The poem ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou was written in 1978 and uses techniques in the text to create a particular effect. The techniques used that I am going to analyse are rhetorical questions, poetic comparisons, also known as similes and metaphors and also historical references.
Rhetorical questions are a technique used in the text to create the effect of Maya Angelou’s response to the ideas and oppression that society has forced upon the black community. Examples of this are throughout the poem but one of my favourite and the most apparent ones is in stanza four, line one and two. It states, ‘Did you want to see me broken?’ followed by ‘Bowed head and lowered eyes?’. Rhetorical questions are not meant to be answered but instead, show the acknowledgement of the ideas of others. These two rhetorical questions make the acknowledgement that society is trying to break down people of colour and make them less confident and more afraid. All the while emphasising the fact that Angelou is not going to let herself be broken by using past tense in the first of the two questions, ‘Did you want to see me broken?’.By using the past tense, it made sure to confirm the fact that the majority of the oppression and hurt that Angelou has dealt with in the past have been overcome and that Angelou is a bigger person than that and will not let it affect her. By using rhetorical questions in this poem, it created the effect that Angelou has no regards for any of the discrimination and misfortune that she and her ancestors faced and would continue to be strong and rise above the actions of others.
Poetic comparisons are used in the text to show further the oppression and also her response to the oppression in a more vivid light. All of the poetic comparisons used, including both similes and metaphors are about the hope and self-belief that Angelou has. A prime example of this using a simile from the text is stated in stanza six, line four, ‘But still, like air, I’ll rise.’ This simile compares Angelou to air and infers that she will always rise above the lowliness because air is constantly rising and will always constantly rise. Comparing Angelou to physical things is a common theme in the text and is seen many times, including in stanza one, line four when Angelou is compared to dust and also in stanza eight, line five when the metaphor, ‘I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,’ is used. This metaphor directly states that Angelou is an ocean because oceans are unpredictable and unable to be controlled, meaning that they are wild and will do as they please when they please. By using the colour black to describe the ocean it could be a hint at Angelou’s skin tone, ancestry or it could also be because the colour black is generally associated with power, strength, rebellion, authority and aggression. Angelou makes it clear in the text that she encompasses all of those attributes.
Historical references are used in the text to make the connection between the oppression that Angelou faces and the history of her culture. The first stanza of the poem is:
‘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’.
This stanza has both a historical reference and also a simile in it. The simile in the last line compares Angelou to dust and I have referenced this simile earlier on, whereas the historical reference is the first three lines is talking about the slavery that has been written down in history and how the black community is still being associated with it. Many black individuals today are being compared with their ancestor’s lives and living conditions and are being profiled to fit a mould of what society thinks they should be. Angelou says in the second line that ‘bitter, twisted lies’ are being used to describe her while she is being written down in history. This also links to stanza eight, line three, ‘Up from the past that’s rooted in shame’ because it shows again that her ancestors past is being looked down upon and that the treatment they faced and Angelou faces now, was and still is shameful and should be recognised.
In conclusion, Maya Angelou’s poem, ‘Still I Rise’, used different writing techniques in the text to create and portray the effect of the oppression faced and also how Angelou and many others choose to respond to that oppression. Metaphors, similes, historical references and rhetorical questions were incorporated wisely to show the correlation between the world’s gruesome history and the explanation Angelou applied to it. This explanation can still widely apply to today’s world because of the still ongoing disrespect used when dealing when people of colour.
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