An effective way to engage your students is through the creation of storyboards that examine Tone, Word Choice, Imagery, Style, and Theme. This activity is referred to with the acronym “TWIST”. In a TWIST, students focus on a particular paragraph or a few pages, to look deeper at the author’s meaning. For this activity, students will create a 5 cell storyboard, illustrating each letter of TWIST for Maya Angelou's poem “Still I Rise”.
| T | TONE |
The tone of this poem is confident and strong. Each stanza has the same format, stating ways that the oppressor tries to bring her down, but each time she rises above. |
|---|---|---|
| W | WORD CHOICE |
Angelou uses a great deal of figurative language in the poem, especially similes to show comparison. One example of this is, “‘Cause I laugh like I got gold mines, diggin’ in my backyard.” |
| I | IMAGERY |
The use of similes helps the reader visualize what the poet is trying to get across. One example of this is, “You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like dust, I rise.” |
| S | STYLE |
This is a 9 stanza poem. The lines are uneven, and the rhyme changes throughout the poem. Each stanza rhymes in some way. |
| T | THEME |
The theme of this poem is self confidence and self-respect. There are examples of this throughout the whole poem as she constantly repeats that she will rise above. |
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Due Date:
Objective: Create a TWIST analysis of "Still I Rise".
Student instructions: