Final Oral Assessment - Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

You may write me down into history with your bitter, twisted lies. You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like dust, I will rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, with the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, still I will rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bow head and lowered eyes, shoulders falling down like teardrops, weakened by my sorrowful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard? 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines digging in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words. You may cut me with your eyes. You may kill me with your hatefulness. But still, like air, I will rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise that I dance like I've got diamonds at the meeting of my thighs? Out of the hearts of history, shame! I rise up from a past that is rooted in pain. I rise. I am a black ocean, leaping and wide, welling and swelling. I bear in the tide, leaving behind nights of terrors and fears. I rise into a daybreak that is wondrously clear. I rise, bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave. I am the dream. And the hopes of the slave. I rise. I rise. I rise.