K. Weir
English 1020
Prof. T. M.
November 24, 2009
Still I rise: Against all Odds
Maya Angelou is an accomplished African-American author, poet, historian, and civil rights activist in the United States. Growing up in the South, she continues to face greater challenges for both being black and a woman. Most of her literary works, if not all, provide not only messages of oppression, and moments of unhappiness, but have a rich context of triumphs, resilience and hope. Angelou’s poem, “Still I Rise” can be viewed from both cultural and historical perspectives. As a source of inspiration, the poem shows African Americans and women that the human spirit can transcend difficulties. In her poem, “Still I Rise,” Maya Angelou includes sturdy themes of racial oppression, personal value, cultural pride, and fervent optimism To observation of racial oppression as a theme in Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise,” can be view from a historical perspective base on diction used through out the poem. DiYanni states, “The older form of historical criticism, still in use today, insists that a literary work be read with a sense of the time and place of its creation….Understanding the social conditions and the intellectual currents of that time and the world illuminate literary works for later generations of readers” (2166). It is not a secret that racial oppression against African Americans originates from slavery. The residue of racial oppression is not just about physical bondage, but also mental and social bondage. They drink from separate water fountains, attend separate schools. They are not even allowed to marry outside their race. It is because of such social injustices, that African Americans have the support of many civil rights fighters.
In “Still I Rise,” the speaker wastes no time to address the oppressor and the oppression of slavery that African-Americans have to endure