Belief In One’s Self – ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou.

The Poem ‘Still I Rise’ is about a black woman called Maya Angelou who has overcome oppression throughout her abusive life. In this poem she talks about the hope and self belief she needed to get through her life and rise above all the challenges she faced to become a successful black woman. 

I think Maya Angelou wrote this poem because she was sick of unfair treatment towards people of colour. She wanted to express the hatred and unfairness she has received in her abusive life through this poem.

I think that the effect of ‘I Rise’ being said five times in the last stanza is that it could resemble each of the times she has risen above the hate despite what is going on around her. I also think that each time ‘I Rise’ is said could have resembled one of the five years she couldn’t speak for. 

‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells pumping in my living room’ This simile is significant because it shows that despite all the people that have put her down in the past, she has still risen above all the hate and become a very rich and successful woman. The verb ‘laugh’ in this similie is very powerful because it is a very hopeful verb and it is there to remind the audience that she is always going to rise above that hate no matter what. 

‘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.’ These metaphors and similes show that despite how many people have tried to hurt her and put her down in the past she has still risen above the hate and come out as a better person at the end of it. It shows that she does not let other people’s hateful words tear her down and instead she uses them to improve herself to become a rich and successful woman. In these metaphors and similes words such as ‘shoot’, ‘cut’ and ‘kill’ are used as violent verbs which people have possibly tried to do to her in the past. In the final line of this quote the calmness of the word ‘air’ opposes the violence of these harsh verbs. 

‘Shoulders falling down like teardrops.’ This simile refers back to slavery in America. By including the history of African Americans living as slaves the audience feels required to reflect on all of the horrible ways that African Americans were treated. In this simile Maya Angelou is asking the audience if they are expecting to see her shoulders falling down like teardrops but instead she is rising above the racism and standing proud.