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Still I Rise, By Maya Angelou

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Maya Angelou, an African American civil rights activist and poet whose main focus is on the oppression faced by African Americans in their early life. She uses these past experiences and turn them into words of wisdom. Her early life had a difficult and traumatic toll on her causing her pain and fear, and based on these feelings she wrote multiple poems to describe how she felt and one of those poems are Still I rise. This poem portrays the theme of discrimination and confidentiality and it focuses on a devoted and courageous black woman living with a positive attitude despite the hardships she faces. Still I rise is about a courageous black woman living in an era where cruel words are used to describe her, hatred and envious words and eyes
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Last night on February 4, 1787, General Benjamin Lincoln attacked members of the Shays’ Rebellion, and successfully captured 150 of the rebels. As a result, Daniel Shays left Massachusetts and fled to Vermont. Shays Rebellion was an armed rebellion consisting of 1,200 angry farmers from Massachusetts. They caused major chaos in this state. On December 26, 1786 Daniel Shays and the rebels revolted in Springfield, Massachusetts insisting that the state legislature address their issues, such as lack of money.

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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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In these past weeks we been learning about Transcendentalist which is a vast word with a straight forward meaning. Where people feel empowered and their surrounding surpass their five senses intuition, imagination, overpower, logic, and reason. The source I used to explain transcendentalist was Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. It had a lot of meaning to me and connect to me too. Overall it talked about how she overcomes everyone's hatred toward her, every hateful word and faces every complication thrown at her and uses it to get stronger physically and successed.

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III. a. Maya Angelou was an avid writer, speaker, activist and teacher. As a result of the many hardships that she suffered while growing up as a poor black woman in the south she has used her own experiences as the subject matter of her written work. In doing this she effectively shows how she was able to overcome her personal obstacles. Her autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970) tells the story of her life and how she overcame and moved forward triumphantly in spite of her circumstances.

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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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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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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 memoir also explores the idea the effects of displacement, and so Angelou is able to broaden her horizon on the effects of racism. Marguerite mostly remains in the black part of town and does not associate with white people. Angelou writes, “In Stamps the segregation was so complete that most Black children didn't really, absolutely know what whites looked like” (353). The segregation reached the point that the minorities are the ones that are unaware of how the majority of the population looked. This leads Marguerite to view whites as something entirely different from her and the people she knows.

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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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Kindness Against the World Oftentimes people only need some sympathy to succeed in life. In the short story known as “Thank You, M’am” by Langston Hughes, the story follows a boy named Roger who attempts to steal the purse of a strong and kind women, Luella Bates Washington Jones, who rather then turn him in to the police she takes him to her home, has him wash his face, and makes him eat a meal before sending him back to his house with the instructions to,”Behave yourself, boy!” Using the actions of the characters in the story, Hughes shows that people need the kindness of others for their life to change for the better. At the start of the story, Roger attempts to steal the purse of a stranger described as “a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but hammer and nails.

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Context/Purpose/Audience Still I Rise, written in 1978 by African American poet and civil-rights activist Maya Angelou, is a resoundingly courageous and unearthing poem with an inspiring invited reading directly related to the time period it was written in: during the declaration for Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The poem discusses an African American woman’s struggles against racism and hatred from the society. It consists of nine-stanzas, offering words of inspiration to those who have been oppressed. It sends a message of hope that even in the midst of adversity it is possible to overcome obstacles and find the inner strength and confidence to rise above them. This poem is very straightforward making the message more meaningful and affective.

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Indecisive Aspiration In his poem “Dream Deferred” (1951), Langston Hughes questions what would happen if a person put their dreams on hold. Hughes also makes it clear throughout the poem that there are positive and negative effects about postponing an inner ambition. He constructs this lyrical poetry with the use of many literary devices. For example, to help the reader envision the meaning of his words in depth, Hughes infuses the stanzas with a familiar allusion, couplets, vivid imagery, connotation, multiple similes, and hyperbole; gradually, tying everything together to forge the theme: It’s up to you to decide if it’s too late to live out your dreams.

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