Isabella Soper- 10MD
Describe how techniques have been used in the text. Explain how these techniques have been used to create a particular effect.
Still I Rise
In the poem ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou, techniques are used to create the effect of strength in the face of oppression. In order to create this effect Anglelou has used multiple different techniques including rhetorical questions and direct address, similes and metaphors and repetition.
Rhetorical questions and direct addresses are used throughout the poem ‘Still I Rise’. Both these techniques are used to engage and accuse the reader. Maya Angelou has used rhetorical questions in this poem to express her confidence and strength. ‘Does my sassiness upset you?’ is an example of not only a rhetorical question but also direct address. This question makes it sound like Angelou is asking you as the reader if you’re jealous of her confidence and strength. She has also directed the question at you by putting ‘you’ at the end. The quote, ‘You may write me down in history’, along with the previous one is directly addressed at you making you as the reader feel targeted. This is exactly the effect that Maya Angelou was going for. Angelou has used direct address to make the reader think about what they have done as part of society and to address the fact that almost all black people have experienced racism directly. This sort of racism still happens today and black people are still treated horribly all over the world but especially in America. An example of racism in America nowdays is the murder of George Floyd, a black African American that was killed by police officers this year after he was suspected to have used conterfit money. I think that society needs to become more aware of the pain and grief they are causing by discriminating against blacks.
Similes and metaphors have been used a lot in the poem ‘Still I Rise’. The effect of similes and metaphors is to allow the reader to envision something that is happening or to understand emotions more deeply. Maya Angelou has used them to convey the range of emotions throughout the poem, including sorrow and strength. ‘Just like moons and like suns’ is an example of a simile, the effect of this simile is to show that Maya Angelou will never stop rising just as the sun will never stop rising and the moon will never stop shining. There is only one metaphor in ‘Still I Rise’ and it is one of the most powerful lines in the poem, ‘I’m a black ocean’. This metaphor is significant because Angelou is telling us she is like an ocean; unstoppable. It also shows how highly she rates her own power and like no one can stop an ocean, no one can stop Maya Angelou from rising. Another person that has had similar experiences to Angelou and has become a very successful person is Barack Obama. He also experienced racism as a child and he was growing up. He felt as he got older people feared him for being a black man and as he walked down the streets he would notice all the doors locking around him. He did not let this stop him though Obama ended up becoming one of the most successful presidents of the United States.
Repetition in ‘Still I Rise’ is used to emphasize a theme which is one of rising, strength and empowerment. An example of repetition in the poem is ‘you may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness.’ At the beginning of each statement ‘you may’ is repeated which along with repetition is also a direct address. The effect of this is to accuse you as the reader and it forces you to be part of the dialogue and to look within yourself and ask what your relationship with oppression is. A second example of repetition in this poem is ‘I rise, I rise, I rise.’ Angelou repeated I rise three times in a row to emphasize the countless times she has had to rise. Society has constantly knocked her down and yet she has risen up every time. This repetition was used in the last stanza which was one of the only stanzas in the poem that had more than four lines. The whole of ‘Still I Rise’ followed the quatrain structure except the last two stanzas. Maya Angelou broke the structure of her poem just like she broke the structure of society, everyone told her she belonged at the bottom of society yet she rose up straight to the top.
In conclusion, Maya Angelou used the techniques of rhetorical questions and direct address, similes and metaphors and repetition in the poem ‘Still I Rise’ to create the effect of strength in the face of oppression.
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