She constantly uses rhetorical questions throughout the poem, “Does my sexiness offend you?” Not only is she constantly engaging with the reader but her witty, intelligent questions also show she isn’t ashamed of herself, she is equal if not better than everyone else. Her powerful use of repetition adds impact to the poem, as the word “rise” floats through the determination to rise against discrimination against her colour gets stronger.
Angelou creates metaphors and uses imagery to reflect upon the sadness black people have suffered over the many years, “Shoulders falling down like teardrops”, but she then goes on to use the word “haughtiness” suggesting she has masses of confidence in herself showing that she is no longer going to walk around with her head down and shoulders falling, nothing will drag her down. She also uses similes, “That I dance like I’ve got diamonds at the meeting of my thighs?” She chooses to use the most powerful, expensive, sparkling beautiful piece of jewelry to yet again enforce the amount of self- assurance she has in herself. She then goes on to use an extremely powerful metaphor to describe herself as “…a black ocean”, showing the strength and power, by using hyperbole, leaping out of her.
“Leaving behind nights of terror and fear” As she begins to come to an end the positive tone starts to bounce back in, she explains even though her and her family has suffered and to be made to feel smaller than others, she doesn’t cry and moan. She uses everything she has been through to maker her stronger. Ultimately she uses repetition “I rise”, by repeating those two simple words she sums up her whole personality and what she is all about, no matter what she will rise through it. As the words float off the page, it is as if she is inviting us to come with her to stand up for out rights and form barrios against racism and discrimination.
Maya Angelou inspires me to stand up for what I want, to go where I want, and to be what ever I want to be. She reassures me that no matter how hard things get, no matter if I’m at the bottom I will rise up past those who are putting me down. “Still I Rise” is an extremely moving and inspiring poem that will always pick me up when I’m down.
In the poem “Search for my tongue” Sujata Bhatt writes about the “tongue” in both ways at once. To lose your tongue normally means not knowing what to say, but Bhatt suggests that we can lose our tongues in another sense. The speaker in this poem is obviously the poet herself, in light with “Still I Rise”, but she speaks for many who fear they may have lost their ability to speak their mother tongue for themselves and who have forgotten about their culture.
Bhatt has decided to set the poem out in free verse as the poem has a conversation tone to it “You ask me what I mean...” the conversation explodes through the paper as Bhatt becomes more intimate with the reader. Where as Maya Angelou uses free verse to tell what her and her family have been through in story form.
She explains this with the image of two tongues mother tongue Gujarati, and her second tongue English. She argues that you cannot use both together. She suggests, that if you live in a place where you must “speak a foreign tongue” then the mother tongue will “rot and die in your mouth”. As if to demonstrate how this works, Sujata Bhatt writes lines fifteen and sixteen in Gujarati, followed by more Gujarati lines, which are given in English as the final section of the poem. For readers who do not know the script. By using phonetics, the major feature of the poem which leaps off the page, she forces readers to be in her position of not using their mother tongue. To enforce the way she feels about not being able to express herself she uses an unpleasant tone change and natural imagery, “…rot and die in you mouth until you had to spit it out” However Bhatt has a dream and in light with “Still I Rise” she finds out anything is possible, her mother tongue begins to grow back as she slowly starts to speak Gujarati. Bhatt also lets us come into her powerful dream because of the use of phonetics. With the use of Gujarat in “Search for my tongue” and with the strong bouncy rhythm in “Still I rise” both poems scream to be read out loud.
“It grows back, a stump of a shoot” Like Angelou, Bhatt also uses nature to bring out the uplifting tone of the poem. She conveys the idea that nature is certain, the rain will always come back in April and the sun will always come back to shine in June. She then uses positive repetition “… the bud opens, the bud opens…” bringing an energetic flow into the poem the use of repetition also adds excitement and tension building to an immensely powerful metaphor “It blossoms in my mouth”. Sujata Bhatt finishes the elevating moving poem on a high note. Angelou and Bhatt explore both the ups and downs of their lives but both of the poets end their poems with them defeating their problems and worries and standing up for their rights.
