Themes of the Poem of Maya Angelou ''And Still I Rise''

Abstract

Maya Angelou's poetry becomes a call to action against injustice, rather than just a
rhythmic collection of words. Angelou seeks to challenge traditional male-centric
prejudiced representations of women through her poetry, replacing them with true, real,
and alive selves. She uses her writing to challenge and change the ideas, hegemonies, and
practices that have silenced and marginalized black women. The poem ''And Still I Rise''
is a reaction to the struggles experienced by African-American women in the long history
of oppression and discrimination in America. The differences among human beings are
the issue about race which the concept about race emerges racism. One big issue about
race is African-Americans were got the racial discrimination and they became the minority
in the United States. The researcher wants to examine the themes of the minority which
reflect in Maya Angelou's poems. The researcher chose Maya Angelou's poem since she
is the most influential African-American woman through her works, especially in poetry.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the theme of her poem ''And Still I Rise'' by
analyzing the poem to explore the themes that Angelou has talked about and to understand
the literary meaning in her work. The model used in the current study is the model of
Crystal and Davy (1969) it is concerned with permanent features of speech and writing
which distinguish someone from others as a specific person. This study concludes that the
major themes of this work are self-empowerment, perseverance, and injustice, her effort
has succeeded in raising African Americans' self-awareness by urging them to maintain
and enjoy their black culture. Angelou encourages African Americans to inherit their
African cultural history and claim their black identity by analyzing her poem "And Still I
Rise."