Rising Up in Still I Rise by Maya Angelou Essays - 649 Words

Rising Up in Still I Rise by Maya Angelou ?Still I Rise? by Maya Angelou is directed towards blacks on how to be proud of their ancestry, themselves, and their overall appearance. The poem is a special and motivating poem that African-Americans (and other races for that matter) should read and take to heart. According to African-Americans, Maya Angelou states that no matter what white Americans (slave owners) say or do to African-Americans (slaves) they can still rise up to make a better life for themselves and their race as a whole. One reason blacks should rise above their oppression is so they can better themselves and in turn make a better life for their next generation, just as their ancestors tried to do. ?Bring the†¦show more content†¦Self love and assurance are also a major component to rising above others as Maya Angelou explains in her poem. She expresses herself by saying sassiness, which means to talk to someone disrespectfully, can help a person achieve personal satisfaction that may help them take on tough situations. Many slave felt intimidated by their masters and they felt that what their masters said about them was true and without their masters they would be in a worse situation. The appearance, shape, and style of an African-American is another way that whites try to downgrade the African-American race. Many blacks in the past and the presence have a problem with their shape, hair, and overall appearance due to the way whites despised their looks. Maya Angelou is trying to help other African-Americans see the beauty within themselves and not let the hatefulness of white Americans influence how they feel about themselves by saying ?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?. Some white Americans may interpret the previous quote differently by saying they can talk to the slaves the way they want, they can give the slaves an evil look, they can also be hateful to the slaves, but no matter what the slave masters will continue to be better and rise about the slaves. In myShow MoreRelatedThe Importance of Determination Essay687 Words   |  3 Pagesthat one does not give up, and to keep trying until they successfully overcome the obstacles that stand in their way. â€Å"Mother to Son† by Langston Hughes and â€Å"Still I Rise† by Maya Angelou are two different works written by two different authors yet they both convey the same message. Together, the two authors stress the significance of pushing harder when faced with conflicts rather than simply giving up. Using figurative language and repetition, Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou effectively emphasizeRead MoreStill I Rise1036 Words   |  5 PagesStill I rise Favorite Poem Essay Maya Angelou’s poem Still I Rise is an astonishing piece of art. The reason I chose this poem is because it’s not only a poem, it’s a story. The poem is about Maya Angelou’s beliefs being a women of color about discrimination. It’s not just her personal story but a universal experience for those with an African American background. Throughout the poem, Maya Angelou uses many poetic devices to give us more in-depth meaning behind what is in the poem. These poeticRead MoreStill I Rise1705 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Still I Rise† Poem Analysis â€Å"Still I Rise† was written by Maya Angelou, who is an African-American poet. A majority of her poems are written on slavery and life as a African- American woman. â€Å"Still I Rise† is one of the many well known. She discusses how she is treated differently and refers to her ancestry and relates to events they went through during the time of slavery and the events she continues to go through during her time period of life. â€Å"This poem has been an inspiration to peopleRead MoreAnalysis of the poem Still I Rise1268 Words   |  6 PagesAn Analysis of the poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou African Americans have been oppressed for centuries. Despite this discrimination, people of this race have fought hard for their freedom and respect. This pursuit of equality is evident inMaya Angelou’s poem, â€Å"Still I Rise†. Angelou integrates numerous literary ideas such as various sounds, poetry forms, and key concepts.The poetic devices incorporated in Maya Angelou’s work, â€Å"Still I Rise†,heightens the overall effectivenessRead MoreStill I Rise by Maya Angelou Literary Analysis Essay756 Words   |  4 PagesIn the poem ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou, the poet uses repetition, metaphors and similes to express to her audience about how she has overcome racism in her life through demonstrating a strong, proud and defiant attitude to inspire others. The poet uses repetition of the word ‘rise’ to show that she has overcome and risen above racism. In the line, ‘you may trod me in the very dirt but still, like dust ill rise’ it expresses to the reader one of the key ideas in her poem, that no matter howRead MoreThe Time Period Of Transcendentalism1278 Words   |  6 PagesThese tenets I am going to focus on is: confidence, self-reliance, free thought, nonconformity, and the importance of nature. Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement in the 1800’s where people responded to the strict rules back then. They declared that they didn’t have to follow all of the rules and decided to go off of independent tenets. Many pieces of literature contain some or all of these tenets, the ones I’m going to discuss and analyze today are Still I Rise by Maya Angelou that focusesRead MoreUxt Task 1945 Words   |  4 PagesRunning head: Analysis of â€Å"Still I Rise† 1 Analysis of â€Å"Still I Rise† When reading, â€Å"Still I Rise†, by Maya Angelou, I immediately get a sense of perseverance and pride. The author seems to be addressing her adversaries directly through her words. I love the imagery used in this poem. I can almost see the dust rising and can feel the swelling of the black ocean that the author mentions. â€Å"Cause I walk like I got oil wells pumping in my living room†(Angelou, 1978), and, â€Å"Laugh like I’veRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Essay1097 Words   |  5 Pages Maya Angelou was considered numerus things during her life she was an author, poet, actor, director, singer, dancer, writer and civil rights activist. She was considered one of the most renowned and influential voices of current views. She is one of the few recognisable civil rights activist working right beside Martin Luther Jr and many other leaders including presidents. Working in the Reagan and Bush ad ministry. She wrought a best-selling auto biography â€Å"I know why the caged bird sings†. Trough-outRead MoreA Comparison of ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou and ‘No Problem’ by Benjamin Zephaniah860 Words   |  4 PagesMaya Angelou is a internationally respected, brilliant poet, and author. Maya Angelou says In all my work I try to tell the human truth, what it is like to be human, what makes us stumble and somehow miraculously rise and go on from the darkness and into the light†. This theme is consistently exemplified throughout Angelous g reatly acclaimed poem ‘Still I rise’. The poem shows us the true life story of Maya Angelous tragedies, and their dreadful conditions she had encountered in her youth. ButRead MoreMaya Angelou And Still I Rise897 Words   |  4 PagesIn â€Å"The Story of an Hour† and the poem â€Å"Still I Rise† Kate Chopin and Maya Angelou have explored the theme of oppression in a variety of different ways. â€Å"The Story of an Hour† is a short story based around how dramatically things can change within the space of an hour and how this can affect your life in the short period of time. Within the hour Mr Mallard is presumed dead in a railroad disaster, resulting in Mrs Mallard short lived ‘freedom’ after years of being oppressed, before soon learning that

Condemning The Lies By Ronald Reagan - 1856 Words

Condemning the Lies In the early spring of 1983, Americans are threatened by the looming uncertainty of a nuclear war, courtesy of the Soviet Union. The ultimate goal of the Soviet Union is to suffocate the ideology of capitalism, which of course is the support on which America is built, and replace it with their own ideology- communism. This pronounced menace also threatens all those who worship God, as communism does not support belief in a higher power. After achieving an understanding of this fact, our President at the time, Ronald Reagan, who is heavily devoted to the Christian faith, sets about exposing the dark overtones communism submits upon its subjects. Through his speech â€Å"The Evil Empire†, the Republican President inspires the American people to stand firm against the communist ideals of the Soviet Union by depicting them as a sinful, unethical country, desiring to snuff out the illuminating flame of freedom. Immediately, Ronald Reagan portrays himself as one of the common people. With his humble acknowledgement of applause and references to him and his wife, Nancy, on a first name basis, Reagan establishes a bond of similarity with the people he is speaking to. Unlike most politicians, Reagan also begins his speech with a story, a clever anecdote in which a politician finally makes it to heaven. While lighthearted, this narrative also eases the audience into feeling comfortable, even friendly with Reagan. Afterwards Reagan declares, â€Å"I don’t want to contributeShow MoreRelatedMass Incarceration : A Small Look Into Our Predicament1942 Words   |  8 Pagesbecome presidents; many of his successors would use this in their own campaigns. This included Ronald Reagan, George Bush sr., and Bill Clinton. While president Nixon called for a â€Å"war on drugs† which stated drugs as â€Å"public enemy number one† which was very prevalent in black communities during that time which basically made it a war on African Americans. Reagan took this approach even further by condemning many of the African American females as â€Å"welfare queens†, women who would take advantage ofRead MoreWhy Did Communism Fail During The Soviet Union Under Gorbachev?4960 Words   |  20 Pageswho was the head of the secret police. He also, separated the state security from other police work, delegating it to become the committee of state security or KGB and later on the MVD (Miller, 21). In 1956, after a secret speech denying and condemning Stalin as an evil leader, he introduced a campaign called de-stanilisation with the purpose to eliminate all the institutions that helped Stalin hold power. He also terminated hard labor, closed the Gulags and freed political prisoners. HoweverRead MoreImpact of Globalization and Bangladesh18126 Words   |  73 Pagesaltering the lives of people across the globe. Fast dissemination of media, books, music, internation al ideas and values has produced a somewhat global culture. Key Institutions of Globalization The main pivot of propagating economic globalization lies with certain powerful financial institutions that are solely in the hands of western countries. They include the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). These institutions, collectively known as theRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesCities: Social Conflicts and Governance (New York: Oxford University Press). 82 †¢ CHAPTER 2 Mangin, William, ed. 1970. Peasants in Cities: Readings in the Anthropology of Urbanization (Boston: Houghton Mifflin). Marcuse, Peter, and Ronald van Kempen, eds. 2000. Globalizing Cities: A New Spatial Order (Malden: MA: Blackwell). McKenzie, Roderick. 1927. â€Å"The Concept of Dominance and World Organization,† American Journal of Sociology 33, no. 1 (July): 28–42. Mumford, Lewis. 1961. The

Various Views of Knowledge Free Essays

Knowledge can be interpreted in many different ways. Some may see knowledge as learned education. Others may see education as intelligence. We will write a custom essay sample on Various Views of Knowledge or any similar topic only for you Order Now None of these perspectives of knowledge are right or wrong. Every person is entitled to their own definition, source, and use of knowledge in their lives. I view knowledge as the wisdom and insight that one may acquire over time, by personal experiences and influences in life. Most of the basic knowledge acquired by people starting at a young age is in school. As young children, we learn elementary facts such as our numbers and the alphabet. The older we become, the more facts we are taught, and the more complex these facts become. The knowledge one may learn in school is what I think of as worldly knowledge that will get people into the colleges and jobs that they may desire. The people that are abundant in educational knowledge are the people who dominate our economy and run our country. Certainly, this is one of the more important types of knowledge there are and definitely one that we could not do without, but it is not quite as important as some of the others. Education is vital in life, but mere facts cannot aid in the solution to all problems. Another source of knowledge is entertainment, such as in television, movies, books, or even music. Certain types of entertainment can even be education. For example, television shows such as â€Å"20/20† or â€Å"DateLine† are both very informative shows, but interesting enough to entertain the public. Entertainment can be tricky, though. The media can convince us, even brainwash us, to believe certain truths that may not be accurate. The television shows we watch and the music that we listen to are huge daily influences on our lives. They help shape the way we think, what we know, and what we feel. We follow the trends that television tells us are â€Å"in† and say the things that everyone says. We tend to try to model ourselves after the people on the big screen. The enormous impact that the media and entertainment industry has on the public grows daily with increasing technology. The internet is one of the newer sources of both education and entertainment. It is also fairly harmful. Many things that are banned from television and movies are easily accessible on the World Wide Web, to everyone, including children. The relationships that we have with people, whether it is co-workers, family, or friends, directly influence us with every interaction. In the workplace, the people that one may work with affect our work habits. If a person works in a busy, fast-paced office, he will be used to that type of lifestyle. But if that same person were to move to a slow-paced, lazy office, he would feel unproductive and lazy. At home, the people that we live with, our family, are our first teachers. Home is where we learn the morals and values that we, as adults, pass on to our children. Our manners and etiquette that are learned at home are what we bring into the outside world and portray to others. The knowledge and insight that we acquire from our family members are never forgotten and stay in our hearts and minds for a lifetime. I believe that the relationships one has with friends and lovers are important in shaping a person†s thoughts and actions. These are the people that we turn to in good times and bad, troubles and joys. They are the ones we turn to for advice and consolment. They are the ones that are with us in difficult situations. For example, if there is a group of friends and a few start smoking, it is high likely for all of them to begin smoking. Boy/Girlfriends, however, are a different, more intimate type of influence. Personally, every guy that I have ever dated has changed me in some way, whether it is significant or not. Through the different experiences and emotions one may feel through falling in and out of love, one learns some of the most important lessons of life. Just from falling in love once, one can learn so many things through mistakes and good choices. Love is knowing. My father is an extremely knowledgeable person. He may not be educated with diplomas and degrees, but he is educated with insight. His is a deeper knowledge that goes beyond the outside surface of people and into their hearts and souls. My father never passed high school education. The knowledge that he has acquired over the years has been purely from his own personal endeavors. I complemented him on his wisdom and he responded with this (in Korean): â€Å"I never thought I was smart. I hated school and always played tricks on fellow students and my teachers. I was a class clown. But as I grew older, I wished that I had paid more attention in my classes. It†s such a waste.† My father is a perfect example of wisdom without academic excellence. Don†t get me wrong. He is a very smart and clever man. His knowledge just was not learned by the books. â€Å"I†ve had a hard life. I think I have. There have been so many hard times. Things always go wrong. But when something goes wrong, at least you learn and can keep it from happening again. I†m smart. With old age comes wisdom, you know? With every little thing that happens in your life, you learn. As long as you keep learning, you†re okay.† I believe that knowledge is a gift. It is something that one can never have enough of. It is special and different in it†s own way in every individual. There is no bad or useless knowledge. Every type of knowledge has value, whether the knowledge is about math, cars, or even trash. Each piece of knowledge that we acquire make us into the people that we are. Knowledge is acquired not only through sights and sounds, but feelings and emotions. It is the key to life. As they say, â€Å"knowledge is power.† How to cite Various Views of Knowledge, Papers