Still I Rise

By Maya Angelou
Repetition
The refrain and its meaning
• The refrain in the poem is the line “I’ll rise”. This further
convinces African American people to progress forward.
 Positive Mantra
• By using repetition of the positive phrase “I’ll rise,” Angelou is
contradicting and counteracting the negative things African Americans
have been told and felt about themselves.
• It promotes self belief and empowerment. By repeating it at the end of
stanzas it affirms and solidifies the messages she is trying to promote.
• It always comes back to this idea of rising and moving forward to a
positive future.
 I’ll rise → I rise
• I’ll rise becomes I rise this shows Angelou’s ideas of her rising
changing from a hope to a reality. It signifies the poem moving
forward and inspires the reader to do the same. It empowers
the reader to realise their capability of determining their own
future.
 Connotations of rise
• Has connotations of determination, strength and new life; the rise of a new
dawn and an empire etc.
• Importance: Transfers the qualities to the poem and the poet allowing readers
to feel strength.
 Relation to the poem as a whole
• Repeated refrains affect the poem as they give it strength and help reinforce
the ideas in each stanza; they return to the reader a central argument.
• The word ‘rise’ empowers the reader as it has empowered Angelou