"Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou
Readers might thank the author for the work they have done but sometimes, the work itself requires a place to be in its own spotlight. It is common and alright to go back to the author for biographical information, but in some approaches, it is not the focus. It is common and alright to look for the historical context, the deeper meaning behind that specific text, but in some cases, these are not the things to be figured out. This paper analysis will dig deeper to the role of New Criticism in a particular literary piece. With this, the poem of Maya Angelou “Still I Rise” is going to be analyzed using the New Criticism approach. That is why, this analysis will focus on the poem “Still I Rise” wherein readers would find out how the text itself carries its own value without looking at the author’s popularity and background. According to Vigil (n.d.) “we shouldn't let the author's reputation taint our evaluation of the text.” This means that “Still I Rise” in New Criticism theory, will establish a unified interpretation of a text by only looking to its literary elements and content.
The best way to know the importance of New Criticism is through analyzing a poem. “Still I Rise” is a poem that covers the life happening of a black American woman, Maya Angelou. The speaker is Maya Angelou, as she is speaking from her own perspective and experiences as a black woman. The poem consists of nine stanzas wherein the first seventh stanzas are composed of 4 quatrains; the eighth stanza is composed of 6 lines; and the ninth stanza is composed of nine lines. Moreover, the rhyming scheme of the said poem are the following: ABCB for the first seventh stanzas, ABABCC for the eighth stanza, and ABABCCBBB for the ninth stanza. In the first stanza, the speaker spoke up about ignoring those who keep her down. She does not care what the history would bring about her, for she knew that it was full of lies. People can tread her in the dirt but if that happens, she will rise like dust. In the second stanza, she asked the question that says, “does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom?”. These questions sound humorous wherein she asked the oppressors if her tone of being sassy is upsetting. That is why, she then questioned why the people around her are jealous when she succeeds? The speaker is confident that she succeeded in life which the third and fourth lines said: “cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells pumping in my living room” symbolizes the success of her life. In the third stanza, it is obvious that she compares herself to the moon and sun as both encountered the tides. Just like the hopes springing high, the speaker will rise amidst the racist society. In the fourth stanza, she directly pointing out questions that are revealing for the people who refused her freedom. To support this claim, Spacey (2020) stated to his analysis that, the whites did not want to see a black woman rise up out of the oppression of the society and succeed. The speaker then in the fourth stanza asked if they want to see her broken, oppressed, depressed, and bitter. In the fifth stanza, the speaker continued to ask questions but in a sarcastic way. She asked if her pride does offend them then, she questioned another like “don’t you take it awful hard?” pretending that she comforts the people who resented her success. The speaker sarcastically asked those questions claiming that she has “gold mines” as her own property and laugh at those people who witness her own success. In the sixth stanza, the speaker said to the oppressors that they can throw her many words, cut her with their eyes and kill her with their hatred, still, like air, she will rise. In the seventh stanza, the speaker became more confident with her questions. She tried to drag the oppressors with her sarcastic questions. In fact, “the speaker continues her questioning of society. It becomes apparent that the speaker has placed society on trial and is now in the process of cross-examination. She knows the answers to these questions, but to ask them is to intricate the offender. She simultaneously reveals incredible self-confidence despite the oppression of society,” (Poem Analysis, n.d.). In the eighth stanza, it is the revelation how hard her life was, living in the racist society. They called slavery as a shame in the history but no matter how the past rooted her in pain, she will not proclaim herself as a loser because still, she will rise. And for the last stanza, the speaker claimed that she will leave behind the terror and fear for she will rise above it. She will rise in a day of clearly wonderful. As she remembered the gifts of her ancestors that she brought, no one can ever stop her dreams and hopes because she is a fighter from the land of slavery. Therefore, as her concluding claim, she uttered three times the word, “I rise.” Furthermore, when it comes to techniques and literary devices the author uses: anaphora, alliteration, simile, rhetorical question, and etc. “Anaphora is the repetition of a certain word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines of writing or speech,” (Study.com, n.d.). Looking back at the poem, the author presented the anaphora in the sixth stanza with the phrase “You may.” Second, alliteration, and according to HWA (n.d.) “alliteration is a technique in English writing, which involves the juxtaposed repetition of consonant sounds. In other words, in alliteration, the beginning sounds of words are repeated in a sentence.” Alliterations that can be seen in the poem are: “huts of history’s” in eighth stanza and “gifts and gave” in ninth stanza. Third, simile, “a simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different things,” (Rahayu, 2016). There are lot of similes that can be observed in the poem such as: “But, still, like dust, I’ll rise,” “’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells,” “’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines,” “shoulders falling down like teardrops” and etc. Fourth, rhetorical question, and Study.com (2015) stated that, “it is a device used to persuade or subtly influence the audience. It's a question asked not for the answer, but for the effect.” The rhetorical questions that can be seen in the poem are: “Does my sassiness upset you?”, “Why are you beset with gloom?”, “Does my sexiness upset you?”, “Did you want to see me broken?” and etc. Overall, the content, form and structure, and literary devices of the poem work together to come up with the cohesive whole.
In conclusion, “Still I Rise” was being critiqued in which it set out to define and formalize the qualities of poetic thought and language, utilizing the technique of close reading with special emphasis on the values of words and on the multiple functions of literary devices. Therefore, in New Criticism Theory, new critics believe that the structure and form, techniques and literary devices, and content of a literary piece are interconnected and it should not be analyzed separately.
REFERENCES:
HWA. (n.d.). Alliteration: definition, types & examples. Retrieved from https://www.helpwithassignment.com/blog/alliteration-examples/
Pacey. (2020). Analysis of the poem "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou. Retrieved from https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-Of-Still-I-Rise-By-Maya-Angelou
Poem Analysis. (n.d.). Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. Retrieved from https://poemanalysis.com/maya angelou/still-i rise/#Structure_and_Form_ofStill_I_Rise
Rahayu. (2016). What is simile? Retrieved from http://srirahayupku.blogspot.com/2016/04/what issimile.html
Study. com. (2015). Anaphora in literature: definition, effect & examples. Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/anaphora-in-literature-definition-effect examples.html
Vigil. (n.d.). New criticism in literature: definition & examples. Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/new-criticism-in-literature-definition-examples quiz.html
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