Poetry is a distinct form of literature that is widely known for its ability to skillfully use words to paint an image in the minds of readers. Poetry often has great depth encouraging readers to look beyond the lines to reveal a hidden message. This style of writing is intended to convey an intense emotional response using repetition, rhythm, sound, and structure sometimes producing a music like quality. Lyrics similarly use repetition, rhythm, sound, and structure but are intended to be sung and heard through music. Song lyrics often lack a similar emotional depth, however, some lyricists have produced music that is able to capture the same components as poetry. Bob Dylan is the first musician be awarded the Noble Prize in Literature challenging …show more content…
The lyrics “You play with my world like it’s your little toy” expresses a sense of hopelessness Dylan feels at the hands of political and military leaders. The use of this simile makes the words more personal by showing that an individual can be affected by the political system despite how distant they may appear. Later in the song Dylan uses this as a justifying reason as to why he feels the need to protest the war. The use of these poetic devices provides imagery, flow, and an emotional depth that is felt through words …show more content…
Maya faced racial discrimination but ultimately turned the oppression she faced into motivation to express her rights, and become one of many faces of the civil rights movement. Throughout the course of her life Maya won numerous awards for her literature, becoming the first African American Woman to receive a nonfiction best seller and the first African American woman to have her own screenplay produced (Biography Editors, Maya Angelou Biography). She also recited one of her famous poems at Bill Clinton’s inauguration leading to her winning a Grammy Award for best audio poem, was the best seller for two years in the New York Times’ and won two awards from the NAACP for her civil rights literature (Biography Editors, Maya Angelou Biography). Maya’s poem “I Rise” demonstrates her poetic writing abilities and desire to overcome racism, oppression, and discrimination. Similarly to Bob Dylan’s song “Masters of War”, “I rise” uses repetition, similes, and rhyme. Bob Dylan uses repetition to focus on the subjects of the song, however Maya uses the same poetic device to enhance the overall theme of the poem. Maya
Poetry is a compact language that expresses complex feelings. To understand the multiple meanings of a poem, readers must examine its words and phrasing from the perspectives of rhythm, sound, images, obvious meaning, and implied meaning. Readers then need to organize responses to the verse into a logical, point-by-point explanation. A good beginning involves asking questions that apply to most poetry.
The most important poetic device that is used in this song is repetition. This device affects the song because the repetition of something is like a reminder of what they are focusing on. For example,
Born to a decaying marriage and unstable household, Maya Angelou thrills her poetic intentions through her dominant and eloquent words. Maya Angelou, center of the mysterious and descendants of the broken, like a champion, rose out of the ashes and into the lights of the stage. An American author and artist who has been called “America’s most visible black female autobiographer” by dozens of people, has made remarkable recognition all around the world. She is best known for her sequence of six autobiographical stories, focusing on her childhood and early adulthood. Her writing, through the eyes and experiences of a black woman, can lend a structure to the study of racial relations and culture in the 20th century America.
In Maya Angelou’s third book of poetry And Still I Rise, the personal struggles of the African American Woman are brought to life through poetic works. With inspirations drawn from personal journeys of Maya Angelou herself, powerful poems praise, celebrate, and empathize with the feminine colored experience. Angelou’s writing sheds glaring light on themes of feminine power, beauty, and perseverance, raising the African American Woman to a pedestal that demands respect and adoration. For Angelou’s audience, the everyday woman is presented equipped with all the necessities to thrive and shine in the face of adversity. In Maya Angelou’s works “Phenomenal Woman”, “Woman Work”, and “Still I Rise”, audiences are able to connect to the strength and virtue of the woman that is brought to life through the praising of femininity, and through its power to make an impact on society.
Maya Angelou lived through a time where she was discriminated against for not only her race but also her gender. In her poem “Still I Rise” Angelou sarcastically talks about how no matter what is thrown at her she will rise above it and she will do it with resilience and confidence. Her poem discusses racism and sexism and gives minorities and women a sense of hope to overcome and endure both of those things. Angelou’s self-assurance in the poem makes you believe that you too can overcome whatever obstacle. Although this poem was intended for blacks, and women, and specifically black women, the poem helps build up strong and courageous people no matter what race or gender you are. Maya Angelou in “Still I Rise” uses both pathos and ethos to
Over the past centuries, discrimination and humiliation has been everywhere, especially between the white people and the black people. Black people are always at the lower social status and get less benefited from the welfare. Contemporaneously, an African-American poet Maya Angelou wrote a poem called ‘Still I Rise’. It is a remarkable work drawing from mistreatment and addressing the latent racism and sexism by black people, which has been made into a public-interest advertisement. The poet expresses her inspiring faith in the notion of self-respect and self-esteem. Many stylistic devices are used within the poem to respond to the white oppressors sarcastically with tone of victory, which are also used to encourage someone who is suffering from the same ordeal.
“Poetry is just evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash” (quotegarden). Leonard Cohen spoke these words. Poetry has a subtle way of telling a novels length story in a few short lines. Poetry has the power to explain so much with few words, and gives it first-rate meaning, that makes one step back and evaluate their lives and how a poem relates to them. It makes one think, and that is the beauty of it.
Maya Angelou’s excerpt from her book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” reveals the challenges facing a young black girl in the south. The prologue of the book tells of a young Angelou in church trying to recite a poem she has forgotten. She describes the dress her grandmother has made her and imagines a day where she wakes up out of her black nightmare. Angelou was raised in a time where segregation and racism were prevalent in society. She uses repetition, diction, and themes to explore the struggle of a black girl while growing up. Angelou produces a feeling of compassion and poignancy within the reader by revealing racial stereotypes, appearance-related insecurities, and negative connotations associated with being a black girl. By doing this she forces the
In her first autobiography, Maya Angelou tells about her childhood through her graduation through, “Graduation”, from “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” when she is about to graduate. She starts as an excited graduate because she was finally going to receive her diploma, a reward for all her academic accomplishments. On the day of her graduation finally comes, that happiness turns into doubt about her future as she believes that black people will be nothing more than potential athletes or servants to white people. It wasn’t until Henry Reed started to sing the Negro National Anthem that she felt on top of the world again. Throughout her graduation she felt excited to disappointed, until Henry Reed sang and made her feel better.
The poem Still I Rise by African American poet, Maya Angelou. She is a 20th century poet, who uses her voice to broadcast the oppression and hardship that African American women face. Maya Angelou spoke for those who don’t have the ability to or courage as well as using life struggles and accomplishments to uplift and give power back to the African American population especially towards women. The poem consist of many different tones of voice, varying from playful, defiant, and bitter, this help Maya Angelou beautify showing the strength and the endurance of the black women. Despite, the ever presence barriers that are set in place by the oppressors ( colonial powers, rich-poor gap etc.) to limit the progress of the American black women in addition to the destruction of the self-identity/ self-esteem. Maya Angelou was able to address two audiences within the poem; it reminded the black women to speak up for herself, to see the beauty in the skin that covers their bodies and to understand their own history and not the history full of falsehood and dead ends. Still I Rise, addresses the oppressor, speaking to them in different tones to convey one simple message; that no matter what you do to stop the movement and liberation of the black
I believe this is the theme because just by reading the title of her poem; “Still I Rise” i can tell its about a person who has faced many difficulties and has been ridiculed many times throughout her life and instead of giving up she decides to stay strong and continue to stand up even though the world is trying to push her down. Also another reason why i believe the theme of her poem is, “to never give up” because of her history. Maya Angelou is a Black- American who was born in the year of 1928. she has been discriminated throughout her life only being judged by the colour of her skin. Just as how Harriet Tubman was a black- Canadian who helped many slaves through the use of the underground railway as a escape path back to their native land, she has also suffered being discriminated by the use of words and in further cases, being abused. In that era African- American women were treated brutally and were always being pushed down and were not even treated like humans. They never got the respect they deserved and were treated like absolute disgrace just because of the colour of their skin. The theme of Maya Angelou’s poem is very significant because she was born during the generation where black people could not say what they wanted without others reacting with distraught and anger. Just by the title of the poem it tells us that no matter what difficulties we come across in our life we have to manage to stay strong and keep
Maya Angelou is a very inspiring and courageous woman who says how she feels through her poems without coming off in a hateful manner, but rather a sophisticated and intelligent way. Her poems varies between subjects such as love, passion,racism and the way of life. However, in her poem “Phenomenal Woman” she speaks for all women around the world who doesn’t feel they fit in with today’s society.
What is a poem and what is a song? A poem is a piece of writing that expresses ideas, emotions, vivid imagery, and experiences in a verbal manner. Poems usually have different literary techniques such as metaphors and different rhyme schemes. A song is ‘short’ version of a poem which is meant to be sung. It has a melody. A song and poem have themes and can be represented by text.
According to Webster's Dictionary, poetry is defined as "writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm." While this is the technical definition of poetry many writers attempted to further describe what poetry is. There are many contradicting views and no one can agree what is the essence of poetry. Some poets think that poetry is the expression of emotions and rules do not matter, while other poets suggest the poetry is all about the rules and the rhythm that must be followed. The perfect mix to define poetry is somewhere in between.
Maya Angelou’s word choice in “Phenomenal Woman” is simple and dull, but it fits the poem perfectly once it is read. The words used in the poem are not powerful but it keeps you reading. It makes the readers a have different opinion on the poem. Also it makes the readers analyze what she is really trying to say. For example, in the poem Maya Angelou states “Men themselves have wondered, What they see in me. They try so much, But they can’t touch, My inner mystery.” It is a little confusing on what she is trying to say because of her word choice and the way the sentences are connected, but reading furthermore into the stanza, it begins to become more understanding. Then too, If she had used a different word choice the poem would not have been so intriguing. For example, if she would have said “Men don’t really understand my personality”, instead of “Men themselves have wondered, What they see in me.” then the readers would not have to put much attention into it and the theme would be completely different. Moreover, another example would be “ It’s the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I’m a woman Phenomenally’’. She uses simple phrases like “fire in my eyes”, “flash of my teeth”, “swing in my waist”, etc. to show the phenomenal woman she is. The word choice that Maya Angelou portrays in this poem, makes woman realize that