Still I Rise

1. A metaphor is a comparison between two items. The writer suggests a similarity intended to cause readers to think about the two items in new ways. What is the effect of the metaphors in lines 21-23, 29, 33, and 40? What do the metaphors say about the speaker’s Identity? Incorporate the quoted lines or phrases into your response.

2. Enslaved Africans were transported across the ocean on ships, yet the poem’s speaker talks about the “certainty of tides” and her identity as a “black ocean.” In what ways does the ocean transform into a symbol of Survival and Resistance in the poem? Explain your ideas in an essay of at least three main points using specific imagery from the text, and trace the transformation throughout by citing lines and quoting phrases.