Final typed and printed papers are due at the beginning of class on Tuesday. A Vocabulary test will follow.
Read the poem and annotate the rhetorical devices and
strategies the author uses throughout.
In a well-written essay explain the purpose/message of the
poem and how Maya Angelou uses rhetorical language to convey this message.
Be sure to write a thesis statement in the first paragraph
that serves as a map for the rest of your paper.
Ex. Maya Angelou uses ___________,_____________, and
________________, to establish a clear message and portray a clear purpose of
________________________ and _______________________ in her poem entitled,
Still I Rise.
Still I Rise, by Maya
Angelou
You may write me down in
history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread 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 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.
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 back yard.
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.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
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.
Sample Essay:
In order to convey her message of overcoming adversity and defying the status
quo, Maya Angelou used similes, imagery, metaphors and
rhetorical questions to
portray a defiant and
confidant persona and serve as a role model for others in her situation.
Maya wrote this poem as a way to
confront her oppressors. She illustrated her confidence and defiance against
the norms of society by using imagery that went against everything that was
typical of her time. She contradicted common opinion with phrases like, “oil wells pumping in my living
room,” and “certainty of tides” because women of color were seen as poor, weak, and worthless, but she
walked into a room with the air of authority and purpose, and according to this
poem, she challenged their preconceived notions and buried them “in the very dirt.”
Using similes and metaphors, Maya
compared her confidence, pride, and self-respect to “diamonds,” and “gold.”
She did this to show that no
matter what, she knew and understood her worth, despite the effect that her
“sassiness” and “sexiness” had
on others. She showed no concern for their discomfort at her “haughtiness,”
because she understood that she
served as a representative for all people living a similar life. She alluded to the history of the
slaves, in order to
demonstrate that she was not taking their struggles in vain, and she asked the
readers several rhetorical questions to engage them in an argument that she’d
already won. When she
asks them if “[they] want to see her broken,” she is requiring them to evaluate their motives, and by comparing
herself to an ocean “leaping
and wide,” Maya allowed
her adversity and accomplishments to be all encompassing.
She repeatedly stated the phrase, “I rise,” as this was her
most important message. She
would not be held down. She would not allow it. From the past, from the pain,
from “history’s shame,”
she would come out on
top. This poem served as Ms. Angelou’s war anthem, and she wrote it with a
fierceness and a passion that conveyed her message and proved to be an
inspiration for not only women of color, but for oppressed people everywhere.
Partner edit:
-
Highlight
the thesis statement. Does it have two parts? The “what” and “how” or “why.”
Does it adequately give you insight to the rest of the essay? Is it well
written?
-
Do
-
es
the essay transition smoothly from point to point? Is text evidence used, and
is it properly punctuated?
-
Is
there in-depth analysis of the text? Does it show elevated insight?
-
Does
the body of the essay contain paragraphs, and do each of those connect back to
the thesis?
-
Is
there a conclusion? Does it wrap up the essay effectively?
-
Comment
on the grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Pay attention to verb tenses and
appropriate context.
-
Sign
your name on the essay and return your edits and feedback to the author.
-
Re-write the essay, and incorporate any and all changes
needed.
