Rise to The Skies
By: Hannah Sy (9En-1)
“Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou is a poem with a powerful message, written by an equally strong willed women. The poem explores hate, sexism and racism through a playful tone. Angelou implies a number of poetic techniques, 3 of them include: Rhetorical questions, repetition and personification. Angelou is the voice of the unheard, discriminated and put down, she deeply speaks to us all on an emotional level.
Poetic Techniques
It can be assumed that everyone experiences discrimination in some point of their life.Guilt and shame often accompanies hate. Angelou doesn’t feel that way, her approach showcases confidence and emotional resilience. Angelou begins Stanza 2, 4,5 and 7 with a rhetorical question. “Does my….?/Did you….?/ Does my….?/Does my….?” This emphasizes her self confidence and pride as she questions the oppressors. African-American women are expected to bow their heads, lower their eyes and to have no voice. She questions these statements, demanding for an explanation to something she feels isn’t right. Her strong determination and courage is communicated through simple questions.
“I’ll rise.” appears 9 times in the poem, the repetitive use of this phrase reflects Angelou’s un-containable determination. The last lines of stanza 10 repeats “I rise” thrice, the tone of the repeated phrases sound somewhat forceful, as if Angelou herself is reciting it with enthusiasm, with hope that adversity can be overcomed.
Themes and Messages
Angelou’s contagious positivity brings a smile to every reader’s face. Courage, determination and self acceptance is a universal concept, it connects with the reader, creates a sense of empathy and lets them know that strength exists in everyone. Discrimination won’t stop Angelou, nor should it stop anyone else. Don’t fall under pressure, rise above it.
Citations
Warya Post,. Still I Rise. 2016. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
Your analysis was really good and spot-on on the poet's message! Your analysis of the poetic techniques used in the poem was good, however I think that the use of metaphors, or the "Still I Rise" could have been explained in more depth. However, the themes and messages that you could identify was really good! And also, I really liked the use of citations. But, I think that you could have used more creative subtitles. Good job! - Charmaine
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis as Angelou gives a voice to the discriminated against and stands up for them. I like how you mentioned the rhetorical questions and the phrase "I'll rise". The analysis shows your understanding of the poem overall. Good job. -Andrea
ReplyDeleteHey Hannah! I totally agree with your analysis of the poem, Still I Rise. The use of rhetorical questions does emphasize her confidence and pride towards the oppressors. However, you mentioned three poetic techniques in the introductory paragraph but only explained two of them. The amount of analysis on the two techniques was also unequally distributed, which the second one could go more in depth. Overall, I like your analysis but improvements on details could be made. -Queenie
ReplyDelete