And Still I Rise Class 11 Long Questions | WBCHSE Semester 2
WBCHSE Class 11 Semester 2 Poem ‘And Still I Rise’ Long Questions Answers is available as per West Bengal new exam pattern. We have given here total 5 descriptive type questions. Each question carries 6 marks.
Board |
WBCHSE |
Class |
11 |
Semester |
2 |
Subject |
English |
Chapter |
And Still I Rise |
Topic |
Long Questions / Descriptive Type Questions |
1.) What does the expression ‘I dance like I’ve got diamonds’ in poem ‘still I rise’?
Answer. The poet MayaAngelou explained her self-confidence and graceful attitude through the expression ‘I dance like I’ve got diamonds’ in poem ‘still I rise’. Despite facing societal oppression and obstacles for being a black woman she believes strongly that she deserves valuable things. This positive attitude of her clearly reflects her will power to rise against all adversity. She is determined to win over all odds that society put on her. She embraces herself the way she is and does not shy away to express it openly. She explains how the society wants to see her broken, weak and embarrassed for who she is. People around her expect her to laugh quietly, walk slowly as a submissive person. Instead she treats herself as an important person who deserve equal respect and value from society. She compares her behaviours with different valuable objects in all stanzas like gold mines, diamonds and oil wells. She asks others if her behaviour bothers them but she tries to explain how valuable her womanhood is. Women are often oppressed and denied in society to raise their voice especially black women to which she protested. She does not speak, dance and behave as the society expects her but she does it gracefully and proudly by keeping her value admirable.
2.) Why did poet Maya Angelou repeat the phrase ‘I rise’ in poem ‘still I rise’?
Answer. In poem ‘still I rise’ the poet Maya Angelo repeated the phrase ‘I rise’ to show her resilience for responding against oppression of society with full confident and dignity. If a reader closely look at the repetition of the phrase ‘I rise’ he will understand that rising above all is the main theme of it. This single phrase conveys the message of victory over societal oppression, of hope and win over all odds one faces. The poet describes about the contemporary oppression of African American community. She encourages all readers of this community to rise by making oneself valuable against all obstacles. By uttering the phrase ‘I rise’ in every stanza they will get inner strength and sense of hope to show their courage. It has been explained clearly that one has to ignore hateful vision, harsh words and hatred to rise. As we reach at the end of the poem we see she explained about rising more strongly that no hateful events or past memories can brag her down from her present attitude. The attitude of the poem encourage all readers towards positivity as it shows how the poet struggles to prove her self-worth in face of negativity. The poet has stressed on upholding one’s own value and not to act how the society expects to be.
3.) What did poet want to mean by phrase ‘you may shoot me with your words’?
Answer. we all know that shoot someone means attacking or killing them. the phrase shoot me with your words signifies attacking someone with hateful words. It is not required to hurt someone physically always to take revenge or make the person low. Hurting can be done emotionally which is more effective to break someone. We often use hurting words to belittle, insult and bully others who seem different to us. It gives different kind of satisfaction to make others weak with words when our actions cannot. In the poem ‘still I rise’ we can see similar situation for the poet. She does not care about the oppression of society and what people expect from her to behave in particular way. She is determined to make herself worthy and provide all the respect she deserves despite the societal obstruction of being a black woman. She reflects lights of self-confidence and pride of her womanhood. She wants to convey the message towards the society through her expression that no matter how harsh words they use for her it will not affect her. She will not move a single inch from her path at any situation even when people criticise her constantly through hurtful words.
4.) What are the inherited ‘gifts’ that the poet mentioned in her poem ‘still I rise’?
Answer. In poem ‘still I rise’ Maya Angelou mentioned the phrase ‘I rise multiple times. She tried to signify the single theme or rising against all odds through this expression. She did not forget to mention the tough struggle that her ancestors fought for their life time. To see their courage and unbeatable spirit the poet learnt a lot about the value of freedom. She learnt how important it was to have self-worth and confidence in a society which wants to demean her. She knows that she has to be strong and focused in her goals always to be unaffected in constant societal oppression. She wanted to mention her ancestors’ spirit, experience and strength with which they fought the same battle till death. She did not forget to mention their credit in shaping her character as strong and self-sufficient woman. With time she learnt how to fight with the shortcomings, oppression, obstacles that society throw to her for being a black woman. She inherited the spirit, strength and positive attitude to grow despite negativity from her ancestors. She showed gratitude in a way towards them by reflecting her positive character as a result of their teachings.
5.) Who is ‘I’ and who is ‘you’ referred to in the poem ‘still I rise’?
Answer. In the poem ‘still I rise’ Maya Angelou has repeated ‘I’ and ‘you’ frequently. We can see the poet’s tone towards the whites is quote defiant in the poem. She wanted to mention it clearly that she would not be affected by any threat and never be broken by hurtful words of whites. She confidence, resilience and dedication towards her goals of rising against oppression is clear example of it. The speaker means the poet wanted to clarify about her independent spirit in any situation which she inherited from her ancestors. On the other hand, the same attitude of her is for the white Americans as threat. She wanted to convey the message that she would never be intimidated by their negative words and bullying tactics. She also holds high confidence of herself as a woman to attract any man of society with her charm. She does not care even a bit what the white Americans think about her or do for suppressing her. ‘You’ is clearly referred to the American society and thought of its people towards black women.
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