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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. What words create a refrain in the final two stanzas of the poem?

2. What is the primary quality that the speaker's stanza eight description of a body of water is intended to convey?

3. What techniques are used in line 19, "’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines"?

4. How does the speaker characterize herself in line 4?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. 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?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Read Lucille Clifton's poem "won't you celebrate with me" (available online). What does Clifton mean by "babylon," in line 4? What claim is she making about oppression and triumph? How does she also use natural resources in her poem? Is her speaker's voice similar to or different from the speaker in "Still I Rise"? Why? Write an essay in which you discuss similarities and differences in the way Clifton and Angelou approach the theme of survival against oppression. Support your analysis with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from throughout both poems, and be sure to cite quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

In "Still I Rise," how does the speaker's voice impact the reader? How does Angelou manage to create a friendly, humorous tone for her speaker despite the serious and challenging message the speaker is issuing? How is the speaker's voice confident and authoritative without becoming condescending or elitist? How do the poem's diction, details, figurative language, musical devices, and rhythm work together to create this engaging voice? Write an essay in which you analyze the speaker's voice and its impact on the reader, commenting on Angelou's likely purpose in creating such an engaging voice. 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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