Iva L.

asked • 11/15/14

Something in common - this two poem, "Phenomenal Woman" and "Still I Rise" written by Maya Angelou.

anything in common in this two poem, "Phenomenal Woman" and "Still I Rise" written by Maya Angelou. I found it very difficult to understand.

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Matt H. answered • 11/15/14

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Hi Iva--
 
You can use either of the themes below, but I'm going to leave it to you to go back and find examples. (They're easy to find in both poems...)
 
The themes I found are STRENGTH and PRIDE. In both poems, she's very strong--she WILL NOT be intimidated, but tells the reader that THEY might be intimidated by that strength.
 
Maya didn't mess around. Her poems will smack you in the face and demand your attention. She was awesome.
 
Go dig into both poems and look for examples of those common ideas. You won't have to dig too far.
 
Enjoy, and good luck with the assignment.
 
Matt in New York
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Iva L.

Matt, thank you so much. I think the theme for both poem is about she feels confident about herself (being black and being a woman), but not sure about it. Also, it seems no matter other people say or feel about her, she just want to be herself. Is that right?
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11/15/14

Matt H.

Yes, Iva, I would agree with both of those things.  Nice job! And not only does she want to be herself, she is not going to apologize for it, and she doesn't care what anyone thinks. She is strong, confident, unafraid, comfortable with her gender and her definition of femininity. In a way she is almost invincible.
 
She's amazing...
 
All best,
 
Matt
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11/16/14

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