Still I

Rise
Maya Angelou
Let’s talk about
racism
How would you define the word?
 Why are
these
images
trending on
social
media? How
do they
make you
feel?
 So many of us
have the luxury
of learning
about racism,
not living it
However, we can make sure
that we are playing our part
and one of the ways we can
do this is by reading
literature – fiction and non-
fiction – written by black
authors
 Who is
Maya
Angelou?
Have you ever heard of her
before?
If you were to write an autobiography, what would you title it?
 Why do you think Maya
Angelou has titled her
autobiography this way?
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a 1969
autobiography describing the early years of
American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first
in a seven-volume series, it is a coming-of-age
story that illustrates how strength of character and
a love of literature can help overcome racism and
trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya
and her older brother are sent to Stamps, Arkansas,
to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya
becomes a mother at the age of 16. In the course
of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of
racism with an inferiority complex into a self-
possessed, dignified young woman capable of
responding to prejudice.
 Politics

Key History
Themes in
the Poem Oppression

Societal Issues

Keep track
of these as Individual Rights

we go Slavery

through
Peaceful Protest
 • Understand the
way the
background to a
text shapes its
meaning
• Identify and
analyse imagery
• Understand how a
poem is structured
and shaped and
Success Criteria: how this
contributes to
We can – meaning
 Overview of the Poem
• This stirring poem is packed full of figurative language. It functions as a sort
of secular hymn to the oppressed and abused. The message is loud and
clear—no matter the cruelty, regardless of method and circumstance, the
victim will rise up, the slave will overcome adversity. (It's little wonder that
Nelson Mandela read this poem at his inauguration in 1994, having spent 27
years in prison.)
• Although written with black slavery and civil rights issues in mind, ‘Still I
Rise’ is universal in its appeal. Any innocent individual, any minority, or any
nation subject to oppression or abuse could understand the underlying
theme—don't give in to torture, bullying, humiliation, and injustice.
• The poem offers an intriguing mixture of tones: playful and defiant, comical
and angry, self-assured and bitter. Ultimately, however, the poem’s tone, as
the work’s title suggests, is triumphant.
 'Still I Rise' by Maya Angelou (1987, Live performance) (youtube.com)

Listen to Maya
Angelou reading
her own poem. How
do you feel after
listening to her?
Analysis
What do you notice
about these lines?

You may write me down in

history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very
dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
In this stanza, Maya Angelou gives of her heart and soul to
declare that nothing and no one could oppress her or keep her
down.
The first word in the poem “You” is significant – it addresses all
those who oppress her specifically and black people in general. It
seems highly significant that the first kind of oppression the speaker
mentions is an oppression rooted in writing. The poem itself is a
direct response to this kind of oppressive writing. The speaker
You may write me down in transforms writing, one of the most important means of domination,
history into an instrument of liberation. The anaphora (a figure of speech
in which words repeat at the beginning of successive clauses,
With your bitter, twisted lies, phrases, or sentences) of “You may” indicates that Angelou cannot
You may trod me in the very stop it happening so instead she focuses on herself and rising out of
Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the
conflict.
dirt same line such as the sound of ‘i’ in “With your bitter, twisted lies”.
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
In line 3 we reach the first reference to actual physical oppression,
but the phrasing here seems more metaphorical than literal.
Metaphorically, to tread another person into the dirt is to treat that
person with enormous disrespect and almost shocking violence. Yet
no sooner does the speaker imagine being abused in this way than
she immediately responds with the simile, “But still, like dust, I’ll
rise”. The rhyming of “lies” and “rise” further adds to the sense of
 What do you notice about
these lines?

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
This would be a less effective poem if its
tone were entirely angry and bitter. Instead,
Angelou injects plenty of sarcastic humour
into the work
Angelou asks two rhetorical
questions (questions where
you don’t expect or want a
reply). If someone is “sassy” it
Does my sassiness upset means that they are lively and
you? spirited. Clearly her boldness
makes others feel uncomfortable.
Why are you beset with However, Angelou doesn’t care if
gloom? this upsets people as she knows
that she has succeeded in life, in
’Cause I walk like I've got her writing, and as a woman. The
oil wells simile of oil wells suggests that
the hatred she receives fuels her.
Pumping in my living
room.
 What do you notice about these
lines?

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
 Angelou uses imagery relating to
nature to demonstrate her power
In this stanza, she uses multiple
similes to compare herself to the
moon and the suns as they are
ust like moons and like affected by the tides. This gives
the reader the understanding that
suns, the speaker has no other choice
but to rise up out of her affliction.
With the certainty of Try as society might to keep her
tides, oppressed, it is in her nature to rise
up and stand against oppression
Just like hopes just as it is the nature of the tides
The refrain to
of the
themoon.
poem (variations
springing high, to respond
of “I’ll rise) is repeated here again
Still I'll rise. to demonstrate her resilience. This
is further emphasised by the use of
sibilance (repetition of ‘s’
sounds).
What do you notice
about these lines?

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like
teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
 Angelou’s questions in this stanza are direct,
pertinent, and appropriately accusing.
She knows that her own success is
received with bitterness by the racist
people in her society. So she directs
these questions at the society that has
Did you want to see me broken? long tried to keep her oppressed. She
Bowed head and lowered eyes? asks them if they want to see her
broken, oppressed, depressed and
Shoulders falling down like bitter. She asks these questions know
teardrops, that this indeed is what many in society
wanted. They did not want to see a
Weakened by my soulful cries? black woman rise up out of the
oppression of her society and succeed.
The speaker knows this and she draws
attention to it with this revealing, yet
The simile
cutting of teardrops illustrates how
questions.
Angelou is choosing resilience rather
than allowing others to upset her.
 Does my haughtiness offend you?
What do you Don't you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I've got gold
notice about mines
these lines? Diggin’ in my own backyard.
 The fifth stanza is a lot like the
second stanza in form and content,
although it only contains
Does my haughtiness offend one rhetorical question rather
you? than two. Angelou wonders if her
"haughtiness"—essentially, her
Don't you take it awful hard pride—"offend[s]" her oppressor. If
’Cause I laugh like I've got gold it does, she advises flippantly, her
oppressor should try not to be too
mines negatively affected ("take it awful
Diggin’ in my own backyard. hard").

In an echo of the simile in the

Take a closer look at the plosive (b, second stanza about oil wells, the
d and p) sounds in this stanza as well speaker states that she laughs as if
as the guttural ‘g’ sound. The she has "gold mines" in her
forcefulness of the language mirrors backyard. Just as the oil wells are
Angelou’s defiance in the face those busy pumping and producing oil, so
who stand in judgement of her. too are these gold mines producing
("Diggin'") gold, a valuable and
beautiful commodity. The very act
 What do you notice about these
lines?

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
 Here Angelou focuses on the
violence of language by using three
metaphors
The oppressor's
hatefulness could literally
kill her, but in this line the
You may shoot me with your speaker speaks of death
words, metaphorically. The
You may cut me with your eyes, oppressor's hate toward
her might kill her spirit,
You may kill me with your but she will still rise
hatefulness, This stanza
above the pain. concludes
with the simile of her
But still, like air, I’ll rise. being “like air” which will
always rise – she cannot
be held down.
 Does my sexiness upset you?
What do you Does it come as a surprise
notice about That I dance like I've got diamonds
these lines? At the meeting of my thighs?
 Returning to her rhetorical questions,
the speaker asks if her sex appeal
"upset[s]" her oppressor The diamonds are
a clear escalation of value from the "oil
wells" and "gold mines" of stanzas 2 and 5.
Does my sexiness upset you? The escalation marks an intensification of
Angelou’s value and worth as the poem
Does it come as a surprise progresses. The plosive alliteration of
"dance" and "diamonds" further links the
That I dance like I've got two images together.
diamonds
Furthermore, in the previous stanzas, the
At the meeting of my thighs? high-value commodities Angelou owned
were located in her house ("living room")
and on her land ("backyard"). Here,
however, the diamonds are embedded on
her own body. Her value and worth, the
speaker implies,
Additionally, the sexually evocative placement of the diamonds are
"[a]t the inherent
meeting ofin[her]
herself.
thighs"
may be a reference to Angelou's own past as a nightclub dancer. Considered in this context, the
line is a reclamation of black femininity and womanhood. Additionally, at the age of eight, while
living with her mother, Angelou was sexually abused and raped by her mother's boyfriend, a man
named Freeman. Here her sexuality is a source of pride not shame – she is taking ownership of her
What do Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
you notice Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
about these I rise
lines? I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the
tide.
The poem increases in intensity with the change from “I’ll rise”
to “I rise” – it is no longer something that will happen, it’s
happening!
Out of the huts of history’s shame In the first two lines, Angelou rises from "the huts of history's
I rise shame." "Huts," small crude shelters, is a reference to the poor
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain housing conditions of enslaved peoples on plantations.
I rise "[H]istory's shame" is also a reference to slavery, as the
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
practice of slavery is a shameful mark on human history. Thus,
the first two lines are both an acknowledgement of the past, as
Welling and swelling I bear in the
tide. well as an assertion of the speaker's rise above the attempt to
dehumanize her and other black people.
The last two lines of the stanza are joyous and fantastical. Through a metaphor, Angelou declares
that she is a "black ocean." The comma after "black ocean" marks a caesura (a pause in the
middle of a line of poetry) that asks readers to pause and reflect on the blackness of the ocean.
By describing the ocean, a powerful force of nature, as "black," Angelou asserts her power is
inherent in and inextricably linked to her blackness. Moreover, this ocean spans both great heights
and vast distances. The ocean is a powerful force of nature that cannot be tamed by human
beings.
The internal rhyming of “welling” and “swelling” nicely complements the imagery. Finally,
Angelou asserts that she carries in the "tide." A "tide" and other oceanic movements can be used
to describe social movements (e.g. first-wave feminism). Thus, the tide that the Angelou brings
forth to the world is the empowerment of marginalised people, specifically black people.
 Leaving behind nights of terror and
fear

What do I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously
you notice clear
I rise
about these Bringing the gifts that my ancestors
lines? gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the
slave.
 Here Angelou alludes to slavery once again.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear Although she won’t forget it, it is something
that she is determined to leave behind.
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Angelou can clearly envision the
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors
light and hope of her present and
gave, future. It is a metaphor of
I am the dream and the hope of the immense positivity.
slave. The more frequent repetition of
“I rise” adds to the momentum of
the poem.
These are a final assertion of Angelou’s value and power, which are linked
to her ancestors and the oppressed people of the past. Angelou’s
personal strengths and her body are possible because of her ancestors
who survived and eventually created her. Thus, in a sense, her ancestors
"gift[ed]" her with who she is today. The words "gifts" and "gave" are
alliterative, adding emphasis to the words and highlighting the
importance of both the "gifts" and the act of giving from her ancestors.
Angelou has a clear sense of gratitude toward her ancestors who survived
through the "pain“, "terror”, and "fear" of the past in order to give her
 I rise
What do
you notice
about I rise
these
lines?
I rise.
The ending of the poem is triumphant
The last three lines repeat the poem's transformed refrain: "I rise." Through
this use of epizeuxis (pronounced epeezooksis, a figure of speech in
which a word or phrase is repeated in immediate succession, with
no intervening words), Angelou’s assertion of her rise is forceful and
vehement. The assonance between "I" and "rise" adds to the ringing and

I rise strident quality of the refrain. Each word of "I rise" is equally stressed in
these lines as well. This leaves no doubt as to who will "rise" in the power
struggle between oppressed and oppressor. Despite all the oppressor's
I rise efforts to crush her into the dirt or harm ("shoot," "cut," "kill") her, Angelou
is the one who will triumph.

I rise. "I rise" is the central message and meaning of the poem, whose very title is
"Still I Rise." By ending with a repetition of this message, the takeaway of
the poem is clear: the speaker rises and will continue to rise above
oppression and prejudice. "Still" has the meaning of "despite" in the title.
Thus despite whatever "pain," "terror," or "fear" she experiences due to
hatred and prejudice, the speaker remains defiant and empowered in the
face of oppression. Ultimately, the phrase transforms from a personal
New Definitions A quick quiz
 Assonance
Can you define this word or give
an example?
 Assonance
The repetition of vowel sounds
 Anaphora
Can you define this word or give
an example?
 Anaphora
A figure of speech in which words
repeat at the beginning of
successive clauses, phrases, or
sentences
 Caesura
Can you define this word?
 Caesura
A pause in the middle of a line of
poetry
 Epizeuxis
Can you define this word or give
an example?
 Epizeuxis
A figure of speech in which a
word or phrase is repeated in
immediate succession, with no
intervening words
 What
would you
say is the POLITICS HISTORY OPPRESSIO
N
SOCIETAL
ISSUES
most
important
theme in INDIVIDUAL SLAVERY PEACEFUL
the poem? RIGHTS PROTEST
The End Thank you all for
your contributions
Homewor Imagine Maya Angelou
was alive. Write her a
k letter giving your
thoughts on the poem.