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Maya Angelou Still I Rise Essay

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Maya Angelou was born in 1928; she lived through some of the worst oppression for African American people. One of Maya Angelou’s most celebrated poems is ‘Still I Rise”. The Poem “Still I Rise” is a call for others to live above the society in which they were conduct up. Throughout the poem Maya conveys her sense of confidence. No matter what happens or what is thrown at Maya Angelou, she will always rise. Maya Angelou goes into details in stanza one by allowing her heart and soul to proclaim that nothing and no one could abuse her or keep her down. People will talk behind your back and spread whatever kind of rumors that they can to bring you down. However, she likes to be seen as a strong person. In the second stanza, Maya asks, “Does my sassiness upset you?” She knows that she will be successful in life. With this being said, Maya goes into deeper details in stanza three, she lets society know that she will always rise up out of her affliction. She feels that society might keep her down, but her nature will rise above and stand against what society is trying to do. In stanza four, she knows that the racist people in society will show bitterness towards her own success. She felt that they did not want to see a black woman rise up and be successful. Maya knows that society hate to see black women that is full of pride in stanza five. In this stanza, which is stanza six, she lets society know that no matter how much they try to down her, she will still be successful in life. She lets them know that talking down on her with words, looks, and hatefulness she …show more content…

It is awesome because it tells a story of survival. However, it inspires people to rise above all the negativity. It is beautiful, strong and empowering. She represents hope for the black people. If someone is feeling down, reading this poem will uplift them because it is very inspiring. Overall, this is why this poem is so

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If you were told that because of your skin color or your gender you weren’t good enough or you were not seen as privileged. Would you fall and stay on the floor or would you rise despite the hate you got? Maya Angelou does just that and she proves it in a so many ways. Maya Angelou poem, “Still I Rise” displays a variety of pathos a great purpose an amazing message about getting back up, challenged the wrongs, and had an audience that has seen or one day will see all the wrongs in our society.

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Banneker Writes to thomas jefferson about the wrongs of slavery. HIs purpose is to argue against slavery. Banneker does this by using an appeal to logic to prove how slavery is illogical, diction to show the cruelty of slavery, and parallelism to show that they are like the white men who wanted their freedom as well. Banneker shows how illogical slavery is to help create an argument against it. He pulls in the Declaration of INdependence, which Thomas Jefferson wrote, it says “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal…” (lines 21-25).

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Maya Angelou philosophy and teachings are timeless. There is a lesson to be learned in her more than 30 published works and her lessons taught as a professor and lecturer. More important she lived what she preached. She had a strong belief in humanity as a whole, in the human spirit and in the African American community. She fought tirelessly to change extinguish racism, prejudice and discrimination during a time when she herself as a black woman experienced its effects.

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Maya Angelou has been an influential woman throughout her life; she left her mark in history and literature, and she celebrated the experience of being black in the US. The most breathtaking of all her achievements is the construction of her own personality. As she stated once, “my mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style”. Remembering her, it is important to highlight her commitment with equality; it was a fight not only for her own life, for women and for Afro-American people, but also for peace and justice all over the world.

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Maya Angelou was a strong African-American women who made an influential impact on the Civil Rights Movement, in bother her actions, and her literature. Her life experiences and courage helped others, and made her work influential. During Maya’s early life, she experienced many hardships that shaped her into the person many remember her as. Born on April 4, 1928, she only lived in St. Louis, MO for three years before her parents got divorced, and Maya, along with her mother and brother, moved in with her grandparents in Arkansas. At the age of eight, raped by her mother’s boyfriend, Maya learned the power that words possess.

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The author uses personification which expresses the theme because it shows people saying mean things about the speaker, but they keep moving on. In the poem Angelou states, “You may shoot me with your words, / You may cut me with your eyes, / You may kill me with your hatefulness” (21-23). This literary device is used to show that the speaker will keep moving on no matter what people say about them and how it is relatable because sometimes you get that look from someone. Another device Maya Angelou uses is a simile because she shows that even though people are saying all this mean stuff the speaker is still happy and joyful. Maya Angelou states, “Like dust, I’ll rise” (4).

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She humanises the slaves who also had hopes and dreams Moreover, the direct accusatory ‘You’ repeated over three lines in stanza six attracts attention to the negativity of those who do not want to recognise her as their equal. This conveys her as a serious bold character. The emphatic line ‘But still, like air, I’ll rise’ demonstrates her unfailing positivity to overcome obstacles. In Addition, the simile ‘like air’ differs and is more

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