You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops.

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

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.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

Question 1. How are the figurative language used in the poem? Give the specific word(s), explain what type of figurative language it is and why the poet chose to use this figurative language?

Ans: "Shoulders falling down like teardrops" is an example of simile used to describe the sadness. "I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide" is an example of metaphor whereby the author describes herself as a black ocean. "You may shoot....You may cut...You may kill..." is an example of repetition which is used to express how much someone hates the author.

Question 2. Tell us why you like this poem in no less than 100 words.

Ans: I like this poem because it gives me the images in the mind of the black slaves standing up for themselves, or, in other words, rising up for themselves against the whites. The author is not content with the way the black slaves are treated and has a cheerful nature which I can see from her saying "'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells, pumping in my living room...'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines, diggin' in my own back yard." She is also very optimistic because she states that she would rise whenever someone does anything bad to her and she would "bring the gifts her ancestors gave" and be "the dream and the hope of the slave".