Read the initial posting of at least two of your classmates. Include in your response an analysis of each classmates’ thesis, by answering the following questions:

1. 1. Does the thesis include the two specific literary devices and a universal theme?
   2. Could the theme the student identified be more specific? Explain.
   3. Has the student included two quotes from the story?
   4. Has the student explained how each quote supports the thesis statement?
   5. Identify another quote that supports the student’s theme and explain how it does so, OR identify a quote that creates a problem or seems to contradict the student’s thesis statement and explain how it does so.
   6. Discuss the biblical quote the student has chosen and whether you agree or disagree with the student’s analysis of the biblical perspective of the poem.
   7. Read the headnote on James Weldon Johnson (pp. 292-294). Read James Weldon Johnson’s “The Creation” (pp. 298-300). What reason for creating the world does Johnson attribute to God in the first stanza? The reason that Johnson attribute to God creating the world is God said I’m lonely, I’ll make me a world.2. What do you think Johnson’s reason was for portraying God as having this human emotion? I think Johnson’s reason for portraying God as having this human emotion, because Johnson’s want the readers to think God is just like human being which have emotional. Such as having feeling. happy, sad or mad, lovely3. Aside from giving God a reason for creating the world, identify another difference between the portrayal of the Creation Story in Johnson’s poem and the biblical account in Genesis chapters (1-2. )Provide a possible reason that Johnson may have changed the story in this way. God was happy with the things that he created, Genesis 1:31¹God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. (BibleGateway.com) Johnson may have change the story this way because he may have wanted people’s to think about the many ways that God could have created the world and why he did it.. What effect does Johnson’s portrayal have on your perception of God? Explain your reactions to the poem, positive or negative, and support your answer with specific references to the poem. Johnson’s portray have on my perception of God is that God is lonely in heaven, so he begin to form a world with sun, moon, stars, flower, tree, and man My reactions to the poem is positive”,And there the great God Almighty, who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky” (Johnson, The Creation)5. Read the headnote on Maya Angelou (p. 301). Watch these two videos: Maya Angelou on her Childhood and Maya Angelou Reciting “Still I Rise.” To whom does the poem seem to be addressed? Explain your reasoning. Maya Angelou poem seem to addressed man that sexually assault her in her life and she letting the world know that she is going to rise above in life, no matter what her circumstance was in the past.

      6. Give an example from the poem of a concrete image Angelou uses to invoke a feeling or to make a statement. Explain the function of the image in the poem. In your explanation, consider the color of the image, and discuss whether its color is significant. For an example Angelou use “Did you want to see me broken? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, weakened by my soulful cries” to describe how she think the person might want her to be, after he or she hurt Angelou but she is determine to move forward in her life. I consider the color black because she mentions I’m a black ocean, leaving behind nights of terror and fear stating that she has been terror and she is fear and she is determine to rise out of her circumstance .. (Maya Angelous, Still I Rise)

      7 Give an example of a specific literary device Angelou uses in this poem and label it correctly. (Review Glossary 3.4 to refresh your memory about options.) A specific literary device Angelou uses in this poem is smile, ‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines

      8. The tone of a poem can be expressed in a single adjective. How would you identify the tone of this poem? Give three examples of diction (word choice) that help to establish this tone. The tone of this poem is festive, optimistic and assertive.

      9. Compose a thesis statement for one of these two poems using this structure: “(Author name)’s poem (title) uses (specific literary device #1) and (specific literary device #2) to show that universal them.

      Maya Angelous poem “Still I Rise, specifically describes the reasons why Maya Angelous had so much confidence; even if she’s judged by her appearances and mindset. Maya uses her negative experience in life and turn it into a positive one, and she demonstrate how people’s can have self-confidence in their life by turning a bad experience into a positive one.

      10 Select two quotations from the poem you have chosen and explain how they can be used to support your thesis statement. “Did you want to see me broken? “ You may cut me with your eyes” These two quotations from the poem support my thesis because they are describing the ways that a person is feeling when trying to get out a message about the situation that had encounter in my life.

      11. Explain how the tone and/or message of the poem you have selected compares with the biblical worldview. Would the bible support or condemn the poet’s message and/or tone? Include at least one biblical quote to support your answer. The tone of this poem is hopeful, self-confidence and encouraging to someone compares with the biblical worldview that gives scripture that are hopeful and give self confidence to anyone that is going through trail and tribulation in their life. Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.(Biblegateway.com) I support this poem it has a powerful message, it gives a person self-confidence, hope and some feeling of justice within

      STUDENT 2:

      1. The reason that Johnson attributes to God for creating the world is that he was lonely and wanted company.
      2. I think that Johnson’s reason for portraying God as having this human emotion was to show that we are made in the image of God and to show how important community and being with people is.
      3. Another difference between the portrayal of the Creation Story in Johnson’s poem and the biblical account is that in Johnson’s poem, he makes God has movements. God is moving around and molding things in his hands as he is creating the world. In the biblical account, God speaks and things appear. I think that a possible reason that Johnson changed the story in this way is that he wanted to emphasize how personal God is and that he literally made the world with his hands.
      4. I think the effect Johnson’s portrayal has on my perception of God, is that God is personal and God is involved in our world. my reaction to this poem is positive. I thought it was an interesting and fun way to portray the creation of the world. I like how Johnson made God so energetic and involved. “And God walked, and where he trod—His footsteps hollowed the valleys out—And bulged the mountaintops.”
      5. It seems that Maya Angelou is addressing the poem to the people who have tried to bring her down. She talks about how throughout years and years people have tried to bring her down and make her seem terrible, but she talks about perseverance and overcoming her barriers.
      6. An example of the poem of where Angelou makes a statement is in stanza 3. She talks about how she is like the moon, the sun, and the tides because she will still rise no matter what. the function of this image in the poem is that it is proving that she is powerful.
      7. An example of a specific literary device Angelou uses in this poem is a simile comparing herself to air. She says, “But still, like air, I rise.”
      8. I would identify the tone of this poem to be confident in herself. Three examples of diction in the poem to establish this tone would be, “Still Ill rise,” “That I dance like ive got diamonds,” and “Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines.”
      9. Maya Angelou’s poem Still I Rise she uses similes and tone to show that no matter one’s past and what people may say and do, one can still rise to overcome those barriers.
      10. “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.”

      “Up from the past that’s rooted in pain

      I rise.”

      1. I would say that the bible would support the confidence of Angelou in her ability to overcome bad things and her ability to persevere. Joshua 1:9 says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”