Language

The language of the poem “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou is generally informal. In the poem, the speaker addresses her oppressor in a way that sounds conversational and natural and gives the poem an overall colloquial style.

Words such as “‘Cause” (l. 7), “Diggin’” (l. 20), and expressions such as “Don’t you take it awful hard” (l. 18) convey the speaker’s casual demeanor and the confidence that she is expressing. The speaker also uses the personal pronoun “you” (l. 1) throughout the poem to directly address someone, which gives the poem a confrontational tone. Though this is not explicitly stated, the themes touched upon in the poem let us know that the unnamed “you” the speaker is addressing is her o...