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Teaching Still I Rise

Still I Rise

This poem is written with Maya Angelou herself as the speaker. She is speaking to her audience of oppressors about how she has overcome racism, criticism, sexism, and personal obstacles in her life with pride and grace. This poem is historically rooted with the mentions of slavery, a “past of pain,” and “gifts of ancestors,” however she is speaking in the present having overcome all of the hardships of her past and embarking on the rest of her journey with the knowledge that she is a strong African American woman. Still I Rise is about overcoming oppression with grace and pride, having no sympathy for the oppressors and giving to validity to the reasons for oppression.

Maya Angelou
"Still I Rise" from AND STILL I RISE: A BOOK OF POEMS by Maya Angelou, copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

How do people rise above the struggles that they encounter?
STANDARDS:
RL.1 - Meaning & Evidence, RL.4 - Key Terms & Tone, RL.7 - Diverse Media

DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE (DOK) LEVELS:

2,3
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