Expository Essay Dr. Maya Angelou "Still I Rise" Cheryl Parker-Fields April 11, 2010 Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, "Favor comes because for a brief moment in the great space of human change and progress some general human purpose finds in him a satisfactory embodiment.
"(www. brainyquote. com) Throughout many centuries in American history, at some point or another there has been a great struggle for African- American people. A struggle filled with many disappointments embodied by raw emotion that has built strength and courage in a people where hope seemed unreachable.
Some argue the strength and courage attributed to the ork and tireless efforts came from many within the race and those who saw a greater vision for them. One noted and extraordinary person responsible for this is Dr. Maya Angelou. This expository essay will focus on Maya Angelou and the Embodiment of Courage, which has a powerful place in the vision of change and progress sought by a nation of people, will illustrate to illustrate how she embodies the concept of courage though her early life experiences, poetry, and speeches.
In selecting this topic, I wanted to capture the essence of the Embodiment of Courage behind Dr. Angelou's speeches. Her speeches make use of words, which appeal to my raw human emotions, while illustrating the progress oppressed people in America have made. The importance of this topic to the audience is due to people having come to fear what they do not understand and she is effective at providing an alternative perspective than those of ignorance and hate. In pulling together research for this topic, there are several avenues available with a wealth of information, where and what to pull was taxing.I found it taxing because each speech, poem or other writings by Dr.
Maya Angelou captures the embodiment f courage on some level, from the public, to the academic realm, to the big screen and the 1993 inauguration of President Bill Clinton. However, there is one that captures and holds my attention, in researching I watched several videos on Dr. Maya Angelou, which, I located on YouTube. I selected the speech where Dr. Maya Angelou pays tribute to Andrew Young and recites her poem "Still I Rise," on his 75th birthday.
She makes use of eye contact by scanning over the entire audience. As she has become older, she uses less body language, but her use of range in tone is consistent. She has a certain grounded real life presentation that I find appealing by drawing me in, and making me feel as though she is speaking directly to me. The speech is not directly persuasive, but it is very inspiring because she abstractly brings historical ideas and issues to the forefront of my mind, and illustrates progress people within this country have made.It illustrates the change in things and how people have learned to cope, how they have learn to survive in the midst of adversity, and how what does not kill you will Caucasians, she uses rhetoric that provides insight to a strategy she wishes to unfold o her audience.
Pulling from her own strife rendered to her in life, she is able to incorporate the trials and tribulations of African-American people, showing that despite any adversity experienced there is opportunity to prevail. For example, when she writes, miou may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. And, miou may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise. " She illustrates here, with the use of similes showing despite any trial or tribulation, howing despite what one race of people or gender of people thinks; there is a courage embedded in you to rise above the negativity and prevail to the highest level attainable to you.
Her recitation at the 75th birthday of Andrew Young, to me solidifies the message she is sending.Let the people know, despite what you may think or feel I have place in this world and a voice worth hearing. Despite any obstacle faced, any obstacle brought upon me by you or by myself "l Rise", rise above the ridicule, rise above your hate to a level of succession you never imagined. This I believe is illustrated in the se of these words: mfou may shoot me with your words, And "Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise. " It speaks volumes to me and pulls as I stated on my raw emotions drawing me in, showing me a that in spite of what any man or woman wants me to feel of myself and myself we are better than that. Despite the most horrible trials and tribulations I may ave or have still yet to face in my life, I am better than that and because I am better than that "l Rise" and will continue to "Rise".What will be your greatest achievement in life? What will be your greatest contribution in life? Is your story a unique and compelling one clothed in an embodiment of courage that is undeniable? Throughout our culture and our history, many have held a prominent position led by strong and demanding voices. Strong and demanding voices led by a story clothed in an embodiment of courage that is so undeniable, everyone exposed to it, is touched in a great way.
"l am convinced that ourage is the most important of all the virtues. Because without courage, you cannot practice any other virtue consistently.You can be kind for a while; you can be generous for a while; you can be Just for a while, or merciful for a while, even loving for a while. However, it is only with courage that you can be persistently and insistently kind, generous, and fair. " (http://www.
achievement. org) These words spoken by Dr. Maya Angelou of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Words spoken of one prominent figure by another. Dr. Maya Angelou, you embody these virtues as well. Axia College Material Appendix E References Gates, J.
, & L. , H. (2010). African American Lives 2:The Past in another country.
