By Ally Paterson 10MD
The poem “Still I Rise” is written by Maya Angelou, about an African-American woman overcoming oppression and becoming one of the most powerful people in the world. In the poem Maya Angelou she refers to slavery and how it affects people and how you can rise and become more than that.
The main idea in “Still I Rise” is overcoming oppression. Which is what Maya Angelou did. She rose out of segregation and became one of the most influential women today. She refers to her being very powerful and rich, she expresses this by using a simile to portray the idea of how successful she has become “‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells pumping in my living room”. Oil wells make you a lot of money and she is saying they are in her living room because she is doing all of this from the comfort of her own home. Maya Angelou is always referring back to the line ‘I rise”, this is because she wants to push the readers to know whatever situation you are in you can always rise from it. Maya Angelou describes herself as powerful and expresses this in some quotes such as “I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide”. This quote is saying she is an ocean and you can’t move an ocean. She is unstoppable.
One of the important ideas in the poem is slavery. Maya Angelou grew up having had her family live with segregation and the Jim Crow laws, also her great- grandmother was in the workhouse and gave birth to her daughter (Maya’s Grandmother) while she was in there. There are lots of quotes in the poem “Still I Rise” that refers back to slavery and other historic references. The first line in the poem is about black history “You may write me down in history, with your bitter, twisted lies,”. This quote means you will read about this in history books but it is written and filled with lies. “Leaving behind nights of terror and fear” she uses this quote because it gives us an idea of what living in the workhouse was like. When people were in the workhouse they got abused which is probably where she got the idea “Nights of terror and fear”.
Overcoming oppression is a big thing right now in the world with all the violence happening towards colored people. So, in my opinion, this poem is very relevant to teenagers today, because all of this hatefulness is happening and people need to know they can rise out of it and become more than they are seen in society’s eyes. “Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I rise” the stanza represents how it is certain that she will always rise no matter the circumstances, as certain as it is that the sun will rise, as certain as it is that the tides will come in and out. “Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear,” she is rising from a horrible place and moving into a brighter part of her life.
In conclusion, Maya Angelou speaks about overcoming oppression and rising from nothing. Talking about these topics shows our generation that even if we are treated badly we can still overcome all the bad things that are thrown at us.
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