Hi Everyone!! This article will share Still I Rise Questions & Answers.
This poem is written by Maya Angelou. In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of Games At Twilight, My Childhood and Payeng The Forest Man of India so, you can check these posts as well.
Still I Rise Questions & Answers
Word Galaxy
- Trod – step on or stamp
- Beset – troubled
- Sassiness – impertinence
- Certainty – reliability
- Haughtiness – pride
- Soulful – sorrowful
- Welling – rising up to the surface
- Awful – nasty
Question 1: The speaker compares her determination to five things in nature. What are they?
Answer: The speaker compares her determination to the moon, the sun, air, tides and ocean.
Question 2: How does a broken person look and behave?
Answer: A broken person looks sad and gloomy and appears with bowed head and drooping shoulders.
Question 3: How does the poet describe her style of walking?
Answer: The poet walks like she has got oil wells pumping in her living room.
Question 4: What is the tone of the poem – sad or strong?
Answer: The tone of the poem is strong.
Question 5: In what sense is the speaker ‘shot with words’ and ‘cut with eyes’? Explain.
Answer: ‘Shot with words’ and ‘cut with eyes’ refer to the unstoppable spirit of the speaker where she would try to fight against injustice and come out of the sorrowful condition.
Question 6: In your own words, state the speaker’s hopes for the future.
Answer: The speaker is both angry and confident throughout the poem. She makes a mention that she will definitely rise above the cruelty suffering experienced in the past. She is sure that if tried she can face all the struggles and get back the freedom and justice.
Question 7: Read these lines and answer the questions.
(a) Why do you think the speaker’s sassiness will upset others?
Answer: The confidence and positive attitude that the speaker possesses will upset others.
(b) Who is ‘you’ that the speaker keeps referring to?
Answer: ‘You’ in the poem refers to oppressors.
(c) What does expression ‘oil wells’ signify?
Answer: ‘Oil wells’ in the poem signify the pride and confidence of the speaker despite the challenges she is presented with.
Question 8: Read these lines and answer the questions.
(a) Which expression signifies survival in the poem?
Answer: Terror and fear signify the survival in the poem.
(b) What do you think are the gifts of the speaker’s ancestors?
Answer: Dream and hope are the gifts of the speaker’s ancestors.
(c) Explain ‘I am the dream and the hope of the slave’.
Answer: ‘I am the dream and the hope of the slave’ refers to the struggles faced by the Africans in fighting for the freedom from the cruel hands of the harsh Americans.
Question 9: How does the poet end the poem?
Answer: Confident that she cannot be enslaved for long, the poet proclaims with all the moral force at her command, “I rise, I rise, I rise.”
So, these were Still I Rise Questions & Answers.