Reading poetry- Still I rise 18-11-2020

• Engels
• MBO
• Studiejaar 1-3

Literature class

Today  I will introduce you guys to poetry, discuss a few literary devices and we are going to analyze our first poem.

Poetry

According to google it means: "literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature."

Also known as a way for people to express emotions and ideas and connect with others. 

Why poetry?

To understand poetry you have to analyse it from different views ans perspectives that you usually don't do with other texts. 

What is a methaphore?

When you use a metaphor, you make a statement that doesn't literally make sense. For example, "Time is a thief." Time is not actually stealing from you, but this conveys the idea that hours or days sometimes seem to slip by without you noticing. Metaphors only make sense when the similarities between the two things being compared are apparent or readers understand the connection between the two words

Poem by Maya Angelou

She was a poet, actress, singer and a civil rights activist. 

Her poems are called the anthem of African-Americans. 

Still I Rise- Maya Angelou

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46446/still-i-rise

What kind of feeling do you get when reading this?

What do you think it is about?

00:07

What does she mean with "You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,"

00:57

What kind of attitude is she trying to portray?

01:10

How do these lines link up to our current situation in our society?

01:34

Stanza eight analysis

"Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide"

Slavery mentioned as history's shame. Coming from a past filled with pain.

Ocean is a powerful source of nature with waves falling, because of an opressor,  but always rising up again. 

02:04

Why is she the hope of her ancestors and the slaves?

What is the whole essence/purpose of this poem?

Thank you for today and see you next week!