The poem ‘Still I Rise’ is about oppression, hope and above all else self belief, believing in yourself that you will get through the hardships in life and of course rise above them.
I think Maya Angelou wrote the poem to show that she is still standing, (and standing strong at that) and that she has gone from the bottom and climbed to the top, and despite all the people who tried to cut her down and trod her in the dirt she managed to rise above them and is now she is living the good life
I think the effect of the repetition of Still I Rise makes the stanza more powerful and it feels as if she is trying to tell a person or people that she will rise above them no matter what and that she is repeating it because they cant get it into their brains.
Poetic comparisons
“You may shoot me with your words”. (Metaphor) this quote is significant to the story because it shows that some people have likely berated her with insults and verbally abused her and those words were like bullets and it seems the just let them pass through her (even though you can’t shoot someone with words), she words the quote like she is addressing her tormentors face to face.
”Cause I walk like i’ve got oil wells pumping in my living room” (simile) I think this quote means she walks around with presence and head held high and not small and avoiding eye contact with people and that she is not phased by people who are not happy with her position in society.
”I am the dream and hope of the slave” (metaphor) I believe what this quote means is that a slave would definitely dream and hope that one day they could be rich and high in society and when she says that she is the dream and hope it means that she has achieved what a slave could unfortunately not.
Recent Comments