 Hello and welcome to a summary of all you need to know about Still I'll Rise, a poem by Maya Angelou. Now I'll explain the meaning related to this poem as it appears in the Pearson International GCSE anthology and I'd highlight the literary and language devices as well as contextual factors that you should be aware of when studying this poem. So let's get started. Now before I read into the poem it's really important to understand the contextual factors that influenced Maya Angelou when writing this poem. So Maya Angelou was an African-American poet as well as a civil rights activist and she lived between 1928 and passed away sadly in 2014. Now this is a really important period because she actually lived through the Jim Crow era. These were the worst excesses of US history whereby there were several laws that were passed especially under the Jim Crow era which legalized racial segregation, in other words racial separation in the US. It denied many African Americans things like the right to vote, hold certain job positions, these tended to be higher paying jobs, as well as the right to get a higher education in some prestigious universities. So these were known as the Jim Crow era and this area effectively stopped when the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. Of course there was a lot of pain, a lot of bloodshed, a lot of activism that had to go into this. Of course the figure that is embodied in this activism is that of Martin Luther King. So African Americans finally achieved equal rights in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. However this is equal rights on paper. Even to this day there's still a lot of unequal treatment and brutality directed towards the African-American community. So this poem really touches on that and it was published in the 1970s. So what I'll do is I'll read through select stanzas in this poem and then pause every so often and explain especially literary techniques that you need to be aware of. You may write me down in history with your bitter twisted lies you may trod me in the very dirt but still like dust I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why you beset with gloom? Because I walk like I've got oil wells pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns with a certainty of tides just like hope springing high still I'll rise. Now these first three verses or stanzas are really intriguing because it shows how defiant she feels but also by extension how defiant she feels African American community has been in the US in spite of the oppression that they have experienced through the years and through the centuries. Now the poem begins with this juxtaposition of pronouns. So you've got the second person pronoun you and this is contrasted with the first person pronoun me and of course already there's this combative experience as highlighted. Furthermore she mentions you may write me down in history and this declarative statement shows some people have the power to define and write her history. Also the reference to the abstract noun history shows the misrepresentation of African Americans historically and this is in textbooks but also the justification that went into justifying holding African Americans as slaves initially. Moreover in the second line she refers to the bitter twisted lies and these remodifiers show how historically people have mistreated African Americans in the US and again there's this repetition of the second person pronoun you and this adds a really bitter edge to the tone. She's addressing these oppressors these people who feel like African Americans and essentially black people are inferior to other races. She says that you may trod me and this is a metaphor for the historical oppression that a lot of African American surfaced. As I've mentioned not only did they come to America as slaves they also were oppressed even after slavery was abolished under the Jim Crow laws and the segregation that followed with that so of course this is all trodding them into the very dirt. However she shows that the African American community cannot be oppressed like Darstle Rise and this similarly emphasizes both her strength but also her community's strength, resilience and self-assurance. Now the second verse begins by asking this rhetorical question does my sassiness upset you and it's interesting because it's quite playful and sarcastic. She's really being sarcastic towards the person who's really upset that she's happy and joyful in the color of her skin and joyful in herself and she also uses a colloquial term sassiness to show that she really doesn't care about these people who are angered that she's so happy and then she asked another rhetorical question why you beset with gloom and this rhetorical question shows some people are so hateful especially when they see how happy she is. Moreover she talks about like I've got oil wells and this similarly shows her bold gate how boldly she carries herself she's extremely confident and this is a direct reference to the wealth of oil tycoons so she feels like just like them how they would be very bold very self assured she feels the same even if she doesn't have that kind of wealth. Also in the third verse she refers to the moons and the suns and this is celestial imagery which shows her love for herself her heritage as well as her skin color this is all natural this is all part of nature and all African Americans should be proud of who they are. Also she says just like hope's ringing high and the personification and alliteration here the hopes are springing shows she is persistent her hopes can never be taken away from her her aspiration can never be taken away from her she's not internalizing the negativity that goes when African Americans are represented both in history and in the news sometimes the news portrays them in a negative way as people who are violent but she doesn't accept that she sees herself as being part of a very beautiful culture. She then mentions and repeats the title still all rise and this repetition shows she repeats this as a mantra to herself to remind herself that she has the power to rise above all of this negativity. Do you want to see me broken bowed head and lowered eyes shoulders falling down like teardrops weakened by my soulful cries does my heartiness offend you don't you take it awful hard because I laugh like I've got gold mines digging in my own backyard you may shoot me with your words you might cut me with your eyes you may kill me with your hatefulness but still like air I'll rise 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 now pause there so she asks another rhetorical question addressing her presser do you want to see me broken and of course in many ways oppressors do want to see her broken and they want to see her have a very low self esteem. She then also refers to this low self esteem the actions that go with low self esteem bowed head lowered eyes and these verbs emphasize the sense of self-servience that her presser really wants from her. Moreover, the simile like teardrops, preferences, dejection and hopelessness that a lot of people would feel if they were in the same circumstances but she rejects this. Furthermore, she uses language related to the semantic field of sadness, teardrops, cries but she rejects having to go through this. She is happy and she owns her heritage. Furthermore, the possessive pronoun my to refer to her haughtiness shows that she really owns her happiness and she owns herself a sense of self esteem. Moreover, the mention of haughtiness shows that she's quite selfish and quite proud of who she is. She then uses the imperative sentence. Don't you take it awful hard and she orders her oppressor not to be angry. She's taking back her power using this language. Moreover, the simile and alliteration like I've got goldmines shows she feels really wealthy. Her heritage is rich and she feels really blessed to be African-American. In line 20 she uses a colloquialism dig in again here she shows that she doesn't take herself too seriously and she's quite playful. Now in the following verse she refers to very violent activity. The semantic field of violence is used when she refers to shoot, cut and kill and this is a reference to systemic racist oppression and if you even think about what's happened in America with regards to police brutality towards African-American community this is still sadly an ongoing issue and she refers to this and she says they may shoot, cut or kill her however she will refuse to be bowed she refused to be subservient. Moreover she uses a rule of three to talk about words eyes and hatefulness and this shows how society is trying to ostracize her. Society is trying to make her feel uncomfortable in her skin and she faces continuous discrimination living in America. However she shows in spite of this like air are rising the simile again emphasizes her resilience and adaptability. Also in line 25 the possessive pronoun which again is repeated my sexiness shows that she still is very proud of who she is and she owns her own attributes and her reference to sexiness shows that she really takes charge of sexuality and she sees herself as quite beautiful. Also she uses simile and alliteration referring to I dance like I've got diamonds and this shows her unbrindled and joyful energy and she refers also to her dancing like I've got diamonds at the meeting of my thighs. Now this alliteration meeting and my refers to the fuller African figures of course African Americans are descendants of Africans and historically especially when you're thinking about western ideals of beauty the African body which is fuller which is a little bit larger than say the Caucasian body shape is historically and even perhaps arguably today seen as repulsive as a little bit too large however she says that she takes ownership of her body and she's proud of her fuller African American figure. So let's carry on. Out of the huts of history's shame are rise up from a past that's rooted in pain are rise on a black ocean leaping and wide we welling and swelling are bare in the tide leaving behind nights of terror and fear are rise into a daybreak that's wondrously clear are rise bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave I am the dream and the hope of the slave our rise our rise our rise now the last two verses end in a very very powerful way now the second to last verse refers to the hearts of histories and the alliteration is a reference to the slave trade also she uses on John once speed up the pace of the poem and this is of course a dramatic monologue furthermore she repeats the term I rise and this shows that she as I've mentioned before she's repeating this like a mantra to herself furthermore she repeats the term I rise and this is almost a repetition which is like a mantra to herself she says that in spite of all of this she's going to keep on rising against all of this systemic oppression furthermore when she refers to the past that rooted in pain this metaphor refers to the trauma and suffering of the transatlantic slave trade as well as the slavery and segregation that she's faced as an African American in the U.S. Moreover she says I'm a black ocean and this metaphor represents the color of her skin as well as her vast history and the present continuous verbs welling and swelling show she has a lot of energy and vitality now in line 35 she talks about the nights of terror and fear now this metaphor is a reference to segregation and also to the racist groups that sprang up especially during the Jim Crow era such as the Klu Kloss clan known as the KKK who actually attacked lynched hung African Americans and of course also the terror and fears referring to the biased justice system which is biased against heavily punishing African Americans so it shows the real challenges that African Americans face within America also this is oxymoron knights versus day and she ends with this promise of the future now in line 39 she talks about the gifts that my ancestors gave and this is a reference to the fact that USA has historically largely relied on its slave labor to build the country so these are gifts that her slave ancestors have given she also uses the rhyming couplet gave and slave to reinforce this idea that even if her history is quite dark she's rising like a phoenix out of these ashes also in line 40 this reference to the dream it has a double meaning on the one hand of course as i've mentioned Maya Angelou was a civil rights activist and campaigner for equal rights of African Americans so this is a reference actually to Martin Luther King his speech i have a dream which of course was part of the movement for African Americans to get equal rights and led to the 1964 Civil Rights Act so actually this first meaning is that she's fulfilled the vision that Martin Luther King had about African Americans being equal seeing themselves as equal among along other races in the US however the second meaning to the dream is living the American dream and how it's defined by her so of course there's this idea of the American dream work really hard you have equal opportunities when they're in the US however of course this equality is dispelled when we perhaps see how different communities are treated however actually what Maya Angelou is trying to say here is that she's living a very specific and unique type of American dream which is defined solely by her owning herself owning her history and being really proud of who she is so that's all if you found this video useful we have a course covering all the IGCSE anthology texts as well as model answers for past papers so make sure you head over to our course and sign up for it but also check out our website www.firstreadcheaters.com where you can find lots of English worksheets courses as well as materials to help you in this and other areas of English thank you so much for listening