Still I Rise By Maya Angelou Essay - 1649 Words

Julie A. McGuire ENGL102 Anne V. Powell June 23, 2015 Still I Rise Maya Angelou’s poem, â€Å"Still I Rise† shows a repetition of strength stanza after stanza. African Americans were faced with the challenges of oppression and slavery. African American women not only as a minority of African American race, but as a female, were faced with all those challenges, along with woman’s rights. It took 55 years after the abolishment of slavery for females to finally have the right to vote, under the 19th amendment. Maya Angelou’s poem expresses these challenges and overcoming them, in contrast. The 1st line of the 1st stanza recognizes history, â€Å"You may write me down in history†. This line itself holds extreme value. Emotion aside, there are years of history of oppression, slavery, suffrage, and women’s rights. History can be told from any person’s point of view. There is both emotion and fact in history, based off whose point of view you learn it from. If received from an African Americans point of view, there is a vision of slavery and suffrage. If an African American woman tells the story there is also a story of woman’s rights. That being said, anyone can tell the history of America. From Maya’s point of view, if someone tells the story with fault and evasive truth, â€Å"with your bitter twisted lies†, she knows the story of her life and of her ancestry. She knows that even with everything she faced, from being raped at 8 years old, which led her to become a mute for moreShow MoreRelatedMaya Angelou And Still I Rise897 Words   |  4 PagesIn â€Å"The Story of an Hour† and the poem â€Å"Still I Rise† Kate Chopin and Maya Angelou have explored the theme of oppression in a variety of different ways. â€Å"The Story of an Hour† is a short story based around how dramatically things can change within the space of an hour and how this can affect your life in the short period of time. Within the hour Mr Mallard is presumed dead in a railroad disaster, resulting in Mrs Mallard short lived ‘freedom’ after years of being oppressed, before soon learning thatRead Mor eStill I Rise By Maya Angelou1078 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Still I Rise† by Maya Angelou is a poem of objection and satisfaction in which Maya states that she will raise regardless of any situation. In her poem, â€Å"Angelou also incorporates anaphora, similes and metaphors throughout the poem to illustrate the resilience of the speaker regardless of what befalls her† (Bouchard: â€Å"Literary Contexts in Poetry†). Using these methods, the reader is able to visualize the hardships the poet went through. â€Å"Still I Rise† by Maya Angelou offers ambition and inspirationRead MoreStill I Rise By Maya Angelou877 Words   |  4 Pagesfull shaped curves of her body, and the color of her skin . The poem â€Å"Still I Rise† by the well-known poet, Maya Angelou, specifically describes the reasons why she had so much confidence; even if she were to be judged by her appearances and mindset. This poem is about embracing females, but it mainly introduces similar life situations that many African American women have experienced. The symbols and point of view that Angelou specifically added in her poem made her readers realize that there areRead MoreStill I Rise By Maya Angelou2154 Words   |  9 Pagesdifferent religions and races is a theme that is explored throughout many texts like the ‘Still I Rise’ Poetry from Maya Angelou, ‘The Dollhouse’ short story by Katherine Mansfield, The movie ‘Gran Torino’ directed by Clint Eastwood, and the Documentary film ‘Born into Brothels’ by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman. First Text: A poem that conveys the theme discrimination is Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou helps the reader see the struggle and feel what the black society had been treated likeRead MoreAnalysis Of Still I Rise By Maya Angelou1080 Words   |  5 Pagestougher and wiser. Still I rise is a poem written by Maya Angelou, an African American poet and a civil-rights activist. This poem was written around the civil rights movement, when people where being segregated by their race. Throughout this poem we are shown the thoughts and feelings people have displayed against her, but she will not let them get her down. Her dark past allows her to have strength and rise above the criticism where her ancestors fell to slavery. In poem Still I rise the main messageRead MoreAnalysis Of Still I Rise By Maya Angelou917 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Still I Rise† is an inspiring poem written by Maya Angelou, she delivers a powerful message from within to provide her African American ancestors an opportunity to rise above segregation and racism. Maya Angelou expresses her pride throughout the poem and describes different hardships in her past. Angelou incorporates her past experiences, powerful views, and over comings while also expressing the tone regarding her pride, feminist values, strong confidence, and close ties with African AmericanRead MoreAnalysis Of Still I Rise By Maya Angelou993 Words   |  4 Pagesdiscussed in class starting with Maya Angelou’s â€Å"Still I Rise.† Angelou starts off her poem stating, â€Å"You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lies, you may trod me in the very dirt but still, like dust, I’ll rise.(Lines 1-4)† From these lines, Angelou speaks on the strength that African-American have each day. Blacks have been seen in history as an abomination, and their names have been dragged through the mud just because of their skin color. But Angelou tells people that none of thisRead MoreStill I Rise - Maya Angelou (Reading Log)885 Words   |  4 PagesStill I Rise Maya Angelou The poem ‘Still I Rise’ written by American author Maya Angelou is written from the perspective of Maya herself. She is speaking to her audience of oppressors about how she has overcome racism, criticism, sexism, and personal obstacles in her life with pride and grace. It describes her personal struggle through life and how she managed to pull through and how she will continue on her life journey. This poem is historically rooted with mentions of slavery, a â€Å"past of pain†Read MoreEssay of Poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou621 Words   |  3 Pagesunderstand life and their situations. The purpose of this writing is to discuss a literary work through a personal experience. The poem that will be discussed in this essay will be â€Å"Still I Rise† by Maya Angelou. This is her famous poem ever known. This author is a very good writer, I am reading her poems for the first time and I liked her poems so much. This poem suggests that we can overcome difficulties in life, despite rejections and injustice. It also discusses racism and all the problems black peopleRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Still I Rise By Maya Angelou1959 Words   |  8 PagesMaya Angelou was a highly respected spokesperson for African Americans as well as for women of the twentieth century. She spoke on the behalf of all enslaved African Americans who suffered during the civil war. Most of her works are considered autobiographical because they contain many of her own experiences. She is a natural narrative writer that uses a lot of imagery and repetition in her poems.She has a great influence in the field of literature as a woman’s activist. She has received numerous