Still I Rise – Maya Angelou
The word 'I rise' appears multiple times. What technique is this?
Repetition.
What is the poem about?
Racism
What weapon is used to kill the whale in the poem?
A harpoon filled with dynamite
How are Indigenous people described in their own land in the poem?
As strangers on their own land
What word describes a system where people must obey strict authority without question?
Authoritarian
What technique is “like dust, I’ll rise"
Simile
What technique is:
"Black, frustrated minds
Scream for release
From Christian racist moulds."
Personification
What technique is used in the phrase “like a squirt of paint”?
Simile
What sacred cultural site is shown to have been destroyed?
The Bora Ring
What term refers to the dominance of one group’s culture or ideas over others?
Hegemony
Identify and explain the symbolism in:
"Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard."
Gold Mines - wealth and self worth/value
What technique is:
"And black-white hatred sustains itself
on the rotting, putrid flesh
That once was man."
Metaphor
What effect is created by describing the whale’s death as having “some panache”?
Irony or dark humour
What does the simile “like ants” suggest about the white settlers?
They are busy, numerous, and taking over the land
What is the term for pushing a group to the edges of society and limiting their power?
Marginalisation
What is the tone of the poem?
Defiant and resilient
What does the poet suggest about racism?
What type of imagery is used to emphasise the brutality of the whale’s death?
Graphic or violent imagery
What idea is emphasised through the repetition of “We are…”?
Cultural identity and deep connection to land and tradition
What word means being set free from oppression or control?
Emancipation
What historical figure and speech is this an allusion to?
"the dream and the hope of the slave”?
What does Noonuccal mean when she discusses 'Moulds'
A symbol for racism and the archetypes that occur from it.
What is the purpose of the poem?
To critique and explore the destructive impact of the whaling industry.
What tone is conveyed in the final line “And we are going”?
Loss, sorrow, and inevitability
What term means treating people as if they are less than human?
Dehumanisation