Narrative Point of ViewStill I RiseMaya Angelou

The speaker in Maya Angelou’s ‘Still I Rise’ is Angelou herself- she is a proud and strong African American woman who knows who she is. Angelou has been through a lot; the divorce of her parents when she was only three, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend when she moved back in with them after she had lived with her grandmother for four years, due to this she refused to speak for five years because she felt so guilty for reporting his crime as he was killed once people found out what he did. Also, Angelou endured racism and oppression, this is expressed in ‘Still I Rise’ as she challenges those who ‘shoot’ her with their words and ‘kill’ her with their ‘hatefulness’, this evidence suggests that she was the recipient of abuse; she wasn’t just a bystander who witnessed it. In ‘Still I Rise’ Angelou confronts those who write ‘bitter, twisted lies’ about her, those who are upset by her ‘sassiness’, ‘haughtiness’ and ‘sexiness’, in short; those who oppress her and are against her actions. Angelou defends herself against these people and assures them that she will, in fact, ‘rise’, despite what they say and do to stop her. Self-confidence shines in through the poem, telling us that this is a quality that Angelou has herself, given she’s the speaker. We can also tell that she’s very proud of what she, and indeed her culture, has achieved, and will achieve in the future, as they ‘rise into daybreak’, ‘leaving behind nights of terror and fear’, with the ‘gifts that (her) ancestors gave’.

This African American speaker (Maya Angelou) is assertive and confident with who she is. Maya uses a metaphor “you may shoot me with your words. But still like air I’ll rise”. This quote shows her assertiveness in which she expresses her thoughts and feelings in her poetry, about the racism she and other African Americans Have faced. In a way, she is challenging white people who oppressed her and influencing Negro people who have been through the same thing. She has addressed white readers by saying “did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and narrowed eyes?” Here she is challenging the white view of black inferiority and is influencing African American people, to rise above these tough times of oppression and racism like she is. It shows the speakers assertiveness and confidence. She is challenging the white’s view of black inferiority and inspiring African Americans that they are equal and can rise above this oppression.

The attitude of strength and determination crafted by the speaker is described in the poem.

“But still, like dust, I’ll rise.”She won’t give up. “But” shows there is still more to come. “Still” shows us that even though she’s been disrespected she will keep moving forward. This links to the idea of determination.

Simile gives readers something to relate to.

Dust is always there and never goes away which shows that the Black community is not giving up.

Personal pronoun lets us understand that this problem has affected her and it’s personal to her even though she is standing up for the black community at the same time. Because it has happened to her it means that she is able to speak on behalf of the black community.

Indicates that she is standing up for herself.

Full stop indicates that there is no question about her statement and it will happen.

“Leaving behind nights of terror and fear”

This represents that the speaker is determined that she will not live with this pain and disrespect any longer.

Shows us that bad things have happened but they will be changing.

This conjunction links to the idea of strength as it shows that there is more than one bad thing that has happened to the speaker, but she is strong enough to overcome them.

This shows that the speaker (Angelou) has been through a lot in the past which relates to Angelou’s actual life which means that she is expressing what she feels to let everyone know what she has been through.