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

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