Just like Job Flashcards
Religion (37 cards)
The speaker has a…
deep desire for divine love
Angelou presents a metaphorical journey…
through adversity, which faith empowers us to confront
5 Big Ideas
- When an individual questions faith, they experience distress and suffering
- Faith endures through the hardships of life
- Obedience and reliance is a part of faith
- Speaker finds joy and can over come challenges through religion
- Experiencing faith is different for everyone
“My Lord, my lord”
The repetition highlights the speaker´s urgency and anguished tone.
The frequent invocation of God´s name is a central motif in the poem -> It emphasises the significance of prayer during moments of adversities.
Lexical field of suffering: “cried”, “screams”
Dramatizes the speaker´s distress as he “searche[s] the heavens for [God]”
“My screams searched the heavens for Thee”
(look closely at the personification of “Screams”)
The metaphor portrays the speaker´s longing for divine connection.
“Screams” is personified:
(meaning that the have become an entity)
to emphatically convey the speaker´s desperate attempts in trying to obtain an answer from God in order to achieve spiritual fulfilment and understanding.
Universal message:
Highlights the intrinsic nature of human desire which is to find solace and guidance from a divine source.
“sun” and “moon”
The celestial imagery represents the speaker´s ongoing search, even though there may be bad days
“Rags and bones / were all I owned.”
The affirmative tone in the imagery illustrates how the speaker maintained his faith even though he was reduced to nothing.
“Rags and bones”
(imagery and sibilance)
Imagery : Highlight the speaker´s poverty and suffering.
Sibilance : Tiredness and exhaustion brought upon the speaker as he is constantly pleading for a response.
“were all I owned”
Short length gives a visual representation of the little amount the speaker owns.
“My life give I gladly to Thee”
Inverted syntax + Archaic language : Follows the same style as Biblical and Religious phrases. It is also a sign of respect and formality.
The adverb, “Gladly”, portrays the speaker´s…
willingness to sacrifice his life for God. This highlights the speaker´s selflessness and loyalty.
“Deep rivers ahead / High mountains above”
Familiar metaphor for adversity.
Speaker acknowledges that life will present many challenges and he embraces them willingly as he knows that his faith in God will help him prevail over the hardships in life.
“Deep” and “High”
The adjectives depict the obstacles the speaker has yet to face
Enjambment in : “Deep rivers ahead / High mountains above”
Mirrors the water flowing in the river.
This symbolises the never ending stream of challenges the speaker has to face.
“But fears gather round like wolves in the dark”
The simile, with predatorial imagery, connotes that the speaker is haunted by his fears.
“gather round”
There is no escape. He is trapped
“wolves in the dark”
Familiar fear
The adjective “dark”…
heightens the speaker´s sense of solitude and loneliness. It also references God´s absence as the speaker calls out to him.
“Wolves”
Posses menacing and threatening connotations. Speaker seeks God´s protection, and this is shown in the anaphora as he cries : “Oh, Lord”
“Have you forgotten my name?”
Speaker feels frustrated at his abandonment.
The rhetorical question produces an accusatory tone - He doesn´t feel heard.
Alludes to Jesus’ last words on the cross
Deeper implication of : “Have you forgotten my name?”
The biggest challenges we face in religion is being able to overcome the feelings of isolation. We must not question whether God has forsaken us.
“You said”
Structural parallelism portrays God´s authority in the speaker´s life
