Grades 7-8 Lesson Plan

Live with Purpose

Ambitions and Aspirations

“Still I Rise”
by: Maya Angelou
 Wreaths Across America
Lesson Plan
Teacher: Date:
Grades: 7-8 Lesson: Live with Purpose-Ambitions and
Aspirations

OBJECTIVES: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.4 Determine STRATEGIES:

the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a  Drawing/Coloring
text, including figurative and connotative meanings;  Writing
analyze the impact of rhymes and other repetitions of
sounds (e.g., alliteration) on a specific verse or stanza of a  Think/Pair/Share
poem or section of a story or drama.  Collaboration
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4 Determine the meaning of  Discussion Questions
words and phrases as they are used in a text, including  Small Groups
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact  Large Group
of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including *This poem requires a level of maturity on the part of
analogies or allusions to other texts.
your students. Please use accordingly.
MATERIALS: Computer/laptop; internet (with access to YouTube); Smart Board; copies of K-
W-L Maya Angelou; copy of Biography Brief; copies of Figurative Language &
Literary Devices Guide; copies of “Still I Rise” poem; copies of Poem Analysis
Worksheet; copies of Figurative Language Word Search Puzzle
Engage: Hook the students Handout the Maya Angelou K-W-L Worksheet. Allow students time to fill in the
first and second section of the K-W-L worksheet.
Read the biographical brief of Maya Angelou aloud.
Explore: Students make Hand out “Still I Rise” poem. Read the poem aloud.
sense of a concept through Play the YouTube video of Maya Angelou reciting her poem “Still I Rise”.
observations. https://youtu.be/qviM_GnJbOM?si=w4RnI-_X173G8gIG
Hand out the Figurative Language & Literary Devices Guide. Allow students to
use the Guide as they complete the Poem Analysis. Re-read the poem aloud.
Hand out the Poem Analysis Worksheet. Allow students time to complete the
assignment.
Hand out the Figurative Language Word Search Puzzle. Allow students time to
complete the assignment.
Allow students time to complete the 3rd part of the K-W-L.
Explain: Teacher introduces ambition trod meeting bear
formal vocabulary and aspirations beset welling oppress
language to students. haughtiness sassiness swelling suppress
Elaborate: Students apply Students will determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in
what they have learned. a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of
rhymes and other repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on a specific verse or
stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.
Students will determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in
a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of
specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to
other texts.
Evaluate: assessment. Teachers will select which activities to use as formal/informal assessments.
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 Wreaths Across America
Lesson Plan
Teacher: Date:
Grades: 7-8 Lesson: Live with Purpose-Ambitions and
Aspirations

Maya Angelou K-W-L Name___________________

What I KNOW: What I WANT to KNOW: What I LEARNED:

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Maya Angelou K-W-L Name__________________

What I KNOW: What I WANT to KNOW: What I LEARNED:

Maya Angelou Biographical Sketch

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 Wreaths Across America
Lesson Plan
Teacher: Date:
Grades: 7-8 Lesson: Live with Purpose-Ambitions and
Aspirations

Biography Brief Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou is one of the most influential voices of our time. However, she had a
turbulent childhood. After her parents’ divorce, she was sent to live with her
grandmother in racially divided Stamps, Arkansas, where she experienced the brutality
of racial discrimination.
She also absorbed the unshakable faith and values of traditional African-American
family, community and culture. After being sent back to live with her mother, she was
raped at the age of eight by her mother’s friend. She confided the abuse to her brother,
leading to the rapist’s arrest. Upon getting out of jail, the rapist was killed, many believe
by Maya’s uncles.
She believed her voice killed him since she told her brother of the crime. Subsequently
she went mute for nearly six years. She was then sent back to live with her
grandmother where a teacher helped her regain her voice, her confidence, and her
pride.
She went on to become an author, actress, journalist, civil rights worker, and teacher,
using her voice for positive change.

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 Wreaths Across America
Lesson Plan
Teacher: Date:
Grades: 7-8 Lesson: Live with Purpose-Ambitions and
Aspirations

Figurative Language & Literary Devices Guide

Alliteration is repetition of the Allusions reference something Assonance the repetition of

same sound at the beginning of famous that readers likely know the sound of a vowel.
words. about. They can refer to written Example: The light of the fire is
Example: Peter Piper picked a works, songs, famous people, a sight.
peck of pickled peppers. historical events, mythological
figures, or even television
shows.
Example: He was the Romeo to
her Juliet. (Refers to Romeo
and Juliet)
Hyperbole exaggerates Idioms are figures of speech Metaphors make comparisons
something to make a that don’t make any sense on between two things that share
point. Hyperbole in their own, but they make one attribute. They state that
literature adds color and depth perfect sense to native English one thing is another thing. But
to a character and to an speakers. When an idiom is like all figurative language,
argument. overused or very common, it’s metaphors aren’t literal. You
Example: He snores like a also known as a cliché. need to think about each thing
freight train. Example: I heard the news to figure out how they are
straight from the horse’s mouth. alike. Metaphors can be found
in poems and poetic language,
but they also appear in
everyday speech.
Example: My house is a three-
ring circus.
In metonymy (met-ON-oh-me) Onomatopoeia words that Personification giving human-
a word becomes linked with a sound like what they mean. like attributes to an in-human
larger concept to the point Examples: buzz, hiss thing.
where it can stand for that Example: The wind howled
concept. outside of my window during
Example: Please lend me your the storm.
ear.
A simile compares two things Symbolism occurs when a A synecdoche (sin-ECK-doh-
using the words like or as. word has its own meaning but key) uses part of a noun to
Unlike metaphors, they represents something entirely represent the whole thing. It
explicitly state the quality different. can also use the whole noun to
they’re comparing between two Example: A dark cloud settled represent part of a noun.
things. over the house after Dad Example: My mom is the brains
Example: He is like a bull in a moved away. of the family.
china shop.

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 Wreaths Across America
Lesson Plan
Teacher: Date:
Grades: 7-8 Lesson: Live with Purpose-Ambitions and
Aspirations

“Still I Rise”
BY MAYA ANGELOU

You may write me down in history Does my sexiness upset you?

With your bitter, twisted lies, Does it come as a surprise
You may trod me in the very dirt That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
But still, like dust, I'll rise. At the meeting of my thighs?
Does my sassiness upset you?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
Why are you beset with gloom?
I rise
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
Pumping in my living room.
I rise
Just like moons and like suns, I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
With the certainty of tides, Welling and swelling I bear in the
Just like hopes springing high, tide.
Still I'll rise.
Leaving behind nights of terror and
Did you want to see me broken? fear
Bowed head and lowered eyes? I rise
Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Into a daybreak that’s wondrously
Weakened by my soulful cries? clear
Does my haughtiness offend you? I rise
Don't you take it awful hard Bringing the gifts that my ancestors
’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines gave,
Diggin’ in my own backyard. I am the dream and the hope of the
slave.
You may shoot me with your words, I rise
You may cut me with your eyes, I rise
You may kill me with your hatefulness, I rise.
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

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 Wreaths Across America
Lesson Plan
Teacher: Date:
Grades: 7-8 Lesson: Live with Purpose-Ambitions and
Aspirations

Name________________________________
Poem Analysis Worksheet
Poem Title ______________________________Author __________________________________

Poetic Form: _____________________________________

Rhyme Scheme:
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1. Imagery-What senses does the author appeal to in the poem?

_________________________________________________________
2. Give an example of the author’s use of imagery.

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3. Give 2 examples of the author’s use of similes and a brief explanation of each.

1. ______________________________________________________________________________

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________________________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________
4. Give two examples of the author’s use of metaphors and a brief explanation of each.

1. ______________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________
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 Wreaths Across America
Lesson Plan
Teacher: Date:
Grades: 7-8 Lesson: Live with Purpose-Ambitions and
Aspirations

2. ______________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________
5. Give two examples of the author’s use of alliteration and a brief explanation of each.

1. ______________________________________________________________________________

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2. ______________________________________________________________________________

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6. Give two examples of the author’s use of assonance and a brief explanation of each.

1. ______________________________________________________________________________

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2. ______________________________________________________________________________

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7. What is the irony in the author’s statement “You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like
dust, I’ll rise.”

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________
8. How does the author allude to slavery?

______________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________
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 Wreaths Across America
Lesson Plan
Teacher: Date:
Grades: 7-8 Lesson: Live with Purpose-Ambitions and
Aspirations

9. What is "History's shame" an example of?

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10. What literary device is the author using by exaggerating herself as representing the hopes
and dreams of all of her slave ancestors, and all black people, especially black women?

________________________________________________________________________________
11. What is the theme of ”Still I Rise”?

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

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12. Pick one of the following, and describe its symbolism:
a. Oil wells in the second stanza of the poem
b. Gold mines in the fifth stanza of the poem
c. Diamonds in the seventh stanza of the poem.

________________________________________________________________________________

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13. Summarize the poem “Still I Rise”

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Answer Key Name________________________________

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Lesson Plan
Teacher: Date:
Grades: 7-8 Lesson: Live with Purpose-Ambitions and
Aspirations

Poem Analysis
Poem Title Still I Rise Author Maya Angelou

Poetic Form: Lyric Poem

Rhyme Scheme: The poem has nine stanzas with uneven line sets. The first seven stanzas are
quatrains with four lines and an ABCB rhyme scheme, while the eighth stanza has six lines and an
ABABCC rhyme scheme, and the ninth stanza has nine lines and an ABABCCBBB rhyme
scheme. The final two stanzas break from this structure by inserting the phrase "I rise" as separate
lines, which creates an AABB rhyme scheme.
1. Imagery-What senses does the author appeal to in the poem?
The imagery in "Still I Rise" is visual.
2. Give an example of the author’s use of imagery.
a. oil wells pumping in her living room
b. sad and slumped-over people
c. dark oceans
d. bright sunrises.
3. Give 2 examples of the author’s use of similes and a brief explanation of each.
a. "But still, like air, I'll rise" (simile)—No matter what the speaker's oppressors do to harm her, she
will rise above the challenges, just as air rises.
b. "But still, like dust, I'll rise" (simile)—As in the air simile, the speaker will rise above the pain her
oppressors try to inflict, just as dust rises in the air.
c. "I walk like I've got oil wells" (simile)—The speaker is so confident in her demeanor that she walks
with a swagger that suggests the wealth of a person who has struck oil.
d. "Just like moons and like suns" (simile)—The speaker compares the certainty of her courage and
persistent determination to the certainty and repetitive patterns of the lunar and solar cycles.
e. "I laugh like I've got gold mines" (simile)—The speaker laughs with the confidence of someone who
is wealthy, as if gold has been discovered in her own backyard. She may not be wealthy in a financial
sense, but she possesses a great wealth of spirit and hope.
f. "Shoulders falling down like teardrops" (simile)—The speaker refers to being sad to the point that
one's shoulders droop down or collapse, just as tears fall
4. Give two examples of the author’s use of metaphors and a brief explanation of each.
a. “You may trod me in the very dirt" (metaphor)—The speaker states that even if her oppressor tries
to trample on her as one might trample an object or living creature in the dirt, she will still rise. The
speaker is not literally squashed by the oppressor, but the oppressor nonetheless tries to trample on
her spirit.
b. "You may shoot me with your words" (metaphor)—The speaker refers to the violence of shooting
with a gun, but she uses the metaphor to illustrate instead the pain of her oppressor's hateful
language. She will not be pierced by the harshness of his words.
c. "You may cut me with your eyes" (metaphor)—The speaker refers to violence again, this time using
the example of cutting, as with a knife. However, she refers to the oppressor's cruel looks as so
painful and hurtful that his regard is sharp and cutting, like a knife.

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Lesson Plan
Teacher: Date:
Grades: 7-8 Lesson: Live with Purpose-Ambitions and
Aspirations

d. "You may kill me with your hatefulness" (metaphor)--The oppressor's hatefulness could literally kill
her, but in this line the speaker speaks of death metaphorically. The oppressor's hate toward her
might kill her spirit, but she will still rise above the pain.
e. "I'm a black ocean" (metaphor)—The speaker refers to herself as a powerful force of nature. She is
as strong and as majestic as the ocean, and the term "black" denotes her race. She is a powerful
black woman.
f. "I am the dream and the hope of the slave" (metaphor)—The speaker embodies the hopes and
dreams of her slave ancestors. She wants to achieve all that they were unable to do.
g. "Did you want to see me broken" (metaphor)—The speaker refers to a broken spirit.
5. Give two examples of the author’s use of alliteration and a brief explanation of each.
a. "Dance like I've got diamonds" (alliteration)—The words beginning with the consonant "d" are
examples of alliteration. The line rolls off the tongue when spoken aloud, suggesting the joy and ease
of the speaker dancing.
b. "Does my sassiness upset you" (alliteration)—The consonant "s" is repeated here, making the line
very taunting.
c. "Does my sexiness upset you" (alliteration)--The consonant "s" is repeated here, making the line
very taunting.
d. "Huts of history's shame" (alliteration)—The consonant "h" makes the line heavy in sound, like the
meaning of the phrase.
6. Give two examples of the author’s use of assonance and a brief explanation of each.
a. "Bitter, twisted lies" (assonance)—The "i" vowel is repeated here, making the impact of the word
"lies" even more powerful.
b. "Welling and swelling" (assonance)—The letter "e" sound and the rhyme of the two words creates
a powerful image of the speaker rising like an ocean's tides.
7. What is the irony in the author’s statement “You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like
dust, I’ll rise.”
In trying to oppress her, the oppressors are actually giving her the strength and will to survive.
Treading her into the dirt is intended to stop her from moving forward. But it has the opposite effect,
merely strengthening her resolve and making her rise higher than ever. The refrain "I rise" shows her
continued resistance.
8. How does the author allude to slavery?
The poet alludes to slavery and the slave trade at the end of the poem. The "huts of history's shame"
likely refer to where slaves were housed, and the poet mentions slavery explicitly just once near the
poem's conclusion.
9. What is "History's shame" an example of?
Personification-it personifies history and gives it the attribute of feeling an emotion like shame.
10. What literary device is the author using by exaggerating herself as representing the hopes
and dreams of all of her slave ancestors, and all black people, especially black women?
The author is using hyperbole.
11. What is the theme of ”Still I Rise”? The theme of “Still I Rise” celebrates the ambition, strength,
resilience, and courage of Black women, and encourages them to stand up and rise above the
oppression and discrimination.
12. Pick one of the following, and describe its symbolism:
a. Oil wells in the second stanza of the poem

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 Wreaths Across America
Lesson Plan
Teacher: Date:
Grades: 7-8 Lesson: Live with Purpose-Ambitions and
Aspirations

The author describes her confident manner of walking as what one might expect from someone who
has “oil wells” pumping in her home. The speaker is suggesting that she is rich and powerful—not in a
monetary sense, but rather in spirit. Her wealth of courage and determination make her untouchable
and give her control over her life, just as a rich person with oil wells presumably has enough money to
live as he or she pleases.
b. Gold mines in the fifth stanza of the poem
In the fifth stanza, the speaker makes the poem’s second reference to a symbol of wealth. This time,
she describes her proud attitude, which may even be interpreted as arrogance. Once again, she is so
full of pride and confidence that her carefree laugh suggests that she has gold mines in her own
backyard. Like the oil wells, the gold mines represent not just wealth, but perpetual wealth—the oil
keeps pouring out of the wells, and the gold keeps coming out of the mines. She does not have a
fixed amount of wealth (courage, determination)—it is limitless. Like a gold mine or oil well, she is the
actual source.
c. Diamonds in the seventh stanza of the poem. In the seventh stanza the speaker makes the
poem’s last reference to a symbol of wealth. In this provocative stanza, she describes her liberated
spirit. Again, diamonds represent wealth, power, and beauty. It is a cliché that women love diamonds,
and the jewel is often considered a sign of royalty.
13. Summarize the poem “Still I Rise”
Answers will vary. But should include the authors ambitions and resilience to fulfill her dreams and
hopes for freedom and happiness.

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 Wreaths Across America
Lesson Plan
Teacher: Date:
Grades: 7-8 Lesson: Live with Purpose-Ambitions and
Aspirations

Name__________________________
Figurative Language Word Search

O Q A L L U S I O N A Z W
N S X E D C A S S O N C E
O R F V T G B Y Y H N U J
M E T A P H O R M M I K O
A O L H Y P E R B O L E P
T Q S I M I L E O W E R T
O Y U I O P A D L F G H J
P E R S O N I F I C A O N
O K LZ X C V B N S N M T I
E S M E T O N Y M Y X E D
I D C R F V T G B Y H N I
A L L I T E R A T I O N O
U J M I K L O P Q W E R M
Y U S Y N E C D O C H E I
alliteration hyperbole assonance onomatopoeia

simile idiom personification metonymy

metaphor allusion symbolism synecdoche

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 Wreaths Across America
Lesson Plan
Teacher: Date:
Grades: 7-8 Lesson: Live with Purpose-Ambitions and
Aspirations

ANSWER KEY Name__________________________

Figurative Language Word Search

O Q A L L U S I O N A Z W
N S X E D C A S S O N C E
O R F V T G B Y Y H N U J
M E T A P H O R M M I K O
A O L H Y P E R B O L E P
T Q S I M I L E O W E R T
O Y U I O P A D L F G H J
P E R S O N I F I C A O N
O K LZ X C V B N S N M T I
E S M E T O N Y M Y X E D
I D C R F V T G B Y H N I
A L L I T E R A T I O N O
U J M I K L O P Q W E R M
Y U S Y N E C D O C H E I
alliteration hyperbole assonance onomatopoeia

simile idiom personification metonymy

metaphor allusion symbolism synecdoche

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