Analysis

. Maya Angelou is a well-known poet and author who often writes about struggles in the black community and beauty in the faces of African Americans.  In Maya Angelou’s poem, Still I Rise, she introduces us into her world as a confident, independent, & Strong woman. In the poem, she writes about her constant encounters with racism, hateful comments, and sexism. Throughout the poem Maya teaches us to keep our heads up, and keep on overcoming your struggles.

A lot of Maya Angelou’s poems, she speaks of self-assurance, African American ancestry, and striving on. She lived among the time in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was alive. She was inspired by his speech and his fight for African American rights. Maya soon began her first well known autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The book soon published in nineteen sixty nine. Angelou wrote many more good books talking about controversies over race, sexual abuse and violence. Maya also published her first poet books in nineteen sixty nine which often spoke of black beauty, love, and her admiration of the human spirit.

            In the beginning of Maya’s poem, she is constantly questioning herself about the criticism she is receiving from other people but as the poem continues, she reflects on the ways she overcomes these things. Then in the final part of the poem she uses a lot of imagery to describe the way she overcomes the struggles of life. She also describes herself in many ways such as the dream and the hope of her African American ancestors. In Still I Rise, Maya Angelou displays her confidence throughout the poem. She is constantly questioning others by asking questions like: Does my sexiness upset you or does my sassiness upset you? Given the confidence remarks she speaks of her that were once broken down and used as slaves to individuals. She uses these as ways of showing that despite how this breaks her heart she still overcomes her feelings. Still I Rise repeatedly uses the words “I Rise” as a way of saying she can do anything despite the hateful world that she has to face up against

            Maya Angelou’s poem, Phenomenal Woman, talked of her problem with sexism. She had constant reminders that she had to deal with this. In Still I Rise she shows this as well. In one stanza she writes “Does my sexiness upset you / Does it come as a surprise/ That I dance like I’ve got diamonds/ At the meetings of my things.” She speaks of the way someone is surprised of her standing up for herself. In her time, not a lot of women were able to do a lot of things like that back then and yet she faced sexism with pride and grace.

The main symbol in this poem is the dust and the way it rises with wind pushing it along. It also shows that wind also does some damage causing the dust to become unsettled and causing immaculate amount of dust floating around. The dust must form this dust cloud to float and rise above her struggle. It can be an example of Angelou’s way of overcoming her oppressors in life and defeating them.

            I chose Still I Rise because I loved the way Maya talked about her struggles without saying she was actually having a bad time. She also talks about her views on slavery. She talks about she sees her African American heritage as a way of showing how she should overcome her trouble. The other things I like about the poem were that it was written by a woman and just how strong she is. I liked the way she shows just how much happiness you can get from just not caring what other people think. As in her other poem, Phenomenal Woman, she also displays this self-assurance for herself and it was always truly inspirational to read just as was Still I Rise. Although the things about Still I Rise I could truly connect to were the way she brought in her ancestors struggles into a way of helping her describe her overcoming. I could connect because as an American Indian my ancestors struggled with Americans and even in today’s society we still have struggles. In other ways I could connect were also because I received remarks of racism from other people. This caused problems for me as a kid. I was ashamed of who I was and of my heritage. It was complicating being a “minority”. Maya helped me realized that I must be proud of myself.

            Angelou taught me many things from just one poem. She taught me about confidence in oneself and in your culture. The way Angelou presented herself in the poem and showed her pride gave me the insight on what a strong woman is. Poems were not one of my favorite things to read but Angelou’s poems have always caught my attention and brought more ways of thinking about imagery and figurative language. Angelou has been one of my favorite artists for years and can always relate to her which has made it better for me to understand. Still I Rise has definitely been one of my favorite poems.