Hills To Climb

TEXT:  Angelou (1978) and Gorman (2021)

  • Both poems contain some rhyming and structure but Gorman’s 2021 inaugural poem is free verse
  • Angelou also recited a poem at a presidential inaugural (in 1933 for Bill Clinton, the first since Robert Frost in 1961) but not this poem “Still I Rise”

CONTEXT: Recent Past

“The last several decades of American history have culminated in the present, an era of innovation and advancement but also of stark partisan division, racial and ethnic tension, protests, gender divides, uneven economic growth, widening inequalities, military interventions, bouts of mass violence, and pervasive anxieties about the present and future of the United States. Through boom and bust, national tragedy, foreign wars, and the maturation of a new generation, a new chapter of American history is busy being written.” —American Yawp, Chapter 30

Jan 6th

SUBTEXT:  Resilience

  • How much does Amanda Gorman’s poem seem to reflect upon earlier American poetry and prose?  Does she seem to owe any debts to Maya Angelou?

METHODS CENTER:  Student Hall of Fame