Poetic Techniques
Simile, in this phrase, ‘Just like moons and like suns’, is used compare herself to the sun and moon, always raising herself up emotionally each day to stay strong no matter what happens.
‘Oil wells; gold mines; diamonds’, known to be expensive and valuable, this metaphor relates to Angelou, implying she is worth just much as everyone and should receive equal amount of respect and love.
From repeating the words ‘I’ll rise; I’ll rise’, this repetition made the words more powerful and in the same time, it conveys her message: stay strong, don’t let anything stop you from fighting back and change who you are.
Rhyme is shown in the poem as seen in the following example, ‘Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave.’ Another example is ‘I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.’ Both examples shows the rhyme scheme in the poem.
‘Does my sassiness upset you? ; Do you want to see me broken? ; Does my haughtiness offend you? ; Does my sexiness offend you?’ uses rhetorical question. By using ‘you’, Angelou catches the reader’s attention, allows us to realize how many people have made ‘I’ feel. This makes the reader take it into a more personal level.
Conclusion
In this poem, the theme portrayed is racism and discrimination. Mary Angelou portrays a strong living with a positive attitude and shows a straightforward message, making it more powerful. This phrase ‘I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide’ refers to her life, full of horrific and unexpected events. The ‘black ocean’ is describing her race, allowing the readers to understand the poem is about discrimination.
Hi, Rachel. Good use of bolding the important words and giving specific examples, however I felt that you needed to space out your paragraphs. That your writing was more like a analytical essay rather than a blog style writing.
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