Poetry Note Boook

Still I Rise

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 back yard.

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.

By: Maya Angelou

Literary Terms:

Rhyme Scheme: There is a rhyme scheme in a poem when a pattern established by the arrangement of rhymes in a stanza or poem. The rhyme scheme doesn’t occur in the last stanza.

The rhyme scheme in this poem is: abcb

Example: Lines 1-4

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies

You may trod me in the very dirt

Bust still, like dust, I’ll rise

Simile: A simile is when you use the words “like” or “as” to describe 2 unlike things with each other. In Lines 3and 4 the poet describes herself to dust by saying that she will rise.

Example: 3 and 4

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I’ll rise

External Conflict: An external conflict has occurred when the main character struggles against an outside force. The main character [protagonist] in this poem is Maya Angelou. Based on how the poem is written it seems like that Maya is always against on what people think and say about her. Like in Line 2 she saying that the historians […write me down in history] are lying on her bitterly.

Metaphor: A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one object or idea is applied to another, thereby suggesting a likeness or analogy between them. There are metaphors used throughout the whole poem. For instance, the metaphor used in Line24:

Example:

But still, like air, I’ll rise

This is a metaphor because she is using air to say that she will rise [that she will overcome] from people putting her down.

Dramatic Poetry: A composition in verse portraying a story of life or character, usually involving conflict and emotions, in a plot evolving through action and dialogue. This poem is and can be described as a dramatic poem because is has conflict, and emotion throughout the whole poem. The emotion depends on how you say it because if you say it with the commas that are in place, and with the other punctuation correctly then there should be no problem. When Maya read it she showed emotion.

Summary and Analysis:

Throughout the poem Maya is telling the reader how people put her down. While people are putting her down she is saying that she will rise like dust and air. Then she ask certain questions throughout the poem. Questions like, “Does my sassiness upset you?”, “Do you want to see me broken”. Basically Maya is saying why are you hating on me, but I will still rise to the top. Then during the poem Maya also says to the haters you may do this or that but I will still rise. Even though I go through things with my everyday life, I can still overcome the struggle. That is probably what Maya is trying to say to the reader. Maya feels like people talk about her, about how the way she looks and they way people view her as a person. The last stanza in the poem Maya tells the reader how she is rising from what people do