Annotations for Background: Context

The "You" is not addressed to the audience, but rather a theoretical third person who embodies racial oppression and historical injustice.

Maya Angelou uses a simile, a figure of speech to explain how she will rise above opression as easy as dust flies through the air.

The figure of speech is used to explain that she holds herself with great value and her confidence is comparable to someone who is extremely wealthy.

Figure of speech using similes to compare her persistence to the tides, the sun and moon which will continue to cycle nevertheless.

The speakers laughter is a symbol of confidence and strength. She is taunting by laughing in the face of her oppressor and emphasizing her self-confidence. She is proud of who she is and finds it symultanious hilarious and ridiculous that the oppressor wants her to be ashamed of who she is because she is black.

In this simile, Angelou is referring to the idea that she is laughing as much as someone who has unlimited wealth. She is overjoyed with her life and unapologetically herself, no matter what anyone thinks of her.

This use of figure of speech is comparing gun violence and the pain inflicted by a sharp weapon to the verbal abuse and hatered commited by the oppressor. While Maya Angelou is not facing physical assault, she withstands the verbal abuse and racism. She is not allowing the theoretical "you" to diminish her self worth.

In this expression, she is sarcastically mimicking sympathy for the theoretical "you" who is upset that she is an empowered black woman.

Noise from her jewelry and clothing as she dances

This simile is expressing the value and celebration of her body. Through the use of figure of speech, she emphasizes the value of her body by comparing herself to diamonds whilst also expressing unapologetic sexual freedom.

This is a refrence to the painful history of slavery in North America. In this case, the "huts" represents slaves quarters and her being a descendant of black slaves. She is proud of being black and will not let a "shameful" past strip her of her strength. The metaphor of a "black ocean" means that she is a powerful black woman. An ocean is a force of nature that is unstoppable, so in this figure of speech she is indicating that she is relentless and will never bow down to the oppressors again.

In this quote Maya Angelou is explaining that she views her blackness as a gift and legacy that has been inherited by her ancestors.

Clap and Jewelry jingle