”Still I Rise” was published in 1978 in Maya Angelou’s book of poems And Still I Rise. It is an inspirational and empowering poem about overcoming injustice and prejudice. This poem can be studied on its own for Social Emotional Learning, or can be taught as part of a poetry unit.
Create a TWIST analysis for Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise"
Storyboard Text
WHITESONLY
T - TONE
You don't belong here!
SpecialsCheeseburgerFriesHot DogSoup
W - WORD CHOICE
I - IMAGERY
You are not welcome! We are better than you are!
S - STYLE
Did you want to see me broken?Bowed head and lowered eyes?Shoulders falling down like teardropsWeakened by my soulful cries?
T - THEME
The tone of this poem is confident and strong. Each stanza addresses how the oppressor tries to bring her down, but each time she rises above. For example, "You may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I rise."
There is a great deal of figurative language in this poem, especially similes to show comparison. One example is the line, "'Cause I laugh like I got gold mines diggin' in my own backyard."
The use of similes helps the reader visualize what the poet is trying to get across. One example is, "You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like dust, I rise."
This is a nine stanza poem. The lines are uneven and the rhyme scheme changes, but each stanza rhymes in some way.
The theme of the poem is self confidence and self respect. There are examples of this throughout the whole poem, as she constantly repeats that she will rise above the oppression.