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Comparing Still I Rise And One Art

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“Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou and “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop are two tales of tenacity. Both poems are centered around failure, and were both written by influential, American, female poets, in the 1970s. However, they are two very different perspectives of failure, and two separate kinds of oppression. Elizabeth Bishop writes about an emotional oppression, and the belief that becoming upset can hold people down, and says that not emotional disasters will stop her. Maya Angelou writes about a more literal oppression, as an African American woman of the time period, and her perseverance. Both poems make ample use of repetition in the endings of their stanzas. However, the contrast between the repeated lines is what makes these two poems most different. “One Art” repeats the phrase, “The art of losing isn’t hard to master,” …show more content…

The poetic devices used throughout both poems are very similar. They both touch on metaphorical scenarios, for example, Elizabeth Bishop did not literally own cities, rivers, and continents and lose them. She is comparing her losses to enormous physical things, to paint the image of her grief. Maya Angelou did not literally have gold mines in her back yard, or oil wells in her living room, she is comparing her attitude to physical things as well. While the two poets use metaphorical scenarios to give the reader a greater image their emotion, they are two very separate emotions. However, they both lead up to a positive ending. Elizabeth Bishop quotes, “…the art of losing’s not too hard to master though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.” She is meaning that even the largest of perceived failures are not as detrimental as they seem. Angelou conveys a similar message, ending her poem with repletion of, “I rise. I rise. I rise.” This exemplifies her resilience through difficult times, just as Bishop does. These poems were written by two of the most influential female poets during the 1970s, and they both

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On the other hand, Paul Fleischman portrays the theme by showing how so diverse people united to form similarities, through a common goal or common passion. Maya Angelou gets the theme across to the audience by showing how everyone’s life is different, but it is made up of the same ingredients. In stanza 25 of the poem it says “ We love and lose in China, we weep on England 's moors, and laugh and moan in Guinea, and thrive on Spanish shores….. In minor ways we differ, in major we 're the same.” In other words in different places around the world people do different things, but have a main similarity in them.

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She asks her readers to rise above their defeats, to not allow anyone to stop their dreams. In demonstrating how she succeeded she has been a role model for women of all cultures and races. The “Phenomenal Women” poem is a celebration

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The poem “Still I Rise” written by Maya Angelou and the story “The Scholarship Jacket” by Marta Saline, are two different kind of writing styles. One is a poem and the other is a story. Even though they might be two different kind of styles of writing, they still are somewhat similar. “Still I Rise” is a poem about conquering your goals in life and rising up to be the best you can possibly be. Mayas writing in this poem is very confident, in a way she almost sounds like she's bragging.

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But they also both deal with choices and endurance of consequences from that choice. One of several particular elements in each of the stories that best emphasize the theme is the usage of figurative language in each text. Some of the different types of figurative language each author used is simile, personification, and metaphor’s. Another way that the author expressed the theme is in the story is the limitations of the American Dream for African Americans. Whereas in the poem, the author used sort of a cause and effect scenario.

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America is a symbol of freedom. The poems “I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes and “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou both describe how America was rather unfair during their times. Langston Hughes was a key figure during the Harlem Renaissance and Maya Angelou did not become famous or recognized until her first autobiography. Even though “I, Too, Sing America” and “Still I Rise” have completely different tones, they both convey the message of how inequality was prevalent in America. Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou both talk about how in the future they will come back and be free.

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Let us say someone encountered a bump in life or something bad happened people will always move past it eventually because people cannot let something weigh them down for the rest of their lives. The big message or idea of these two poems is to keep moving on because people will always have to deal with problems. In “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes and Still I Rise by Maya Angelou they both convey the message that people should never give up and keep on rising no matter what happens or what people say. Throughout the poem “Mother to Son,” Langston Hughes coveys that people should always keep pushing towards their goals and not give up.

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The poem is written is her voice as the narrator as she says how she will rise to the occasion despite oppression and the inherent painful past of the black man. She says that despite oppression and unfair treatment of black people, they will rise above it. The lines opening lines ‘You may tread me in the very dirt/ But still, like dust, I'll rise’ show the determination of black people during the Civil Rights Movement and the way in which they were determined to rise above racial

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Both poems shed light on the true feelings of African Americans everywhere and show that these people are tired of being treated differently and that these people know that things will change. Hughes’s poem has a laid back approach, almost expecting things to get better on their own. But Angelou’s poem is a bit more attacking. Instead of accepting that things are the way they are and that they’ll get better, Angelou tries to make her oppressors seem less oppressive to her and more scared of her by saying things such as “Do you want to see me broken” and “Does my sexiness offend

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