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    11 - Still I Rise

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    William Burn
    The poem expresses the poet's determination to rise above oppression. In 8 verses, the poet uses rhetorical questions to address those trying to repress her, and natural imagery to represent her inevitable rise despite facing hostility, violence, and attempts to diminish her pride, laughter, and sexuality. Through similes of dust, moons, suns, and air, the poet asserts that no matter the actions taken against her, "still I'll rise."

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    11 - Still I Rise

    Uploaded by

    William Burn
    2K views1 page
    The poem expresses the poet's determination to rise above oppression. In 8 verses, the poet uses rhetorical questions to address those trying to repress her, and natural imagery to represent her inevitable rise despite facing hostility, violence, and attempts to diminish her pride, laughter, and sexuality. Through similes of dust, moons, suns, and air, the poet asserts that no matter the actions taken against her, "still I'll rise."

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    The poem expresses the poet's determination to rise above oppression. In 8 verses, the poet uses rhetorical questions to address those trying to repress her, and natural imagery to represent her inevitable rise despite facing hostility, violence, and attempts to diminish her pride, laughter, and sexuality. Through similes of dust, moons, suns, and air, the poet asserts that no matter the actions taken against her, "still I'll rise."

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    2K views1 page

    11 - Still I Rise

    Uploaded by

    William Burn
    The poem expresses the poet's determination to rise above oppression. In 8 verses, the poet uses rhetorical questions to address those trying to repress her, and natural imagery to represent her inevitable rise despite facing hostility, violence, and attempts to diminish her pride, laughter, and sexuality. Through similes of dust, moons, suns, and air, the poet asserts that no matter the actions taken against her, "still I'll rise."

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 1

    Still I Rise

    You may write me down in history • The use of the pronoun ‘you’ immediately differentiates the persona from her
    With your bitter, twisted lies. intended audience. The persona asserts: ‘You may write me down in history / With
    You may trod me in the very dirt your bitter, twisted lies’. The persona feels that her identity has been wilfully
    negatively misinterpreted. She continues: ‘You may trod me in the very dirt / But
    But still, like dust, I’ll rise. still, like dust, I’ll rise’. The past participle ‘trod’ sounds hard, and is perhaps meant
    to reflect the aggressive nature of the action of the person / people who is / are
    repressing the persona. The persona’s choice of natural imagery (‘like dust’) makes
    it seem inevitable that she will ‘rise’.
    Does my sassiness upset you?
    Why are you beset with gloom? • The second verse begins with a rhetorical question: ‘Does my sassiness upset you?’
    ‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells This implies that the intended audience is ‘upset’ (disturbed) by her ‘sassiness’
    (saucy nature). The adjective ‘sassy’ is colloquial, especially used in America.
    Pumping in my living room.
    America is home to the African American poet Maya Angelou.
    This is followed by another question: Why are you beset with gloom?’ The persona
    answers this question herself: ‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells / Pumping in my
    living room’. Consider this simile carefully. Does it simply create an image of the
    persona walking with energy and enthusiasm? Does it imply that she is walking as
    if she has a fortune? However you interpret the simile, it is clear that the intended
    audience of the poem is disturbed by the buoyant nature of the persona.

    Just like moons and like suns, • The persona again uses natural imagery (‘like moons and like suns, / With the
    With the certainty of tides, certainty of tides’) to express the inevitability of her ‘rise’. Notice that she repeats
    Just like hopes springing high, the phrase ‘I rise’ (and will continue to do so throughout the poem) to underline her
    Still I’ll rise. determination to rise and the inevitability of this.

    Did you want to see me broken?


    Bowed head and lowered eyes? • Like the second verse, the fourth verse begins with a rhetorical question: ‘Do you
    want to see me broken?’ This could be interpreted either literally or
    Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
    metaphorically; it could refer to the persona being ‘broken’ physically or spiritually.
    Weakened by my soulful cries. The second question (‘Bowed head and lowered eyes?’) implies that the intended
    audience wanted to see the persona broken spiritually. The intended audience
    wanted to see the persona’s ‘shoulders falling down like teardrops, / Weakened by
    [her] soulful cries.’ The simile suggests that the intended audience wanted to see
    the persona’s shoulders slumped due to sadness.
    Does my haughtiness offend you?
    Don’t you take it awful hard • The persona asks: ‘Does my haughtiness offend you?’ This creates the impression
    that she may be ‘haughty’ (arrogant, self-admiring or disdainful). This may
    ‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
    ‘offend’ the intended audience if it thought that the persona’s social status should
    Diggin’ in my own back yard. not allow her any sense of pride. She continues: ‘Don’t take it awful hard / ‘Cause I
    laugh like I’ve got gold mines / Diggin’ in my own back yard’. The simile
    suggests that her laughter is triumphant…

    You may shoot me with your words,


    You may cut me with your eyes, • In a similar manner to the first verse, the persona asserts: ‘You may shoot me with
    You may kill me with your hatefulness, your words, /You may cut me with your eyes, / You may kill me with your
    hatefulness’. The language is violent (shoot, cut, kill) and underlines the sense of
    But still, like air, I’ll rise. animosity that the persona feels is directed as her by the intended audience. It is
    interesting to consider that her ancestors, who were slaves, would have been
    literally shot, cut and killed. The persona adds: ‘But still, like air, I’ll rise’. Again,
    she uses natural imagery (like air) to make it seem inevitable that she will ‘rise’.
    Does my sexiness upset you?
    Does it come as a surprise • The persona asks: ‘Does my sexiness upset you?’ Her question implies that she
    That I dance like I’ve got diamonds recognises her own sexual appeal. She continues to ask: ‘Does it come as a surprise
    / That I dance like I’ve got diamonds / At the meeting of my thighs?’ She uses a
    At the meeting of my thighs?
    simile to demonstrate the precious nature of her sexuality.

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