseI rise.

Change of rhythm, tone, rhyme, length of lines and length of stanza. Reflects the triumphant ending.

Repetition at end is victorious and triumphant

The metaphors and references in the final stanza are much clearer pieces of evidence that this poem is about racial discrimination

Links to other poems…

If you are looking at the theme of confidence and spirit then this links best with ‘I Shall Paint My Nails Red’, ‘Warning’ or ‘The Road Not Taken’. The powerful female voice also draws comparisons with ‘I Shall Paint…’ and ‘Warning’.

There are obvious cultural differences on display here too. ‘Once Upon A Time’ and ‘An Unknown Girl’ are also poems that are explicitly about differences in culture.

Hints and TipsThere is quite a lot to write about if this one comes up. The structure

of the poem, like verses in a song with a repeated line and a big powerful refrain at the end is very important. You must be able to say why this style has been used – it gives the poem a very definite spirit and energy, as does the repetition of key lines and the rhyme scheme which runs throughout.

The imagery Angelou uses to illustrate both her plight (struggle) and her confidence is also key. Note how three of the most powerful images concerning oil, gold and diamonds are three commodities that needed mining – something many African Americans would have been involved with when they were treated much like slaves. By using them against the white reader, she reclaims these objects of wealth for her community.

Specific verbs and adjectives are also important – you should ensure you know what ‘haughtiness’ and ‘sassiness’ mean and that the use of words like ‘shoot’, ‘cut’ and ‘kill’ represent what was actually happening to black Americans during the 1930s and 1940s.

Example Questions

1. How does Maya Angelou create a powerful, inspirational poem?

2. Look again at this poem and one other that focuses on a culture other than one from the British Isles. How are they comparable?