Poetry1978Pearson IGCSE Language A (4EA1)

Still I Rise

by Maya Angelou (1928-2014)

Angelou addresses an oppressor directly and refuses to be broken by hatred, history or contempt; the refrain "I rise" enacts the unbreakable spirit she describes.

DefianceRaceResilienceFemale strength

UK rights notice

Rights notice: © Random House / Penguin Random House on behalf of the Maya Angelou estate (1928-2014). Quotations are short fair-dealing extracts under CDPA 1988 §30 (criticism, review, quotation). For full text, students should consult the anthology (ISBN 978-1-446-93108-0), which Pearson publishes free as a PDF, or Angelou’s collection And Still I Rise (1978).

Where this text is on your exam

Read from the specification itself, not summarised from anywhere else.

Edexcel IGCSE Language (4EA1)

Assessed in

4EA1 Component 2 (Unit 2 Section A, examined) and Component 3 (Unit 3, non-examined assessment). Five poems then five prose.

Your choice

All ten texts in Part 2 are compulsory.

Part 2 of the anthology, page 29.

Source: Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Anthology, Issue 8, February 2026 (read 2026-09-19).

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The full study guide for Still I Rise is written and lives on its own page.

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Poetry1978Pearson IGCSE Language A (4EA1)

Still I Rise

by Maya Angelou (1928-2014)

Angelou addresses an oppressor directly and refuses to be broken by hatred, history or contempt; the refrain "I rise" enacts the unbreakable spirit she describes.

DefianceRaceResilienceFemale strength

UK rights notice

Rights notice: © Random House / Penguin Random House on behalf of the Maya Angelou estate (1928-2014). Quotations are short fair-dealing extracts under CDPA 1988 §30 (criticism, review, quotation). For full text, students should consult the anthology (ISBN 978-1-446-93108-0), which Pearson publishes free as a PDF, or Angelou’s collection And Still I Rise (1978).

Where this text is on your exam

Read from the specification itself, not summarised from anywhere else.

Edexcel IGCSE Language (4EA1)

Assessed in

4EA1 Component 2 (Unit 2 Section A, examined) and Component 3 (Unit 3, non-examined assessment). Five poems then five prose.

Your choice

All ten texts in Part 2 are compulsory.

Part 2 of the anthology, page 29.

Source: Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Anthology, Issue 8, February 2026 (read 2026-09-19).

The study guide is on another page

The full study guide for Still I Rise is written and lives on its own page.

Open the study guide Browse other set texts

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Still I Rise

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Still I Rise

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