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Download THE IDEA OF BLACK FEMINISM IN MAYA ANGELOU'S ... and more Study Guides, Projects, Research Literature in PDF only on Docsity! THE IDEA OF BLACK FEMINISM IN MAYA ANGELOU’S “STILL I RISE” AND “PHENOMENAL WOMAN” AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters By GATOT HENDY FEBIYANTO Student Number: 024214092 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2010 A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate ‘Thesis THE IDEA OF BLACK FEMINISM IN MAYA ANGELOU’S “STILL RISE” AND “PHENOMENAL WOMAN” Modesta Luluk Artika Windrasti, S.S. July 12, 2010 Advisor / Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. July 12, 2010 Co-Advisor ii for My Beloved Parents In the hope of a better future LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS Yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Gatot Hendy Febiyanto Nomor Mahasiswa —_: 024214092 Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul: The Idea of Black Feminism in Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise”, and “Phenomenal Woman” berserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin kepada saya maupun memberi royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 22 Agustus 2010 Yan ‘nenatakan ( / (Gatot Hendy Febiyanto) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My greatest gratitude first and foremost goes to my mother for her patience, support, and unconditional love. I thank my father for the understanding and giving me an extra time so that finally I can finish writing this thesis. I also thank Bude for sharing the idea, for lending me the thick-and unfamiliar books, and for always reminding me to do this thesis. I would also like to express my deepest appreciation to Modesta Luluk Artika Windrasti, S.S., my advisor, for her kindness, and patient guidance along the process of this thesis. I would like to express my honor to Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum., my co-advisor, for his advice and suggestions. They make this thesis possible to finish. Next, my huge gratitude goes to those who are to be with me in my hard times. To friends I called comrades; Bonbon, Kriting, Ko Abun, Mogo, Kak Ian, Dora, Alam, Tika, Sunny, Munyuk, and Supra DIY. I would like to thank them for showing me what friendship is. I thank “Marsya Timothy”’s friends for sharing their nights with me. I would like to thank Ms. Patty for giving me bright ideas so I can finish this thesis, to Don Hessler for checking and rechecking this thesis. The last, my special thank goes to Tommy for giving me the never-ending support, for sharing ideas and the conversations we made, and for superb love you have given to me. You rock! Gatot Hendy Febiyanto ABSTRACT GATOT HENDY FEBIYANTO (2010). The Idea of Black Feminism in Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman”. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University. Maya Angelou is a writer and poet who cares and wants to raise the degree of black women. It is portrayed in her works, such as in her poems entitled “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman”. In these two poems, Maya Angelou explains about the idea of black feminism and invites black women to rise and be confident. In this thesis, the writer will analyze (1) what “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman’ talk about, and (2) how “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman” portray the idea of black feminism. To do the analysis, the writer did several steps. First, the writer conducted close reading on the poems in getting deeper understanding about it especially concerned with black feminism. Next, the writer examined the references. After getting all the selected data, the writer started to analyze the problems and apply the theories of metaphor, simile, symbol, repetition, tone, and black feminism in the analysis. The writer analyzed the poems by paraphrasing it word per word. Then, after analyzing the poems, the writer analyzed the idea of black feminism based on the review on black feminism in the U.S. Then, the last step was drawing the conclusion from the result of analysis. This study used feminism approach. The approach was applied in analyzing black women who rises because they are oppressed and their condition. The result of analysis shows that in “Still I Rise”, there is clash among black women versus white people (both male and female) and black men. Black women suffer because of bad treatment of white people who consider them slaves, and because black men derogate them. Because of that, black women would do anything to rise from white people and black men’s oppression. In “Phenomenal Woman”, there is clash between black women and white women (between ugly and beauty). If it is seen from the scope of black feminism and review on black feminism in U.S., “Still I Rise” depicts black women rise struggling against slavery and racism, and “Phenomenal Woman” depicts black women who are confident and they try to break the standard of beauty (which claims that beauty belongs to white women) in the society. ABSTRAK GATOT HENDY FEBIYANTO (2010). The Idea of Black Feminism in Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman”. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University. Maya Angelou adalah seorang pengarang dan penyair yang peduli akan penderitaan dan ingin mengangkat derajat perempuan-perempuan kulit hitam. Hal tersebut tercermin di dalam karya-karya nya antara lain di dalam puisi yang berjudul “Still I Rise” dan “Phenomenal Woman”. Di kedua puisi ini Maya Angelou memaparkan ide-ide tentang black feminism dan mengajak perempuan- perempuan kulit hitam untuk bangkit dan percaya diri. Dalam thesis ini, penulis akan menganalisa (1) tentang apa isi “Still I Rise” dan “Phenomenal Woman”, dan (2) bagaimana “Still I Rise” dan “Phenomenal Woman” menggambarkan ide tentang black feminism. Dalam menganalisa, penulis melakukan beberapa langkah. Pertama, penulis melakukan pembacaan seksama agar diperoleh pemahaman lebih mendalam mengenai kedua puisi tersebut, khususnya berkenaan dengan black feminism. Lalu, penulis akan memeriksa referensi. Setelah memperoleh seluruh data, penulis akan memulai menganalisa dan menerapkan teori-teori metafora, simile, simbol, pengulangan, tone, dan black feminism. Penulis menganalisa kedua puisi tersebut dengan memparaprasekannya kata per kata. Kemudian, setelah menganalisa kedua puisi tersebut, penulis mencoba menganalisa ide-ide tentang black feminism dengan mengacu pada review tentang black feminism di Amerika Serikat. Kemudian, langkah terakhir adalah menarik kesimpulan dari hasil analisa. Studi ini menggunakan pendekatan feminisme. Pendekatan feminisme diaplikasikan dalam menganalisa perempuan-perempuan kulit hitam yang bangkit karena mereka ditindas, dan kondisi mereka. Hasil analisa menunjukkan bahwa di dalam “Still I Rise” terdapat adanya pertentangan antara perempuan-perempuan kulit hitam dengan orang-orang kulit putih (baik laki-laki maupun perempuan) dan laki-laki kulit hitam. Perempuan- perempuan kulit hitam menderita karena perlakuan buruk dari orang-orang kulit putih yang menganggap mereka sebagai budak, dan arena laki-laki kulit hitam merendahkan mereka. Oleh karena itu perempuan-perempuan kulit hitam mau melakukan segala hal untuk bangkit dari penindasan orang-orang kulit putih dan Jaki-laki kulit hitam. Di dalam “Phenomenal Woman” terdapat adanya pertentangan antara perempuan kulit hitam dengan perempuan-perempuan kulit putih (antara buruk rupa dan cantik). Jika dilihat dari sudut pandang black feminism dan review tentang black feminism di Amerika Serikat, “Still I Rise” menggambarkan perempuan-perempuan kulit hitam bangkit melawan perbudakan, dan rasisme dan “Phenomenal Woman” menggambarkan perempuan-perempuan kulit hitam yang percaya diri dan mereka mencoba menghancurkan standar kecantikan (yang menilai bahwa cantik hanya dimiliki oleh perempuan kulit putih) di masyarakat. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study The nineteenth century was the time when Black women like Maria Stewart, Anna Julia Cooper, and Sojourner Truth challenged the conventions and mores of their era to speak publicly against slavery and in support of Black women’s right. They did not refer to themselves as feminists, however, their beliefs and activism ignited a tradition of anti-racist and anti-sexist political movement and thought which now defines as Black Feminism. Black Feminism is a branch of feminism. To know what black feminism is, we should know firstly what feminism is. Feminism, according to Maggie Humm’s The Dictionary of Feminist Theory, is explained as a term used by the feminists to describe the ideology of female quality of being better. Furthermore, it is explained that feminism is a doctrine for women to have the equal nght of men, and it also means feminism is an ideology of a social transformation which happens to make social equality between men and women. The definition incorporates both a doctrine of equal rights for women (the organized movement to attain women’s right) and an ideology of social transformation aiming to create a world for women beyond simple social equality (Humm, 1992: 9). The term Black Feminism is the wish for a compatible and progressive vision of social justice based on the historical and on going struggles against the race and feminism but Maya Angelou has her own style in writing her poems. She does not only use the active changing and altered condition of the biology identity but also uses the fact of her own specific being. She emphasizes the importance of individual situation especially to the individuality of a woman. The romantic notion that a writer writes in response to internal imperatives go hand in hand with the notion of feminism in her poetry. However, Angelou is an exception because she not only points to dynamic moving and fluctuant condition of all conscious held biology identity but also the fact of her own specific being. She always lays great emphasis upon the importance of individual situation especially with reference to the individuality of woman (Ghani and Naz, 2004: 99). Most themes that Maya Angelou wrote in her novels and poems are about love, lives, and humanity. She said that the duty of human being is to love and she also said that all people are familiar to her. William Shakespeare’s works and some African-American’s poems have influenced her in writing her poems. She ranged from story to poem to song and back again, and her theme was love and the universality of all lives. "The honorary duty of a human being is to love," Angelou said. She spoke of her early love for William Shakespeare's works, and offered her audience excerpts from the poems of several African- Americans, including James Weldon Johnson and Paul Lawrence Dunbar. But always, she came back to love - and humanity. "I am human," Angelou said, quoting from her own work, "and nothing human can be alien to me" Chttp://www.nvo.com/hypoism/35mary angelousstillirise/). Maya Angelou's poetry is often short. Line lengths are often short as well. Lyman B. Hagen states: "Most lines of her three stanza poems are tri-meter; others, particularly those in unstructured poems, are from two to four syllables long". Hagen says Angelou's rhythmical awareness was influenced by the King James Bible, white writers like Edgar Allan Poe and William Shakespeare, black writers such as Langston Hughes, shouting and singing in African American churches, and childhood songs, chants, and folklore (Hagen, 1997: 119-120). In Modern American Women Writers, Joanne Braxton states: "Readers of her poetry appreciate its rhythm, lyric imagery, and realism." She wants to say that "the people who read Angelou's work include both critics and lay readers, and she has achieved a measure of true sainthood in their eyes by transcending brutal racism, sexual abuse, and poverty to become one of America's most celebrated contemporary writers" (Braxton, 1991: 7). The other style of Maya Angelou’s poems, especially in “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman”, is that Maya Angelou tried to create a sense of identity and self-acceptance, and the strong female presence within feminism (http:/Avww. enotes.com/feminism-literature/angelou-maya), those are the reason why the writer uses “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman” to analyze. The other reason is that “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman” have not been studied and analyzed as a thesis in Department of English Letters of Sanata Dharma University. The writer is interested in analyzing Maya Angelou’s poems because the writer is curious to know about the black feminism she struggled for in the poems “Still I Rise”, and “Phenomenal Woman” and it is hoped that this study may give contribution to enrich the feminism analysis especially about black feminism on the poems. B. Problem Formulation Based on the background of study stated above, the writer limits the discussion into problems as formulated as follows: 1. What are Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman” about? 2. How do Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman” portray the idea of black feminism? C. Objectives of the Study In relation to the problem formulation, the study is conducted to find out the idea of black feminism in the Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman” through deeper analysis. D. Definition of Term According to Feminist Theory and Literary Practice, Black feminism is a branch of feminist thought that highlights the multiple disadvantages of gender, class and race that shape the experiences of black women or African American women. Black feminists reject the idea of a single unified gender oppression that is experienced evenly by all women, and argue that early feminist analysis reflected the specific concerns of white women. Black feminism focuses on the historical telationship between white feminism and racism. slavery, racism and the drug war. “Still I Rise” is also said as assertiveness and pride for Blacks. Her poem, Still I Rise, meant to be a call to assertiveness and pride for blacks, is a completely appropriate outcry to the prejudice, humiliation, and demanded submission experienced daily by active and recovering hypoics (addicts) of all sorts at the hands of addictophobes, governments, and physicians across this land. The parallel between slavery, racism and the drug war and addictophobia is uncanny and incites all addicts to rise (http://www. nvo.convhypoism/35maryangelousstillirise/). Many people consider that “Still I Rise” is her anthem. She wrote this poem with simple and daily word which she experiences every day. “Still I Rise” depicts her struggles and hardships especially in the time of her childhood. “Still I Rise” has touched and inspired the lives of many people with her talents, abilities, and desires to have better life. "You 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" (Angelou). Those are just a few words written by Maya Angelou in her famous poem, "Still I Rise." Many people consider that such poem, her anthem, her everyday words in which she experienced. Although she has a very successful adult life as a poet, historian, author, actress, civil-right activist, cook, director, dancer and so much more, her childhood was filled with its share of hardships and struggles. Throughout the years, Angelou has touched the lives of many people with her talents, abilities and desires to better mankind, all because she still rises (http://www. bookrags.com/essay-2006/1/10/22819/9998). In the same year with “Phenomenal Woman”, 1978, Maya Angelou wrote “Still I Rise”. It is said that “Still I Rise” is both encouraging and well-known poem she ever wrote. “Still I Rise” depicts Angelou’s hard work and strength. She shows that she is determined and willing to conquer her life one-step at a time. In 1978, Angelou wrote "Still I Rise," one of the most encouraging, yet well- known poems ever written. In "Still I Rise," Angelou "promises not to 10 surrender in the face of bitter, twisted lies, hatefulness, and history's shame." As "she speaks with all her heart and soul” readers can view Angelou as a hard-working, strong, dominant woman. Through all the hardships and obstacles, Angelou shows she is determined and willing to conquer life one- step at a time (http://www.bookrags. com/essay-2006/1/10/22819/9998). This thesis will study about black feminism in Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman”. Black feminism focuses in two things, the struggling against male domination and the struggling against racism. “Still I Rise” depicts Black women struggle against white people (especially white male) domination, whereas “Phenomenal Woman” depicts Black women struggle against standard of beauty (that belongs to white women) in the society. B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theories on Metaphor and Simile Theories on metaphor are needed to guide the analysis of metaphorical language that is used by Maya Angelou in “Still Rise” and some in “Phenomenal Woman”, where as the theory on simile is needed to explain further the sumile that is used by Maya Angelou in “Still I Rise”. According to Simms and Myers in The Longman Dictionary of Poetic Terms, the term metaphor, which originates from the Greek ‘to transfer or to carry across’, is a rhetorical figurative expression of sumilarity or dissimilarity in which a direct, non- literal substitution or identity is made between one thing and another (Simms and Myers, 1989: 734). 11 In figurative language, metaphor has a very closed meaning with simile. In The Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture, metaphor is explained as an expression which described one thing or idea using words without applying ‘as’ or ‘like’. On the contrary, it is applied in simile (Summers, 1992: 668). According to Aristotle in Rhetoric, the simile is a full-blown metaphor. Metaphor can easily be turned into simile, and simile into metaphor. It means that a simile can also be a metaphor. Differing from it only in the way it is put, and just because it is longer so that it is less attractive (Cunningham, 1999: 83). According to Guth, there are four possible functions of metaphor on literary work: as a means of representing variations on a theme, as a means reinforcing the central concern of the author, as means of reflecting polarities that set up the basic tension or challenge in a literary work, and as part of an escalating series of metaphors that lead up to a new way of seeing and feeling (Guth, 1997: 574). Furthermore, the poet James Dickey analyzes the making of a metaphor into a four-step process. It begins with (1) making picture comparisons in the mind, (2) discovering the threads of continuity that run through these picture comparison which create a ‘narrative of dramatic action’, (3) recombining these elements so that they undergo a ‘fruitful interchange of qualities, a transference of energies, an informing of each other’, and (4) translating this process into the medium language. Although metaphors do not occur in the idiom of images, Dickey’s process of metaphorical conceptualization is probably accurate (Simms and Myers, 1989: 178). 14 author lends them some special significance in order to support the idea. Kennedy further adds that the readers should be careful with words, phrases, or sentences which are mentioned repeatedly, because they might suggest symbols (Kennedy, 1983: 147). While Rohrberger and Woods state that reader can usually trust the story for the identification and discovery of symbols, because when an author wishes to mark an object or detail with symbolic significance, then he will indicate, either explicitly or simplicity, his intended meaning or meanings. Symbols are not things invented by an author to confuse the reader, not strange object with far-fetched meanings arbitrarily attached to them, but they are, in literature as in life, a vital part of our experience (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 136). 3. Theory on Repetition Theory on repetition is used to analyze the words or phrases that are repeated in “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman”. In the poem, repetition may appear in sound, syllable, word, phrase, line, stanza, but in this thesis, analyze will be limited in the repetition of phrase, line, and stanza. Repetition is when you have a word and use it more than once. Repetition is used to emphasize sound, syllable, word, phrase, line, stanza in the poem. Partly it seems to be enjoyed simply as a repeating pattern that is pleasant to hear. It also serves as a powerful mnemonic device, facilitating memorization. The regular use of tail rhyme helps to mark off the ends of lines, thus clarifying the metrical structure for 1S the listener. As with other poetic techniques, poets use it to suit their own purposes (http://www _poetrypoetry.com/Workshops/00-07/RepWorkshop. html). 4. Theories on Tone Theories on tone are used as guidance to know Maya Angelou’s attitude and mood in “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman”. According to Longman of Poetic Terms, tone, derived from Greek ‘a stretching’, is an author’s identifiable attitude toward his subject matter and/or audience, or mood of ‘voiceless’ work of literature. In Abrams’ Glossary of Literary Terms, it states that the tone of a poem indicates the speakers’ attitude toward his subject, his audience and sometime toward himself (Abrams, 1971: 215). According to Perrine, the poem readers usually do not really understand a poem unless they have accurately sensed whether the attitude that manifests in the poem is playful or solemn, mocking or reverent, calm or excited (Perrine, 1959: 702). Tone, in literature, may be defined as “the writer’s or the attitude toward his subject, his audience, or himself”. We can conclude that the emotion meaning of the work is an extremely important part of the full meaning. In spoken language it is indicated by the influence of the voice (Perrine, 1959: 702). 5. Theory on Black Feminism Theory on black feminism is needed as ground of the analysis, because the analysis mostly talks about black feminism. 16 The Black Feminist Movement grew out of, and in response to, the Black Liberation Movement and the Women's Movement. In an effort to meet the needs of Black women who felt they were being racially oppressed in the Women's Movement and sexually oppressed in the Black Liberation Movement, the Black Feminist Movement was formed. Black women who participated in the Black Liberation Movement and the Women's Movement were often discriminated against sexually and racially (http://web.mit.edu/activities/thistle/v9/9.01/6blackf. html). Black feminism argues that sexism, class oppression, and racism are bound together. Forms of feminism that strive to overcome sexism and class oppression but ignore race can discriminate against many people, including women, through racial bias. The Combahee River Collective argued in 1974 that the liberation of Black women entails freedom for all people, since it would require the end of racism, sexism, and class oppression. Patricia Hill-Collins defined Black feminism, in Black Feminist Thought, as including "women who theorize the experiences and ideas shared by ordinary Black women that provide a unique angle of vision on self, community, and society" (Collins, 2000: 56). According to Deborah L. Madsen, in Feminist Theory and Literary Practice, black feminism focuses on the historical relationship between white feminism and tacism. Madsen notices that even though white feminist have urged the struggled against slavery, in fact, they can not put themselves equal with black people particularly Black women. Furthermore, for white feminist, racial prejudice and gender discrimination is two different things that are not related to one another. They 19 the shortage of Black men, most Black women are forced to accept a relationship on male terms. In Black communities there sometimes exists a type of serial polygamy a situation where many women share the same man, one at a time (http://scriptorium. lib.duke.edu/wim/poor/). b. Movement of Black Women in U.S. In 1905, a period of heightened racial oppression, educator Fannie Barrier Williams viewed the African-American woman not as defenseless victim but as strong-willed resister. Williams saw the Black women as “irrepressible.” She is insulted, but she holds her head, she is scorned, but she proudly demands respect... the most interesting girl of this country is the colored girl. (Collins, 2000: 151) To outsiders, Sara Brooks may appear to be an exploited domestic worker victimized by the racial politics of an unfair labor market and the sexual politics of having too many children. But when she states, “if they are scornful of me, I’m the same way about them”, she taps a powerful yet overlooked part of U.S. Black women’s activism. She does not only survive her experiences with intersecting oppressions, but she clearly rejects their ideological justifications. “If my place you got because I’m black, I don’t want to do it”, she proclaims. Self-definition, self- valuation, and movement toward self-reliance inform her worldview, beliefs that stem from her struggles to survive. Traditionally, the oppression of Black women’s idea within White-male- controlled social institutions led African-American women to use music, literature, 20 daily conversations, and everyday behavior as important locations for constructing a Black feminist consciousness (Collins, 1998: 32-43). c. The Rise of Black women Maria Stewart’s 1831 speech advises the “daughter of Africa” to “Awake! Arise! No longer sleep nor slumber, but distinguish yourself. Show forth to the world that ye are endowed with noble and exalted faculties (Richardson 1987, 30).” US Black women have long recognized the fundamental injustice of a system that routinely and from one generation to the next relegates US Black women to the bottom of the social hierarchy. When faced with this structural injustice targeted toward the group, many Black women have insisted on our right to define our own teality, establish our own identities, and name our history. Our significant contribution of work on domestic workers is that it documents Black women’s everyday resistance to this attempted objectification. d. Color, Hair Texture, and Standards of Beauty Although most Black women typically resist being objectified as the other, these controlling images remain powerful influences on thei relationships with Whites, Black men, other racial/ethnic groups, and one another. Dealing with prevailing standards of beauty (particularly skin color, facial features, and hair texture) is one specific example how controlling images derogate African-American women. 21 Now, if you’re white you’re all right, If you’re brown, stick around, But if you’re black, Git back! Git back! Git back! (http://www.lyrics download.com/big-bill-broonzy-black-brown-and-white-lyrics html). Prevailing standards of beauty claim that no matter how intelligent, educated, or “beautiful” a Black woman may be, those Black women whose features and skin color are most Aftican must “git back”. Within the binary thinking that underpins intersecting oppressions,; blue-eyed, blond, thin White women could not be considered beautiful without the other (Black women with African features of dark skin, broad noses, full lips, and kinky hair). Race, gender, and sexuality converge on this issue of evaluating beauty. Black men’s blackness penalizes them but because they are not women, valuations of their self-worth do not depend as heavily on their physical attractiveness. In contrast, part of the objectification of all women lies in evaluating how they look. Within the binary thinking, White and Black women as collectives represent two opposing poles, with Latinas, Asian-American women, and Native American women jockeying for positions in between. Judging White women by their physical appearance and the attractiveness to men appraises them but their White skin and straight hair simultaneously privilege them in a system that elevates whiteness over blackness. In contrast, African-American women experience the pain of never being able to live up prevailing standards of beauty (standard uses by White men, White women, Black men, and, most painfully, one another.) Regardless of any individual woman’s subjective reality, this is system of ideas that she encounters. Because controlling 24 Theories on metaphor, simile, symbol, repetition, and tone are needed to find out those intrinsic elements in the poems and to answer the the first problem formulation. Combined with the answer of first problem formulation, the theory on black feminism and review on black feminism hystory in U.S. are needed to answer the second problem formulation. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The object of the study of this paper is Maya Angelou poems’ “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman” which are taken from her book entitled The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou, published by Random House Publishing Group in 1994, “Still I Rise”, which consists of 8 stanzas and 43 lines, generally tells about the spirit about to rise up whereas “Phenomenal Woman”, consisting of 5 stanza and 61 lines, generally describes about confident woman. Those poems tell about the spirit to rise up and about the confident woman, but they also talk about the Black women although the poems do not state anything explicitly but thei implicit messages can be relatively easy to understand. B. Approach of the Study Since the poems are about black women, it is appropriate to approach it through feminist literary criticism. Feminist literary criticism passes the notion that women also have a voice to speak about their life; the unfairness they receive as women. The basic objective is to assure everyone that literary is not a male dominated area; that the works of literature are not an exclusive media for men to share their stories. Through literature, the life of women with all of the aspects can be 25 26 analyzed. This is a study of women’s voice, despite of her race, class, and culture, with the aim to diminish the term ‘second sex’ entitled to women. Wilfred L Guerin, in A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature states: Despite their diversity, the feminist critics generally agree that their goals are to expose patriarchal premises and resulting prejudices, to promote discovery and reevaluation of literature by women, and to examine social, cultural, and psychosexual context of literature and literary criticism. Feminist critics therefore study sexual, social and political issues once thought to be “outside” the study of literature (Guerin, 1999:197). Thus, the approach is applied in analyzing the condition of black women who are discriminated and oppressed in the poems. White men, black men, white women, and the society oppress them. The oppression causes black women to rise struggling for their voice. C. Method of the Study The writer employs the library research as the method of study. The primary source used in this paper is mostly gained from the poems, “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman”, as the main data. The secondary sources are mostly taken from Black American Women Writing: A Quilt of Many Colors (1994), and Black Feminism Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and The Politics of Empowerment (2000). Others data are obtained from the internet and encyclopedias which contain telated information required to analyze this paper. The research took some steps to answer the problems. The first step was to tead and study some theories on symbol, metaphor, simile, repetition, tone, and black 29 1. “Still I Rise” In this poem, Maya Angelou wants to tell about her survival, about her struggle, about her bravery against something. It is said against something because in first stanza, it is still blurred. She says that she allows someone to write down a history about her. In line 2, if someone tells something about her, those are big lies because the truths have been twisted to lies. She accepts that someone wants to put her in the past with untrue history. You may write me down in history (1) With your bitter, twisted lies, (2) Angelou allows someone to crush or step on her in the very dirty place. She wants to say that she allows someone to treat her bad. The idea in lines 1 to 3 is about underestimation and hatred of someone to Maya Angelou. Although she is underestimated and hated, she does not give up and she stays positive. It appears in what she says in line 4 that she will rise and always still. The words ‘like dust’ are used as simile to depict the passionate of her rise. She depicts her rise highly like dust; the dust will fly higher and freely and will be rising if it is blown by the wind. You may trod me in the very dirt (3) But still, like dust, I'll rise. (4) Then in the second stanza, Angelou begins to ask question to someone why she is underestimated and hated. She asks whether her ‘sassiness’ makes someone who hates her upset. The word ‘sassiness’ contains ambiguous meaning. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, ‘sassy’ means rude or showing lack of tespect and it also means lively and fashionable. The two meanings are applicable, if 30 they are connected to the first stanza. The interpretation of first meaning is after what she has suffered in first stanza, Maya Angelou reacts with anger by asking, “Does Angelou’s sassiness upset someone?” It is perhaps Angelou’s lack of respect of someone makes someone upset. Another interpretation is in the second stanza Maya Angelou asks confidently whether someone upset or envies her because she is fashionable and lively. Does my sassiness upset you? (5) In line 6, Maya Angelou asks again to someone why he or she affects her in unpleasant way with sad feeling and without hope. Why are you beset with gloom? (6) If Angelou’s question in line 6 is connected to her self-answered question in line 7 and 8, it contains ambiguous interpretation. The first interpretation is no matter how hard someone hates her; it will be useless because she will stay happy and optimistic. Although someone threatens her and the threat may sadden her, she is still happy. In line 7, the simile is used again. She is happy as if she has a lot of money because she finds the oil wells. Because she has plenty oils in the wells, she pumps it and pours it in the living room. She asks “Why do you beset me with gloom?”, and she explains that what someone does is useless because she will still be happy “because I walk happily like I have got oil wells”. Envy is the second interpretation of the reason why someone besets her with gloomy. Someone envies her because Angelou walks happily as if she is rich woman who just get oil wells. She asks “why are you beset 31 me with the gloom? Is it because I walk happily like I have got oil wells” and because of that you envy me. Why are you beset with gloom? (6) ‘Cause I walk like I've got oil wells (7) Pumping in my living room. (8) In the following, Maya Angelou explains with the simile how high she wants to rise. She explains that she will rise very high like moon and sun. In line 11, she adds that she will rise very high like hopes that people ever wish. A hope in positive way is always followed by high desire, and according to Angelou, it is the desire that springs high. Just like moons and like suns, (9) With the certainty of tides, (10) Just like hopes springing high, (11) Still I'll rise. (12) The next stanza explains what Angelou thinks about what someone expects from her. She thinks that someone really wants her to be broken, to see her desperate and fall with bowed head and eyes. Someone thinks that Angelou does not have guts. Someone wants her to lose and fail to rise like what Maya Angelou does. Someone wants her to be weak because of her cries. Maya Angelou chooses some negative words to describe someone’s hatred towards her, such as ‘broken’, ‘weakened’, ‘teardrop’, ‘cries’ and ‘soulful’, and unhappy body gestures like ‘bowed head’, ‘lowered eyes’, ‘shoulders falling down’ which mean expressing or causing deep or sad feeling. Did you want to see me broken? (13) Bowed head and lowered eyes? (14) 34 Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. (34) Leaving behind nights of terror and fear (35) Trise (36) Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear (37) Trise (38) Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, (39) Iam the dream and the hope of the slave. (40) Trise (41) Trise (42) Trise. (43) In line 29, Maya Angelou uses metaphor “out of huts of history’s shame” which means she leaves out the shame she had suffered in the past and makes it a history. She does not make it as a burden because she rises and leaves her history. Line 31 is closely connected with line 29, because they talk about the past. In line 31, metaphor ‘up from a past that’s rooted in pain’ means that she gets up from the painful past. She rises by living in the present and forgetting her past. Out of the huts of history's shame (29) Trise (30) Up from a past that's rooted in pain (31) Trise (32) Maya Angelou depicts herself as a black leaping wide ocean which is welling and swelling in the tide. It is metaphor. The words ‘black, ‘leaping’ and ‘wide’ in line 33 are closely related. Angelou tries to say that she is a strong and great woman. The ocean is welling and swelling in the tide. She wants to tell that she will rise and move forward in the bad or good condition like the ocean that its wave is rising and sometimes becomes larger than normal in the rise and fall the ocean. I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, (33) Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. (34) 35 With her greatness and strength, she leaves behind the ‘nights of terror and fear’ given by someone, to a wondrously clear daybreak that is no terror and fear. The word ‘night’ is used to depicts how dark or terrible the terror and fear, in the contrary ‘wondrously clear daybreak’ is used to depict how happy she is after leaving behind the terror and fear. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear (35) Trise (36) Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear (37) Trise (38) There are two possibilities about who someone or ‘you’ is actually. The first possibility is that someone is a woman or female. In line 25, Angelou asks again whether her sexiness make someone upset. From this statement, there is a big possibility that ‘someone’ that Angelou is talking about is a female because female will envy or upset seeing another female sexiness, in contrast, male will attract with female sexiness. She asks the woman whether the woman is surprised seeing Angelou dances as if she just gets the diamonds on her tight that makes her happy and looks sexier. Does my sexiness upset you? (25) Does it come as a surprise (26) That I dance like I've got diamonds (27) At the meeting of my thighs? (28) The second is that someone is a man. Man means both white and black man. In line 40, Angelou mentions about slave, that she is the dream and the hope of the slave. Maya Angelou is the hope of the slave, of black women who are enslaved. She struggles to black women awakening of discrimination from white men. Black 36 women do not only suffer because of white people, but also because of black men. In line 31, she rises from past that rooted in pain because of white and black men. In line 35, she leaves behind the terror and fear that is invoked by the white and black men. Up from a past that's rooted in pain (31) Trise (32) Leaving behind nights of terror and fear (35) Trise (36) Iam the dream and the hope of the slave. (40) In lines 4 and 12, Angelou says that she will rise, but in other lines especially in eighth stanza she says that she rises. It means that she makes the idea of rise to an act of real rise. In this poem, Angelou depicts the process of rise. At first, she wishes to rise like air and hope that springing high, but then she makes it real because she is tired of someone treated her badly. She rises because she is able to get up from the past and forget the bad treatments, she rises because she successfully leaves behind the terror and fear that spur on her spirit and effort to rise, and she rises because she is the dream and the hope of the slave to rise against discrimination. Cynical, mocking, and full of spirit are the tone of the poem. She is cynical when she asks rhetorical questions about her superiority: Does my sassiness upset you? (5) Does my haughtiness offend you? (17) Does my sexiness upset you? (25) ‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells (7) She is cynical because she already knows she possesses the superiority that she asks to both someone and ‘you’ in the poem and moreover, her superiority envies and 39 They think that beauty is having a good-looking face and an ideal body whereas in Maya perception, beauty is how someone acts confidently without considering face, and body’s size. But when I start to tell them, (3) They think I'm telling lies. (4) Her confidence appears in lines 6 to 9, lines 22 to 25, lines 38 to 41, and lines 53 to 56. Her confidence is depicted by describing movements, gestures, and shapes of every part of her body. Line 6 to 9 indicates that Angelou is such a confident woman when she says that her beauty is ‘in her reach of her arms’ or in her arms’ size. It does not matter whether the reach is short, long, or average but she is confident that her beauty lies in her arms. She is also confident with hips’ size, her long step when she walks, and her curl lips. Those movements depict how confident she really is. It's in the reach of my arms (6) The span of my hips, (7) The stride of my step, (8) The curl of my lips. (9) In lines 22 to 25, she says that her beauty lies in every single part of the movement she makes. Her beauty lies in the fire in her eyes. Fire symbolizes passion and power. Fire in her eyes depicts that she is a passionate and powerfull woman. She says that her beauty lies ‘in the flash of her teeth’; she wants to say that her beauty lies in her smile because we can see someone’s white teeth as if it is flash when someone is smiling. She says that her beauty lies ‘in the swing in her waist’, she want to say that she is confident and looks pretty whenever she swings her waist. The joy 40 in her feet means that Angelou is an optimistic woman; wherever she walks, she will always be happy. It's the fire in my eyes, (22) And the flash of my teeth, (23) The swing in my waist, (24 And the joy in my feet. (25) In lines 38 to 41, she says her beauty lies ‘in the arch of her back’ or in her curve shape back. We do not know yet whether she has sexy back or not but it teflects that she is such a confident woman. Her confidence also appears in line 40; ‘the ride of her breasts’ or in her breast’s huge size that makes her confident and looks sexier. She says her beauty lies in ‘the sun of her smile’. Sun symbolizes happiness, optimism, or positive manner. It is stated in line 39; ‘the sun of her smile’, it means that she is a happy and optimism woman. The grace of her style states that Angelou looks elegant with her style. It portrays her confidence. It's in the arch of my back, (38) The sun of my smile, (39) The ride of my breasts, (40) The grace of my style. (41) Her self-description lastly appears in lines 53 to 56, where she says that the short and sharp sound of her heels makes her prettier and confident. She is also confident with the shape of her curved hair. Lines 55 and 56 depict that Maya Angelou is a motherly woman. The affection comes from ‘the palm of her hand’ It's in the click of my heels, (53) The bend of my hair, (54) the palm of my hand, (55) The need of my care, (56) 4 She portrays herself when she walks into a room. She walks coolly into a toom, and then men in that room, who are interested and not interested to her gather around her. Angelou depicts those men using metaphor. Men are considered as honeybees when they gather around her. They swarm or crowd around her like a large colony of honeybees that gathers in the nest. I walk into a room (14) Just as cool as you please, (15) And to a man, (16) The fellows stand or (17) Fall down on their knees. (18) Then they swarm around me, (19) A hive of honey bees. (20) It is not only pretty women who wonder where Angelou’s beauty lies, but men also wonder. She says that men try so much what they see in her but they do not find. They can not find and touch her inner mystery. Inner mystery represents Maya Angelou’s confidence. What men and pretty women wonder is where the beauty of Angelou lies, they wonder about Angelou’s inner mystery. From the beginning until end of the poem, Angelou implicitly states that her beauty lies in her inner mystery and the inner mystery is confident. She says inner because it does not appear in her face or body but the confidence is in her mind, because of that, they can not see her inner beauty with bare eyes. She is beautiful because she is confident of herself. She is confident with the movements she makes. She is confident and thinks that she is pretty although she does not have cute face and proportional body. Confidence is the key of her beauty. Men themselves have wondered (30) 44 B. Black Feminism in the Poems It is mentioned in chapter II that Black feminism is a branch of feminist thought which highlights the multiple disadvantages of gender, class and race that shape the experiences of black or African-American women. Black feminists reject the idea of a single unified gender oppression that is experienced evenly by all women, and argue that early feminist analysis reflected the specific concerns of white, middle-class women. In “Still I Rise”, the writer will explain about multiple disadvantages of gender and race that is suffered by black woman because of white (both male and female) and black men, whereas in “Phenomenal Woman” the writer will explain about disadvantages of class and race that is caused by the standard of beauty in society that makes gap between black and white women. 1. Black Feminism in “Still I Rise” It is stated in analysis above that ‘I’ in the poem is Maya Angelou herself. It is according to the writer that ‘I’ in “Still I Rise” represents Black women. In this poem, Maya Angelou tells how Black women rise and do not give up with white community (both male and female, but male especially), and black men bad treatments. It begins when British people brought Black people to the new world, America, to trade as slaves because White people needed many workers to build infrastructures and to work in the plantations. White people found that Black people was the right resolution to fulfill the lack of workers they need. Therefore, the white imported Black people from Afiican 45 to trade as slave. In the process, they prefer Black women rather than Black men to be slaves because Black women are able to produce children as easily as ammals, and their children are the valuable unt of property of the slave owner, as Collins states in Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment: During slavery the breeder woman image portrayed Black women as more suitable for having children than white woman. By claiming that Black woman were able to produce children as easily as animals, this image provided justification for interference in enslaved African-American’s lives. Slave’s owner wanted enslaved American to ‘breed’ because every slave child born represented a valuable unit of property (Collins, 2000: 78). Efforts to control Black women’s sexuality were tied directly to slave owner’ effort to increase the number of children their female slaves produced. Historian Deborah Gray White writes, “Slave master wanted adolescent girls to have children, and to this end they practiced a passive, through insidious kind of breeding” (White, 1985: 98). With more slaves, a slave owner can gain more profit. Those are the techniques such as assigning pregnant women lighter workload, giving pregnant women more attention and rations, and rewarding prolific women with bonuses were all used to increase Black women’s reproduction. Another reason why White people choose Black women rather than Black men is because Black women are mules that economically exploitative, physically demanding, and stupid. It is stated in Collins’ Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment: Work might be better conceptualized by examining the range of work that African-American women actually perform. Work as alienated labor can be 46 economically exploitative, physically demanding, and intellectually deadening. Black women’s status that do those things are called “mule” (Collins, 2000: 48). Mule, according to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, means an animal that is the young of a donkey. Black women are associated as donkeys that are fool and can be exploited. White men do not only give bad treatment, but they also give bad image to Black women. The sexual harassment of African-American women by White men contributed to image of Black women as fair game for all men. Black women also suffered because of Black men who should be their protector. We poor colored women wage-earners in the south are fighting a terrible battle.. on the other hand, we are assailed by black men, who should be our natural protectors; and, whether in the cook kitchen, at the washtub, over the sewing machine, behind the baby carriage, or at the ironing board, we are little, pre than pack horses, beast of burden, slaves! (Lerner 1972, 157). The explanations above are the reason why Maya Angelou states in first stanza that she allows White people write in the history everything about Black women’s bitterness and fact that is untrue about them in the past. She allows White people trod them, to treat bad and underestimate the Black women. In last line of first stanza, Maya Angelou states that black women will rise in the White people oppress. You may write me down in history (1) With your bitter, twisted lies, (2) You may trod me in the very dirt (3) But still, like dust, I'll rise. (4) Considering Black women as mule, doing sexual harassment to Black women, creating bad images, and enslaving Black women are the facts that White people want 49 To outsider Sara Brooks may appear to be an exploited domestic worker victimized by the racial politics of an unfair labor market and the sexual politics of having too many children. But when she states, “if they was scornful of me, I’m the same way about them”, she taps a powerfil yet overlooked part of U.S. Black women’s activism. She has not only survived her experiences with intersecting oppressions, but she clearly rejects their ideological justifications (Simonsen, 1986: 201). Sara Brooks’s the way of thinking which oppose and survive in the discriminations of White’s oppression is the representation of Black women’s way of thinking. They struggle and create chances to oppose White’s oppression and determination. The oppression of Black women’s idea within White-controlled social institutions led Black women to use music, literature, daily conversations, and everyday behavior as important locations for constructing a Black feminist consciousness. Black women writers use literature to provide a view of Black women’s struggle to form positive self-definitions (Collins, 1998: 32-43). Maya Angelou uses her poem “Still I Rise” to portray Black women’s struggle and against White’s oppression and Black women’s willingness to rise from White’s oppression. She portrays Black women’s rise after bad experience they suffered. In the first stanza, she portrays that Black women will rise although white people say something untrue about them. In the third stanza, she depicts that Black women will rise very high. In sixth stanza, she portrays that Black women will rise although they are treated badly or even worst. Black women do not only suffer because of white people bad treatment, but also because of black men. Black women have always been told by black men that they are black, ugly, evil, bitches and 50 whores, in other words, black women are the real niggers in this society, oppressed by whites, male and female, and the black man, too. Indirectly, she orders Black women to rise in this poem. In last stanza, she tepeats ‘I rise’ several times. She challenges and orders Black women to rise from White oppression. In lines 39 and 40, Maya Angelou says to Black women that they should be proud of their origin because they bring the gift that their ancestors gave to them. They are also the hope and dream of the slaves who are oppressed. Because of that, they should rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, (39) Iam the dream and the hope of the slave. (40) Maya Angelou’s idea in this poem is similar to what Maria Stewart says in front of Black women that they should awake and rise. They should oppose White oppression and they should not be defenseless victims. They should show to the world that Black women are impressive, powerful and should not be underestimated. Such consciousness as present in Maria Stewart’s 1831 speech advising the “daughter of Africa” to “Awake! Arise! No longer sleep nor slumber, but distinguish yourself. Show forth to the world that ye are endowed with noble and exalted faculties (Richardson, 1987: 30). Maya Angelou and Maria Stewart have known that Black women suffered injustice in the system for long time ago. If Black women lose their passion to awake, they will be dumped in the lowest class in the social hierarchy, as Collins states in Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment: US Black women have long recognized the fundamental injustice of a system that routinely and from one generation to the next relegates US Black women to the bottom of the social hierarchy (Collins, 2000: 72). Sl 2. Black Feminism in “Phenomenal Woman” “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman” are two poems of Maya Angelou which reflect about Black feminism. “Still I Rise” deals with Black women’s slavery or discrimination towards Black woman by White people, whereas “Phenomenal Woman” deals with Black women, White women, and their different point of view in seeing beauty. In the second poem “Phenomenal Woman”, Maya Angelou tells that she is such a confident woman who proudly claims that she is beautiful although the others do not feel the same. If “Phenomenal Woman” is seen from Black Feminism’s view, it is invitation or we can say that it is order to Black women to be confident. She asks Black women to be confident because of standard of beauty system in the daily life. The application of standard of beauty in the society makes Black women suffer and derogate. It is stated in Collins’ Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment that Black women actually reject the idea of standard of beauty because controlling images must have powerful influence in the society. It is said that dealing with skin color, facial feature, and hair texture are how controlling image derogate Black women. Although most Black women typically resist being objectified as the other, these controlling images remain powerful influences on our relationships with Whites, Black men, other racial/ethnic groups, and one another. Dealing with prevailing standards of beauty (particularly skin color, facial features, and hair texture) is one specific example how controlling images derogate Afiican- American women (Collins, 2000: 89). 54 In “Phenomenal Women”, Maya Angelou emphasizes that to be beauty, a Black woman does not have to have lighter skin, slim, blond-straight hair, or another White woman features, and in lines 1 n 2 she states that she does not match with the standard of beauty at all. A Black woman has just to be herself with her confident. With confidence, Maya Angelou believes that beauty will glow from every part of her body: It's in the reach of my arms (6) The span of my hips, (7) The stride of my step, (8) The curl of my lips. (9) It's the fire in my eyes, (22) And the flash of my teeth, (23) The swing in my waist, (24 And the joy in my feet. (25) It's in the arch of my back, (38) The sun of my smile, (39) The ride of my breasts, (40) The grace of my style. (41) It's in the click of my heels, (53) The bend of my hair, (54) the palm of my hand, (55) The need of my care, (56) In “Phenomenal Woman”, Maya Angelou expects Black women to be themselves with their confident way rather than following the standard of beauty that has followed by White men, White women, and Black men. New understanding of beauty that has stated by Maya Angelou would necessarily change the type of mirrors help up to Black women to judge Black women’s beauty. CHAPTER V CONCLUSION In order to have vivid conclusion, it is better for the writer to mention again the problem formulations that have been analyzed. The first problem asks what Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman” talk about. First problem is analyzed by paraphrasing word per word. Words that contain metaphor, sumile, tepetition, and symbol appear in these poems. The writer also analyzes the tone of these poems in order to know the mood of Maya Angelou in every poem. Second problem asks about the portrayal of Black feminism in Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman”. In answering the second problem, the writer gives the teaders proves that Black feminism really exists in these two poems by using review of black feminism history in the U.S. to support the analysis of first problem. Maya Angelou uses many phrases that contains simile in “Still I Rise”. Maya Angelou uses the simile before she says that she will be rise to depict the passionate of her rise, and she uses the simile after she does something to express how happy she is. She uses metaphor in “Still I Rise” to explain white men’s hate to black women, and with the hatefulness white men can do anything to harm black women who can only accept and can not resist. In the other lines, metaphor exists to tell that she has risen and leaving her bad history (slavery and discrimination black woman has suffered), living in the present and forgetting her past. Metaphor is also used to depict that black woman is strong and great. Repetition in “Still I Rise” shows that 55 56 Maya Angelou wants to emphasize the spirit of black women to rise. Tone in “Still I Rise” shows that Maya Angelou’s mood is full of spirit to ask black women to rise. Symbolic word is absent in “Still I Rise”. The analysis word per word in “Still I Rise” leads the reader to the information that there is a clash among black women versus white people (both male and female) and black men. Black women suffer because of bad treatment of white people who consider them as slave, and because of that, black women would do anything to rise from white men’s oppression. Black men really derogate them and they do not appreciate black women as wives and women. In “Phenomenal Woman”, metaphor and simile do not appear. “Phenomenal Woman” portrays the confidence of a black woman. Maya Angelou tells her confidence by telling the reader how beauty she is. She tells the details of her beauty that her beauty lies in every part of her body and her movement, and the most important is she tells it in confident way. She also uses symbolic words to depict her beauty. She uses ‘fire’ to symbolize the power, she says that her beauty lies in the power of her eyes. She uses ‘sun’ to symbolize the happiness, optimism, or positive manner; she says that her beauty lies in the happy smile. “Phenomenal Woman” asks woman (in general) to be confident of herself to think and act that she is beautiful. A woman should not be shame if she does not include in the criteria of beauty (slim, white, blonde, straight hair etc) because the real beauty lies in self-confidence. The tone in “Phenomenal Woman” shows that Maya Angelou is really confidence to claim that she is beauty although men and the pretty woman do not think the same. BIBLIOGRAPHY Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. London: Oxford University Press, 1971. . 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