Still I Rise, By Maya Angelou

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Maya Angelou, the author of the famous poem “Still I Rise”, uses vivid imagery and metaphors to describe the hardships she, an African-American woman, rises above. “Still I Rise” touches on the themes of perseverance and overcoming the evils of racism. Throughout the poem, Maya Angelou describes how African Americans have been negatively categorized for so many years that its now embedded into our minds. Maya takes the cruel things once said about her and gives them a new meaning. In the poem, she finds inner peace within herself and appreciates the woman she is, an African American. She alludes to many situation African Americans been through. Like a flower sprouting from the concrete, Maya reminds us how we still to thrive in conditions that …show more content…
she says this by comparing us to the black sea, and our lives to the rising and falling of the tides. The line “welling and swelling” uses welling and swelling to mean that even in the good and bad times, the person is constantly putting up a fight, and trying to get through life. Tyler Perry, an author, and playwriter, came from a broken home. Before he was famous he was homeless and living out on the streets alone, just making enough to get by. Now he is well known for his movies and his plays. Even though life was hard, he never gave up. Viola davis , a black woman ,also had to go through many hard times in her life. She too, was on living in poverty in a rat-infested apartment. Now she has won many awards for her skills as an actress. Maya Angelou use the line “leaping and wide” to give reader an image of an ocean constantly moving which is being compared how Africa American constantly try to overcome all the struggles they had to deal with before in their past.

Unfortunately, racism still do exist and it’s hard to sway someone of their beliefs, wrong or right. I propose that instead of stereotyping each other we learn to remember that we are all human and that everyone should be treated as such no matter the color of one’s skin. In her poem “still I rise “, Maya Angelou is not only speaking for herself she is speaking on behalf of any black person who has ever been criticized for their color or put in difficult situations where there almost seems s like there is no light at the end of the tunnel ,through it all Maya Angelou reminds us that we still
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