Analysis of Still I Rise 1 Essay Example
This great poetess Maya Angelou presents in ‘Still I Rise” the average black American woman who rises like the phoenix each time she is bent by oppression. Here, she triumphantly asserts with conviction how she continues to rise with renewed vigor.
In stanza one, Maya Angelou hints at her relationship with history and the body's relationship with the earth. With an African American background, she knows the importance and cruel irony of history. "His Story" is usually told from a European angle. She also correlates how the body can be put and driven into the ground, but eventually it decomposes and humans turn into earth, like soil and dust. Maya Angelou tells how she is above lies and oppression, and 'like dust, I'll rise.' The speaker goes on to ask a rhetorical question to the reader. Her attitude as a confident, sassy, African American woman is out of the norm for society. A woman, let alone an African woman who has confidence in herself was a taboo idea. She asks the reader if that upsets them, which at the time, probably did. She also mentions how she carries herself, portraying it to the world as though she is rich, which for Maya Angelou she wasn't rich growing up. This just explains how one can act confident and be proud of themselves even though they are not rich or perfect. In the third stanza Maya correlates her attitude with the certainty of nature. She explains how nature and people's hopes are certain facts that will never end. The sun will always rise just like the moons. The tides and people's hopes will always rise that all have a natural order in life. Yet, the speaker knows, 'Still I'll rise.' The speaker describes her ability to rise above anything that happens to her in this poem. She also uses apostrophe to address her discourse, as well as give others the ability to share her voice. I believe this poem could be seen as the speaker addressing someone, or as a sort of self-help/self confidence booster for others to recite. The speaker also
In stanza one, Maya Angelou hints at her relationship with history and the body's relationship with the earth. With an African American background, she knows the importance and cruel irony of history. "His Story" is usually told from a European angle. She also correlates how the body can be put and driven into the ground, but eventually it decomposes and humans turn into earth, like soil and dust. Maya Angelou tells how she is above lies and oppression, and 'like dust, I'll rise.' The speaker goes on to ask a rhetorical question to the reader. Her attitude as a confident, sassy, African American woman is out of the norm for society. A woman, let alone an African woman who has confidence in herself was a taboo idea. She asks the reader if that upsets them, which at the time, probably did. She also mentions how she carries herself, portraying it to the world as though she is rich, which for Maya Angelou she wasn't rich growing up. This just explains how one can act confident and be proud of themselves even though they are not rich or perfect. In the third stanza Maya correlates her attitude with the certainty of nature. She explains how nature and people's hopes are certain facts that will never end. The sun will always rise just like the moons. The tides and people's hopes will always rise that all have a natural order in life. Yet, the speaker knows, 'Still I'll rise.' The speaker describes her ability to rise above anything that happens to her in this poem. She also uses apostrophe to address her discourse, as well as give others the ability to share her voice. I believe this poem could be seen as the speaker addressing someone, or as a sort of self-help/self confidence booster for others to recite. The speaker also