How Do Maya Angelou and Grace Nichols Communicate What It Means to Be a Black Woman in Todays Society Essay Example for Free

How Do Maya Angelou and G run Nichols Communicate What It Means to Be a menacing Woman in Todays Society EssayHow do Maya Angelou and G incline Nichols communicate what it means to be a contraband fair sex in at presents federation? In this essay I volition comp be two poesys. The two numberss I go forth comp atomic number 18 is Maya Angelous Still I bear to G hasten Nichols Of course when they ask for poems close the realities of Black women. I work proscribed Maya Angelous Still in airlift has a rather different message to benignity Nichols poem. I r whollyy they be interest to compare beca employ Maya Angelo is astronomical awake and spirited intimately writing a poem astir(predicate) how real gloomy women are and how it is to be a dense cleaning woman in todays society. W here(predicate)as, Grace Nichols is to a greater extent than disgruntled and irritated about writing her poem. The first poem I will scrutinize is Maya Angelos Still I rise. The ti tle Still I rise shows strength and optimism as it is a short plainly firm meaning title. It means that Maya Angelou will always defend herself. It get under ones skins you feel no matter what you do to Maya Angelou she will exactly pull back back up once to a greater extent. This makes you believe that Maya Angelou is a strong psyche.In the first euphony, Maya Angelou starts off using an accusatory t hotshot when she says you may spell out me d experience in report with you bitter, twisted lies. This gives the impression that she is lecture to white batch when she says this. I cogitate this means she doesnt exchangeable what white pack sacrifice wrote in their memorial books about moody peoples old as it is over exaggerated and a lot of lies. Near the end of the first verse, she uses the simile but still wish well dust, Ill rise. This is once again reinforcing the idea that she is a strong relentless woman.By using this simile she is a equivalent comparing her self and her race to dust and this suggests that you merchantmant get rid of obscure people and that they are everywhere you go, as dust is hard to get rid of and it is everywhere as you cant control or capture it. In the blink of an eye verse, Maya Angelou is more lively and spirited when she says Does my sassiness up define you? This suggests that she is getting more confident as she progresses by dint of the poem. She likewise uses two rhetorical questions to grip the readers attention why are you be act with sullenness? Also, in the second verse she shows more confidence when she uses the develop cause I walk like Ive got oil wells pumping in my living room. The use of informal language cause shows this. This phrase withal makes me deliberate that she feels hefty, rich and important. In the third stanza, she uses a lot of similes such as on the dot like moons and like suns I speculate she has put this simile in because it is indwelling imagery and she wants shame ful people to be described as this because it is non only a part of nature but the sun and moon are beautiful vital to the world.In the next line she continues with the natural imagery by saw With certainty of tides. This is also natural imagery as she is comparing the black race with tides. I think she chose to use the natural imagery of tides here because non only is it once again vital to the world but it also creates a sense of power as tides and waves are incontrollable, powerful and constant and waves always come back so I think maybe she was also difficult to reinforce the idea that she and her race are strong. However in the fourth verse, she stops using natural imagery and changes into an interrogative mode when she says did you want to see me broken?Bowed head and lowered eyeball? present she uses negative lexis such as broken to create an image of a typical striver to the reader. I think she does this here as she wants to show people that herself and her race are not slaves and that you should not dwell on their past and think of them as slaves. In the fifth stanza, its more about her culture when she uses the simile cause I laugh like Ive got gold mines I think she is implying here that she is not rich in wealth but she is rich in culture and in spirit.I think this changes the atmosphere to a more relaxed mood as she is embracing her culture. Also, when she says diggin in my knowledge back yard it gives you a sense of black soulful language and reinforces the feature that she embraces her culture and language. However, in stanza six, it is a more scratchy verse as she uses an accusatory tone once again. She creates an atmosphere of hysteria and annoyance by using onomatopoeia and harsh sounds such as cut and kill. I think this was put in so people would remember the way white people case-hardened slaves and how knock-down-and-drag-out they were towards them.I think she is trying to give an insight of how it must contain felt to be a slave and make people feel guilty for treating them so unfairly. At the end of this verse, she repeats herself But still, like air, Ill rise. I think she does this to not only make people believe she is a strong, black woman, but to also make the poem memorable for the reader and make it stand out. Also, when she uses the simile like air it makes you think that you cant hurt her because she is like air and you cant cut or hurt air.I think air was a good simile to use here because air rises and I think Angelou was implying that she will rise above all expectations people go through for her, black women and black men. Also, by using the word air Maya Angelou is trying to indicate that herself and the black race are straight free as black people are now free from slavery. In the seventh stanza, the atmosphere changes and you can see Angelous pride in her culture and race. I think Maya Angelou is trying to create a different image for black women as she says does my sexiness up settl e you? . This suggests that she is trying to make a new image for black women that is sexy and more elegant because onward they were seen as only slaves. In the third and fourth line of this verse, she says that I dance like Ive got diamonds, at the meeting of my t in high spiritss. By using the word diamond she is implying that black women are rare, precious and unsound as those are the main characteristics of a diamond. I think she is suggesting black women should be treasured and unplowed safe as they are too precious to lose.In the last stanza, Angelou breaks free from the previous set structure of the quatrains and its a more symbolic structure it does not have a ensample to it. I think this is because it is supposed to imitate the slaves breaking free. Also, it has a random lay out and I think this is reinforcing the idea that you cant capture black people like slaves anymore and that black people shouldnt be treated unfairly anymore. The last verse also has more qualifica tion to it as it speeds up more.I think this is because when black people broke free from slavery they were lively and more spirited and had more pride in their culture and race. Also, in the last verse, Angelou uses metaphors instead of similes now such as Im a black ocean, leaping and wide. I think she changes from similes to metaphors in this verse because she has gained more confidence and pride. It has also become a more happier, lively verse again as she uses more positive lexis such as daybreak and wondrously clear. This is because she is felicitous and proud of being black and wants black women and men to be comprehend as happy and lively.She has not only broken free from the quatrains in this last verse, but she has also broken free from the AB rhyming sentences and is now using rhyming couplets as well as repetition of the words I rise, I rise, I rise to show confidence, power and pride of what it means to be a black woman. Overall, throughout the whole of the poem, I be lieve that Maya Angelou was trying to change the intuition of black women and make black women feel as confident and as proud as Angelou does of being black. Throughout the poem Angelous tone differs.As in the beginning, although she started with an accusatory tone, she went on and used positive lexis such as hopes springing high this then changed from a interrogative mood to a more lively and spirited atmosphere. However, as the poem continues she starts to use negative lexis again and the interrogative mode re-appears making the poem seem more harsh to the reader, although, when you read on the poem ends in a more lively and happier tone as she uses more absolute phrases and starts to use metaphors rather than similes now Im a black ocean, leaping and wide.Angelous use of sound imagery is interesting as she makes the reader imagine not only pretty, natural images, but harsh, cruel images as well. For instance, Just like moons and like suns and Shoulders falling down like teardrop s. I think she does this so we all can see what she wants black people to be comprehend as and also what black people used to be perceived as. Overall, I think Maya Angelou wrote this poem to change the perception of black women in todays society. The second poem I will analyse is Grace Nichols Of course when they ask for poems about the realities of black women.This is a poem with a middling different message. Whereas, Maya Angelous poem was overall lively and spirited, Grace Nichols poem takes on a more sarcastic side of what its like to be a black woman, compared to a white woman, in todays society and how she feels about being asked to keep open a poem on what its like to be a black woman. The heading of Grace Nichols poem Of course when they ask for poems about the realities of black women shows a sarcastic side as she has put realities in inverted commas.This gives you the impression that she doesnt want to write this poem as black women are no different from white women or any other race. The first verse of the poem starts with what they really want at times is a specimen whose heart is in the dust. When she uses the word they in the beginning I think she is talking about white people, racists and those that misunderstand her race. Also, when she says the word specimen it makes you think of a different species something that needs to be studied. I think this is what she feels racists think of the black race.When she refers to whose heart is in the dust this makes the reader believe she thinks people pity her race. When she says a mother-of-sufferer she is referring to ancestors of slaves and this then links to trampled/oppressed which is the typical slave image. Shes is saying here that they, meaning white people or people that misunderstand her race, want a slave to write a poem about how it is to be a black person living in todays society. Grace Nichols then moves on and says they want a little black beginning unappareled and validation for the a bused stereotype already in their heads.This means that racists want a black, under attack(predicate) person to be proof for the typical slave image, thats a black stereotype, in their minds. When she says black blood she is implying that black people are completely different to any other race and even have different blood, even though black people are no different from white people. She is also implying, when she says For the abused stereotype already in their head, that the stereotype has been put into peoples heads by white, biased history books.When she says, in the next verse, a perfect song she is referring to someone that is proud of their race and would like to write a poem about being black, for example Maya Angelou. Within the next hardly a(prenominal) lines, Grace Nichols talks more about how not all black women are the same and how they cant be categorised. When she says I say I can write no poem big enough to hold the essence. This means she cant write one poem for bl ack people or any other race as there are too many a(prenominal) personalities and individuals to put them all into one category.When she says of a black woman or a white woman or a green woman she is then showing her sarcasm again when she says green woman as you cant have green women and what she is trying to say is that we are all make up . And there are Black women and Black women this is once again reinforcing the idea that there is not just the black woman. There are different types of black women and they are not all the same and are individuals. In the next line she uses a very good simile when she says like a tell apart sky of rainbow spectrum.I love this simile as she is saying that there isnt only one colour black and that when you put all the different colours together it makes something beautiful, such as a rainbow. She is also using natural imagery here and it makes you think of how special black people are to this world. As you go on in the poem, she uses the well known phrase dont seek a book by its cover very well as she says touch a black woman you mistake for a rock and feel her melting down to fudge.I think this is implying the phrase dont judge a book by its cover as it is saying if you insult a black woman when you think she has thick skin she could really be vulnerable inside. In her poem, she does not only talk about different types of people and race, but she also introduces the fact of the different types of language. If need be well trade a piece-a-pussy. Here she uses her own language of Creole and mixes Caribbean slope with English to create a sense of her own Caribbean culture and how proud she is to be black and have her own, unique culture.Also, during her poem, Grace Nichols refers to some famous black women as she says and there are black women so dangerous in South Africa they prison them away. Here she is talking about Winnie Mandela, Nelson Mandelas wife. She also refers to Maya Angelou throughout her poem as she says and there are black women strong and eloquent and focused. Here she talks about Maya Angelou and how proud she is of her race. However, at the end of the poem, she ends on a positive note as she says the twisted self-negating history weve inherited.I think this means even though they see their history as twisted and cruel, she wants black people to focus on the present and make their history better(p) than that of the ancestors that were slaves. She also says crushing out with each dancing step. This shows me that she wants to crush out their past history and therefore ends on a positive note. Overall, throughout the poem, I think Grace Nichols was trying to make black women proud of their culture and race and that they are no more different than white people or any other race.I think Grace Nichols didnt have a set structure for the poem as it is sporadic and a random layout. I think she did this because there is not a set pattern for black women and that the layout represents this . Also, the layout is random and unique and thats what she wants black women to be perceived as instead as being in a set pattern and categorised. Grace Nichols repeats some(prenominal) thing throughout her poem. of a black woman or a white woman or a green woman is repeated a lot to emphasize the point that all races are equal and it doesnt depend on colour for how we are treated.She also repeats the phrase crushing out with each dancing step to make her point that you shouldnt judge people by their past and that you should forget about you and your ancestors history and create new history. I think Grace Nichols used Creole to emphasize how she is proud of her culture and that black women should be proud as well and celebrate their own culture. I think these poems differ in messages and tones as Maya Angelous poem still I rise her message is that black women should be proud about their culture and to be black and that Maya Angelou wants to change the perception of black women so t hat it is not the typical lave image but it is more sexy and elegant.Also, I think Maya Angelou was lively and spirited throughout most of her poem, although she had some accusatory tone and interrogative mode. However, Grace Nicholss message was different from Maya Angelous as Grace Nichols wanted black women to be treated fairly and equally as any other race are and that she doesnt think its overcompensate to define black women all in one category. Also, she didnt think it was right to be asked to write a poem about how black women feel living in todays society as it is no different from any other race woman.Grace Nicholss tone throughout was mainly accusatory and angry. In some ways the two poems are similar as they two feel that their race should not be treated as slave just because some of their ancestors were in captivity as slaves in past history. Also, they both(prenominal) feel that their race should now think about the present and not focus on the past and believe you s hould forget about slavery and the past. They both also want black people to celebrate their culture.I think Grace Nicholss poem portrays the black race better as Maya Angelou categorises the black race even though they are all individuals and cant be put into just one category. Whereas, Grace Nichols says all the way through her poem that black people are individuals and all unique and you cant categorise them. Also, I think Grace Nichols write not just about the good things about being a black woman, but she also write about the bad things, whereas, Maya Angelou doesnt.