Still I Rise
BY MAYA ANGELOU
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.
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.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
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.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
TPCASTT Analysis of Maya Angelou's Poem, Still I Rise
1. The title “Still I Rise”, I think is about self-love to be more confident, and there must always be hope to hold to, regardless of the situation. Maya Angelou which is the writer is trying to convey a sense of enthusiasm and tenacity to fight for her life.
2. Paraphrase
You may record my name in history
With your bitter, twisted falsehoods,
You may drag me in the very dirt
Yet still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness make you upset?
Why are you beset with gloom?
Because I walk as if I have got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like the moons and suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weary from my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness bother you?
Don't you take it really difficult
’Cause I laugh as I've got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may slash me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
Yet still, like air, I will soar.
Does my sexiness make you upset?
Does it come as a surprise?
That I dance like I had got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
I emerge from the huts of history's disgrace
I rise
Up from a past that painful history
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of anguish and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s gloriously clear
I rise
My Ancestors gave me the gifts so I brought it,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
3. Connotation
1. Simile: But still, like air, I'll rise - But still, like dust, I'll rise (line 24) Whatever the author's attackers do to her, she will rise far above difficulties, just the same as air rises.
2. Metaphor: You may cut me with your eyes (line 22) The author's trying brings up violence, this time in the form of cutting with a knife. Angelou describes the attacker's nasty eyes as so unpleasant and terrible that his or her gaze is sharp when looking at her, just like a knife.
3. Assonance: with your bitter, twisted lie (line 2) The repetition of the "I" vowel.
4. Alliteration: Does my sexiness upset you (line 5) The repetition of the "S" consonant.
4. Diction:
The Stanza of this poem has an example of the element of diction, as shown below.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
According to its stanza, we can clearly analyze that this poem has a lot of adjective and verb elements that explained something or the author's feeling. Such as fear, clear, gave, slave, etc. The author means that she is hoping something good happens to her, even though she thinks that she is only a slave to her ancestors, she lives full of terror and fear.
5. Point of view: First-person point of view. Because the author uses "I" in the poem it can categorize to first-person point of view.
6. The rhyme in Maya Angelou's poem entitled "Still I rise" has 9 stanzas, the first seven stanzas are a quatrain which has 4 lines, stanza number 8 has six lines, meanwhile stanza number 9 has 9 lines. And with the rhyme scheme A-B-C-B/ A-B-C-B / A-B-C-B / A-B-C-B / A-B-C-B / A-B-C-B / A-B-C-B / A-B-A-B-C-C / A-B-A-B-C-C-B-B-B/.
7. Attitude:
The speaker in this poem I guess is a female because we can see from lines number 5, 17, 24 such as sassiness, sexiness, haughtiness all of that can be assumed as female's adjectives.
The audience of this poem is probably a female who was in low self-confidence, feeling afraid, full of fear, but she is or you have to keep your spirit and her tenancy to fight their lives.
The tone of this poem is confident and optimistic, as a female who is always underestimated by many people but still brave and determined, with a key clause I Rise.
Shift: there are no shifts in time or tone in the poem. The author's shows an optimistic from the beginning.
Tittle (Revisited): Maya Angelou's poem Still I Rise captures the spirit of a people battling for their life as an oppressed people. It is also designed to assess the influence of their life events and how persistent they are in dealing with them. It is about self-love to be more confident, and there must always be hope to hold to, regardless of the situation.
Theme: The theme of self-esteem and self-confidence. In the poem, Angelou talks about how she overcomes everything that happens with her pride. She shows that no one can degrade her dignity.
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