Keana Bethel Bethel 110

Ms. Jacobs

Freshman Comp 2Freshman Comp 2

Ms. Jacobs

October 26, 2017

Still I Rise Formatted: No underline

Formatted: Font: Not Bold, Not Italic, No underline
In the poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou, I have chosen tone and speaker as my

two elements. I chose the two because they have a relation to one another. Tone is based

off of the kind of language the speaker upholds in the poem. It is an expression as I

showing someones real feelings. The tone of this poem could have an audience to believe

she may have been in a place of hurt and pain. Even though she may use words such as kill,

cut, hatefulness, etc. it still has a hopeful ending. Comparing the two comes with a true

relation because the tone is dictated from the speaker. Maya Angelou is the author and

speaker of her own poem. When you are writing your own poem, and you are basing it off

of your own personal life, you set the tone of the poem. Depending on the situation that

you may be referring to, you will notice the tone of the poem. Some poems are harder to

compare the two because when you are not the speaker of the poem, its different having

to set the tone of a poem. As I continue my paper I will elaborate on the tone and speaker

of the poem and show what the comparison of both are and what relation they hold with

each other.

Maya Angelou uses an uplifting an determined tone in her poem. Throughout the

Poem I notice that she believes in the betterment of herself. Some areas of the poem may
seem like a dark moment but when you continueing to read the poem it shows that she is

Keana Bethel Bethel 2

Ms. Jacobs

Freshman comp 2Freshman Comp 2

Ms. Jacobs

October 26, 2017

comparing what bad that happens always has a good in the end. You may shoot me with

your words, you may kill me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, But still

like air, Ill rise. The word kill is used as a term of showing that Maya Angelou went

through a lot in her life, but in the end you still believe that you have risen above what

knocked you down. In the poem shese is inferring that she will overcome anything with her

self esteem. Her poem is based around self respect and confidence. Shes confident in

being who she is and achieving her goals. The tone of the poem sometimes sets the mood

of the situation throughout the poem. After finding the tone and analyzing the situation

and poem, it makes it easier to find out the speaker of your poem.

Every poem that is written is not always written by someone else. The poem Still I

Rise, was written by Maya Angelou herself. She also was the author of her own poem.

While reading through the poem, you will notice that she uses the word me throughout

ever stanza of the poem. You may write me down in history, with your bitter twisted lies.

She takes ownership for what she went through. Every line of her poem is based off of an

expression of what she may have went through. Being the speaker of your own poem

sometimes mean you write your poems according to your life personally. When you are the
audience of a poem and notice the speaker is the writer and wrote her poem based off of

personal situation you start to compare to yourself. Sometimes when reading through this
Keana Bethel Bethel 3

Ms. Jacobs

Freshman Comp 2Freshman Comp 2

Ms. Jacobs

October 26, 2017

poem, you may come across the speaker not always being what the poem is pertaining to.

Still I Rise could be based off of personal or Maya Angelou trying to give hope for her

readers. Maya Angelou was a powerful woman. She wrote this poem out of realizing and

seeing more through every situation she faced.

Throughout my paper you will notice the comparison between tone and speaker.

Dealing with a poem that was written by the speaker made it easier to create the tone.

Maya Angelou expressed her self in a way to help she what she truly felt in her poem.

Maya Angelou wrote this poem out of confidence. Throughout her poem she continuously

uses me to show the reader the poem isits personal. Being the speaker of the poem only
means you

wrote the poem based off of inner feelings. Sometimes we have to make sure we are

comparing the story the write way. I chose speaker and tone because they are based off of

the same information. Maya Angelou created an inspiration through this poem and being

the speaker to show the readers what confidence really is.