Still I Rise By Maya Angelou Analysis

Today, Maya Angelou is known as a great poet, actress, screenwriter, author, and dancer. But at one moment, her powerful voice unheard of. Her rough childhood, her parents’ divorce, and being raped by her mother’s boyfriend left Angelou overwhelmed. She and too traumatized to speak for several years. She found her voice through traveling, acting, and writing. Later on a friend discovered how talented she was and convinced Angelou to write a memoir. This memoir "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" marked history as the first non-fiction best seller written by an African-American woman. The memoir, like all Angelou's writing, reveals her essence, childhood struggles, and young adult struggles to the reader. Even after her recent death, Angelou is still celebrated as a highly regarded and compelling feministic poet. Angelou’s perseverance in all her
The tone of this poem is audacious, brazen, and powerful. The symbolism of this poem is the main character and her struggles. The main character and her struggles represent Maya Angelou and her struggles. Angelou uses her powerful rhythm and tone to write about a woman’s sexiness and unbearable aura. She challenges men and their attempt to shut down women with her lines “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?” (Angelou, Lines 25-28). Angelou uses her great writing techniques to place women upon a pedestal too great for men to obtain. She pours her struggles into her writings which produces a strong attitude and flow of emotions. “I planned to put all the things bothering me--my heavy load--in that book, and let them pass.” (Elliot). Angelou reveals to Elliot that she unloads her troubles in her poetry. She gives the reader her essence. “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou has feminist views illustrated through her tone, , and