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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 7 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which two things does the final stanza use to represent the past and present?

2. Which is the best definition for "trod" in the context of line 3?

3. Which is the first stanza of the poem that is longer than four lines?

4. In the fourth stanza, what kind of person does the speaker ask if "you" want her to be?

5. What is the rhyme scheme of the first seven stanzas?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the final stanza, what metaphor does the speaker use, and what does it signify?

2. Why is the poem titled "Still I Rise" and not just "I Rise"--what additional idea does the word "Still" convey?

3. Describe the pattern that stanzas 2, 4, 5, and 7 have in common.

4. Describe how the final two stanzas of the poem differ from the first seven stazas.

5. What oppressive actions does the speaker suggest "you" might take, and how does she say she will respond?

6. What specific historical phenomenon does the speaker talk about rising above in the final two stanzas, and what allusion does she use to introduce the topic?

7. What do all of the questions the speaker asks have in common?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Angelou's use of rhyme in "Still I Rise" relate to the broader question of how she employs musical devices in this poem? What are the purposes of the rhyme scheme? How does it group and emphasize ideas, create pace and flow, and contribute to tone? How does Angelou use other musical devices, such as rhythm and repetition, (of sounds, words and phrases, grammatical patterns, and so on), to accomplish these same objectives? Write an essay in which you demonstrate how the poem's rhyme scheme and its other musical devices work together to accomplish similar objectives. Support your analysis with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from throughout the poem, and be sure to cite quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Diamonds, oil, and gold are all valuable resources that originally come from deep inside the earth. What does this suggest about the confidence and pride that the speaker feels? What might the earth represent in these similes? Someone has to extract these resources in order for humans to use them, but not all people have access to or benefit equally from things like diamond mines, oil wells, and gold mines. What might the mines and wells represent in these similes? Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about what the speaker is using these similes to illustrate about power, resources, confidence, and race. Support your analysis with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from throughout the poem, and be sure to cite quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

How is water used symbolically in "Still I Rise"? What forms of water are mentioned? Do they all seem to function in the same way, or is water operating in more than one way in the poem? Which forms of water is the speaker herself compared to? What do these forms of water have in common? How is the idea of "rising" water in this poem contrasted with the "falling" water represented by the image of teardrops? How do common literary meanings of water figure into this poem's symbolism, if at all? Write an essay that takes and defends a position on the symbolic meaning of water in "Still I Rise." Support your analysis with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from throughout the poem, and be sure to cite quoted evidence in MLA format.

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