‘STILL I RISE’ Poem

Read the following poem and respond to the questions appropriately.

‘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 certainity 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 tear drops.
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 backyard.

You m,ay shoot me with your word
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Out of the hurts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I raise
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 day brake that is wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my
Ancestors game,
I am the dream and the
Hope of the slave
I rise
I rise
I rise

Adapted from: Maya Angelous’ STILL I RISE (1978)

1.    With support from the poem, briefly explain what the poem is about.  (3 marks)
2.    Identify three challenges that the speaker in the poem contends with.   (3 marks)
3.    What is the attitude of the speaker towards these challenges?  (2 marks)
4.    Identify and illustrate figures of speech from the poem above. Comment on their effectiveness.  (4 marks)
5.    Other than the style in (4) above, identify and illustrate other two stylistic devices employed by the poet. (4 marks)
6.    Explain the meaning of the following phrases as they are used in the poem. (3 marks)
    a)    ‘Cause I laugh I’ve got gold mines
    b)    ‘But still, like dust, I’ll rise’.
    c)    I am Black Ocean, leaping and wide.
7.    Supply the following sentence with the correct question tag.  (1 mark)
    I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

‘STILL I RISE’ ANSWERS

1.     ‘Still I rise’ is a poem about the history of the African – American people’s defiance✓1 towards the oppression meted to them as slaves and blacks✓1. The subject matter can also be universal notion of triumph/defiance of downtrodden in oppressive regimes. Then persona talks of I’m Black Ocean, leaping and wide. Also talks of him/her being the dream and the hope of the slave.
2.     The speaker is hated passionately; you may kill me with your hatefulness.
    The speaker and his/her likes the segregated financially (resource wise) the speaker writes of ”I walk like I’ve     got oil wells” pumping in my living room.
    (life)
    The speakers in the whereabouts (life) are misrepresented twisted and even falsified to negate his/her     existence/status.
3.     Attitude of triumph/optimism/hope. Optimistic attitude/hopeful attitude. The persona talks of ‘rising’ I’ll rise amidst all these setbacks.
    She describes herself as the black ocean, leaping and wide…… meaning that she sees herself mighty and strong like an ocean.
4.     Imagery
    1.     Similes: but still, like dust, I’ll rise-shows how easily she will rise; cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines, digging in my
         own
    backyard shows that through her oppressors might think they have ended her by subjecting her to poverty, still she walks like she has all the wealth in the world!
    2.     Metaphors; I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, welling and swelling I bear. This powerful metaphor             reveals the overcoming oppression/the strength of the speaker as a black person/the positivity.
5.     i)     Rhetorical questions.
        Does my sassiness upset you?
        Why are you beset with gloom?
        These and other questions prod the readers to deeply consider the strength/positive energy/hope that the speaker
        possesses.
    ii)     Repetition
        I’ll rise
        Still I’ll rise
        The above phrases have been repeated severally to highlight the speaker’s optimism
6.     a)     ‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines’ this shows her happiness that is expected to be possessed by             extremely wealthy.
        Though she has been.
    b)     ‘But still, like dust, I’ll rise’ describes the ease at which she will rise. Almost effortlessly!
    c)     I am a black ocean, leaping and wide. Describes the strength/the night that she possesses as a black woman.