Still I Rise

Sophomore Level 1 (1021) Remote Learning Assignment ¨C Week of April 27, 2020

Analyzing a Poem

This week I would like to share one of my favorite poems with you by one of my favorite poets,

Maya Angelou. I¡¯m asking you to read the poem carefully and analyze Angelou¡¯s MAIN IDEA

(theme) as well as the way she STRUCTURED the poem in order to make her main idea clear.

This link will take you to information about Maya Angelou and her life, which you should read

first to help you understand her perspective in the poem better.

Read the poem and then answer the questions.

Look up words that you don¡¯t know before trying to analyze the poem.

Use the ¡°Poetry Terms to Know¡± handout on Schoology (Essential Handouts Folder) if you need

a reminder about a specific literary term. (e.g. Stanza)

Make sure your answers are thoughtful, cited properly, and polished for correct grammar.

Example of citing the poem: The speaker of the poem says, ¡°Leaving behind nights of terror

and fear / I rise¡± (Angelou 31-32).

Still I Rise

By Maya Angelou, 1928 - 2014

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.

5

10

15

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?

20

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 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.

25

30

35

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.

1. Now that you¡¯ve read through the poem once, what do you think Angelou¡¯s MAIN IDEA

(theme) is?

2. It¡¯s time to go back and close read the poem. Who is the speaker of the poem speaking to

(her audience)?

3. Angelou uses similes to create the images that emphasize her main idea. Quote the

simile from Stanza 1 here and describe what YOU picture when you read this simile.

4. Quote the simile from Stanza 2 here and describe WHAT the speaker of the poem is

saying about herself with this simile.

5. Quote the similes in lines 9-10 (from Stanza 3) here. Explain what those images are

about and WHY those images are an effective way for Angelou to make her point.

6. Quote the simile from Stanza 5 here and explain what this simile has in common with

the simile in Stanza 2.

7. What do you notice in common about the verbs in lines 21-23 in Stanza 6? Describe

what these three lines make YOU picture as you read them.

8. Quote the simile in Stanza 6 here. This simile has something in common with the simile

from Stanza 1 and the similes in lines 9-10 from Stanza 3. What is it?

9. In Stanza 7, Angelou creates an image with a metaphor that relates back to one of the

similes in the poem. Quote the metaphor here and explain what Angelou is trying to say

through that image.

10. Why does Angelou use imagery of ¡°nights¡± and ¡°daybreak¡± in Stanza 8?

11. Choose 1 word from the poem (a key word) and explain how we can understand the

main idea of the poem through that one word.

12. Now that you¡¯ve analyzed the poem more closely, try to explain in your own words

HOW Angelou chose to structure (craft) this poem and WHY that structure is an effective

way to make her main idea clear.

13. Write a short explanation, 2-3 sentences (longer if you want), of how the main idea in

this poem applies to YOU in your own life. In other words, if you were writing this poem,

who would YOUR audience be and why?

Optional Challenge Question 1: What is the rhyme scheme in this poem?

Optional Challenge Question 2: Find and quote at least 2 examples of alliteration.

Optional Challenge Question 3: Find and quote at least 2 examples of internal rhyme.

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