Literary Analysis Of Maya Angelou's Poem Still I Rise

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.

Wright & Hope (2000) proposed that analysing the foregrounded features with literal significance from the structure, lexis, grammar and phonology of the poem can help understand the poet’s intention of writing so as to achieve a

From the title of the poem ‘Still I Rise’, the word “still” emphasizes Angelou’s identification as a black woman and her ability to stand up tall and proud for her rights. ‘Still I Rise’ is a pivotal phrase and works as a mantra in the poem. It portrays Angelou’s confidence in the struggle. An interpretation can be that no matter how people degrade or talk down on her, she would still rise. To make the point of view stand out, Angelou (1978) also utilises the lines “bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave” and “I am the dream and the hope of the slave” at the end. An interpretation can be figured out is that she appreciates what the previous generations have done and left for her, and she has got a mission to step up to make a difference. She believes that there is hope and desire in today 's