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Adrienne Rich, "Diving into the Wreck"

BIOGRAPHY

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Life and work of Adrienne Rich

The poetry of Adrienne Rich is closely tied to her life, and its forms and subjects have changed profoundly over the years as she has explored herself and her world. Read her biography and then read the poems in your text chronologically, placing "Diving into the Wreck" into this context. Also particularly relevant is the essay "When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision," published the same year; the full essay is (reprinted in numerous places, including On Lies, Secrets, and Silence: Selected Prose: 1966–1978 and the Norton Critical Edition of Adrienne Rich's Poetry and Prose.

If you wish to explore the poem further in its biographical and literary context, several works of criticism offer thoughtful surveys. Read Margaret Atwood's review of the volume in which the poem first appeared, or you might read a more extended study of Rich's literary career, including "Diving into the Wreck," in "Adrienne Rich, North America East" by Terrence Des Pres. Write a paper exploring the ways "Diving into the Wreck" reflects concerns which have been part of Rich's life and poetry.

Interpretations of "Diving into the Wreck"

This poem has provoked different readings in addition to those in the Atwood and Des Pres articles. Read brief online student responses such as " a student commentary by Denise Loomis at Millikin University and a number of brief commentaries on the Modern American Poetry site. Or examine an article submitted by Nick Carbone. For a feminist interpretation of the poem, read "Visionary Anger Cleansing My Sight," Chapter 12 of An American Triptych: Anne Bradstreet, Emily Dickinson, Adrienne Rich by Wendy Martin (Chapel Hill, 1984). Compare your interpretation with that contained in these essays.

Comparison with other poems

As you consider the nature of the quest in "Diving into the Wreck," compare the poem with other Rich poems which "probe the wreck" in different ways. In particular, study "Storm Warnings" (p. 1108 LIT, 848 LIT Shorter), "Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law" (p. 1109 LIT, 848 LIT Shorter; pay special attention to part 10), "Dialogue" (p. 1114 LIT), "Power" (p. 1115 LIT), "For the Record" (p. 1115 LIT, 854 LIT Shorter), "Delta" (p. 1116 LIT), and "History" (p. 1117 LIT, 855 LIT Shorter). You might also look at online poems that seem related.

Adrienne Rich and feminism

Adrienne Rich is an articulate feminist, and Diving into the Wreck: Poems marked her first major poetic explorations into the conjunction of the personal and the political, revealing her increasing awareness of patriarchal forces in her life and in Western culture.

Look at "Diving into the Wreck" in the context of feminist thought. You might explore some of the online sources on feminism and read the essay "When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision" for Rich's understanding of the literary dimensions of feminism. How does this context affect your reading of the poem?

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