When We Dead Awaken

748 Words2 Pages

Tradition becomes a problem when it stops the effectiveness or growth of something or someone. Although there are many traditions that are good, we should not be held hostage to them nor ostracized because we break them. The writers of these essays continue to expand boundaries and challenge audiences by breaking the hold of traditional writing styles.

I am impressed, amazed and challenged by the writing styles of these authors. These essays have allowed me to think outside the box and go against the grain. Some people may view Adrienne Rich as radical or out of control. I have to disagree and consider her as a writer with controlled thoughts who refuses to be defined by what society says is politically correct. This is shown in part of her statement when she accepts the national book award. “We together accept this award in the name of all women whose voices have gone and still go unheard in a patriarchal world, and in the name of those who, like us, have been tolerated as token women in this culture, often at great cost and in great pain. We dedicate this occasion ot the struggle for self-determination of all women, of every color, identification, or deprived class, the women who will understand what we are doing here and those who will not understand yet the silent women who have given us the strength to do our work” (Bartholomae & Petrosky 518).

In the essay “When We Dead Awaken” Rich makes an interesting point when she says “It’s exhilarating to be alive in a time of awakening consciousness; it can also be confusing, disorienting and painful” (Bartholomae & Petrosky 522). Rich shows us the triumph of our consciousness being exposed to a new revelation and at the same time gives us a reality of the turmoil this awakening might bring.

I define the word turmoil in this case as disorienting, confusing and painful. This does not mean the awakening will never be exhilarating, but there will be a process to getting there. Rich’s poems show a process of writing styles during different phases of her life. She talked about how she needed to find, “anger that is creative, until I can tap into the very rich ocean I think my work was constrained in certain ways” (Bartholomae & Petrosky 517).

The dynamic between a political vision

Show More
Related

  • Joy Castro On Being Educated Analysis

    469 Words  | 1 Pages

    Castro “[has] learned not to back down” (Castro 269) in the face of a differing opinion; this is unlike many other writers. It is for this reason that Castro’s writing inspires me to resist the idea that the type of writing that belongs in “the academy” is not for others to necessarily see, but for the people fortunate enough to read it themselves. The power of words and information is universally essential in all its forms, and this type of communication is vital for any sort of improvement or awareness. The passage about Castro’s feminist professor who writes about the Violence Against Women Act is a perfect example of what Castro depicts as one of the downsides of “the academy.” The essay her professor writes could potentially “help protect thousands of women,” but instead it is categorized as an “academic journal” (Castro 266) and most likely will not be accessed by those in need. Lastly, Castro inspires me by emphasizing the need to broaden the origins of authors that are read and interpreted to those who were actually affected by heavy issues. Writing that belongs in “the academy” should be eye-opening and not full of common

    Read More

  • Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women's Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Setting in The Awakening

    2217 Words  | 5 Pages

    New Essays on The Awakening. Ed. Wendy Martin. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1988.

    Read More

  • The Power of the Written Word: Literary Greats Paving the Way for Social Equality

    1276 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history, women have struggled with, and fought against oppression. They have been held back and weighed down by the sexist ideas of a male dominated society which has controlled cultural, economic and political ideas and structure. During the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s women became more vocal and rebuked sexism and the role that had been defined for them. Fighting with the powerful written word, women sought a voice, equality amongst men and an identity outside of their family. In many literary writings, especially by women, during the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s, we see symbols of oppression and the search for gender equality in society. Writing based on their own experiences, had it not been for the works of Susan Glaspell, Kate Chopin, and similar feminist authors of their time, we may not have seen a reform movement to improve gender roles in a culture in which women had been overshadowed by men.

    Read More

  • Examination of Women's Friendships through an Analysis of Katherine Philips' Friendship's Mystery

    4227 Words  | 9 Pages

    of twentieth century critic Adrienne Rich's essay "When We Dead Awaken: Writing for Re-Vision" ...

    Read More

  • Sexism In Kimberle Crenshaw's 'Black Girls Matter'

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    She creates an ideology about how black girls face barriers that undermine their well-being. They are completely ignored by national initiatives, unlike white females who have an upper hand because of power and privilege, simply because of their whiteness. In America, people of power should help young girls of color, overcome discrimination and sexism against them through the use of national initiatives. They need to focus more or equally on initiatives for girls of color rather than just for boys or global programs like ‘Let Girls

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Living The Revolution By Gloria Steinem

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...requent use of these appeals and strategies evokes a true response of sympathy and urgency to get a start on the revolution to gain women’s rights and equality. Steinem’s goal of her commencement speech to the graduating class of Vassar is not to relay stereotypical “entering the world with high hopes and dreams” advice, but to advocate social and political changes in America’s young, new future. She promotes social reform and helps to redefine what the feminist movement stands for. If society does not learn to unlearn the “traditionalist” ways, it will not move foreword in its attempt to exonerate women, men, and minorities from their preconceived and stereotypical roles. This argument is not only about the growth of women’s rights and power, but about the idea of humanism and that we all need to be liberated in order to initiate advancement of changes in society.

    Read More

  • Social Criticism in The Yellow-Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    This creates a despair, of hopelessness and of downheartedness. The woman, on multiple occasions, wrote down, “And what can one do?” This lets the reader know that women as a whole were very oppressed in ...

    Read More

  • The Great Lawsuit by Margaret Fuller

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    In her article, Fuller explains how the current society constricts women’s rights in an effort to show the inequalities between the men and women. For instance, she feels that “such woman as these, rich in genius, of most tender sympathies, and capable of high virtue, and a chastened harmony, ought not find themselves in a place so narrow” (Fuller 741). Margaret Fuller explains that all women, even those with “rich genius,” find themselves at a disadvantage because of the society’s inequality. She also feels that the woman are just as “capable of high virtue” as the men, and do not deserve to be in “a place so narrow.” In addition, Fuller is aware that the women can “find their way to purer air, but the world will not take off the brand it has set upon them” (741). Margaret Fuller uses this passage to explain that it possible for women to have their ideas become public, but it would b...

    Read More

  • The Sacred Language of Toni Morrison

    1817 Words  | 4 Pages

    Fox-Genovese, Elizabeth.  “The Claims of a common Culture: Gender, Race, Class and the Canon.”  Writing as Re-Vision: A Student’s Anthology.  Ed. Beth Alvarado and Barbara Cully.  Needham Heights: Simon & Schuster  P. 1998.  15-23.

    Read More

  • Death and Resilient Love: Bradstreet, Adams, and Wheatley

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    Each one of these writers is a reflection naturally of their times but what causes their work to continue to resonate is the absolutely honest way the hardships of womanhood and colonial life inform our national demeanor. All three in their writing are trying to cope with the conditions in front of them, the perils of being a woman of their times. The heartbreak of watching their children and grandchildren die in front of them, starvation, the loss of livelihood and the ever evolving definition of having a homeland. For all three women death was a constant companion, as was God and a sense of duty to their ventures in their new lands, mostly though I see a deep kind of resilient love in their bodies of work. It is that resilient love and optimism that makes American writing, American writing.

    Read More

  • Female Gender Roles in Haggard’s She and Haddawy’s The Arabian Nights

    1317 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nussbaum, Felicity. “Risky Business: Feminism Now and Then.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 26.1 (Spring 2007): 81-86. JSTOR. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Feminist Theory: From Margin To Center By Bell Hooks

    1987 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hooks begins by stating that Feminism in the United States did not emerge as a result of victimized, underprivileged women who faced sexist oppression so much so they have internalized it , but in fact by bourgeois upper-class white women whose idea's of equality were far different. She begins this criticism with Betty Friedan, a leading figure in the women's movement and the author of the classic The Feminine Mystique claiming that the book ignored the difficulty and even the existence of non-white, poor women with the assumption that her concerns were harmonious wi...

    Read More

  • The Color Purple, by Alice Walker and Push, by Sapphire

    3221 Words  | 7 Pages

    In today’s advanced societies, many laws require men and women to be treated equally. However, in many aspects of life they are still in a subordinated position. Women often do not have equal wages as the men in the same areas; they are still referred to as the “more vulnerable” sex and are highly influenced by men. Choosing my Extended Essay topic I wanted to investigate novels that depict stories in which we can see how exposed women are to the will of men surrounding them. I believe that as being woman I can learn from the way these characters overcome their limitations and become independent, fully liberated from their barriers. When I first saw the movie “Precious” (based on Sapphire’s “Push”) I was shocked at how unprotected the heroine, Precious, is towards society. She is an African-American teenage girl who struggles with accepting herself and her past, but the cruel “unwritten laws” of her time constantly prevent her rise until she becomes the part of a community that will empower her to triumph over her barriers. “The Color Purple” is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker which tells the story of a black woman’s, Celie’s, striving for emancipation. (Whitted, 2004) These novels share a similar focus, the self-actualization of a multi-disadvantaged character who with the help of her surrounding will be able to triumph over her original status. In both “The Color Purple” and “Push”, the main characters are exposed to the desire of the men surrounding them, and are doubly vulnerable in society because not only are they women but they also belong to the African-American race, which embodies another barrier for them to emancipate in a world where the white race is still superior to, and more desired as theirs.

    Read More

  • The Women's Liberation Movement

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    As women, those of us who identify as feminists have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at what cost do these advances come with?... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved April 12, 2014, from http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/whatisfem.htm Bidgood, J. 2014, April 8 -.

    Read More

More about When We Dead Awaken

Open Document