English Paragraph Writing Final Draft

The speaker in the poem “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou is able to continue rising despite
the problems she faces due to her perseverance and ancestral relations. Firstly, her perseverance
is established by her refusal when things don’t meet her expectations. Throughout most of the
text, the speaker describes many situations where she has been suppressed as a black woman.
This sort of oppression has been affecting her either physically or psychologically and yet, she
only thinks about recovering and rebounding the very next line. Moreover, the author states,
“Does my haughtiness offend you?” depicting her arrogance towards the racists who repeatedly
insult her throughout the poem. This shows that even when being frequently degraded, she
expresses disinterest while leaving them irritated. Furthermore, as a black woman living in
America, she has probably suffered from some form of racism due to America’s systemic racism.
This is because it is believed that it is her duty to establish equality and put an end to the racism,
that has been bestowed upon her by her ancestors who in turn, have also persevered to achieve
this large feat. The following line “Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and
the hope of the slave” seems to illustrate her metaphorical similarities to the last resort to end
racism as the wish that every previous ancestor has hoped for. Additionally, as the hope and
dream of the slave, abandoning this hope would be a dishonorable action towards both herself
and her ancestors. All the work and suffering they have gone through would have ended up
meaning nothing with no impactful change to the racism situation if she does not endure and
persevere towards it. Moreover, the quote “Up from a past that’s rooted in pain, I rise” suggests
that even though she has suffered, giving up would cause tremendous agony as all her ancestor’s
hard work would not have achieved anything tremendous. Thus, the speaker in the poem “Still I
Rise” is capable of continuing to rise due to her perseverance.