Rich
Adrienne Rich writes, "For a poem to coalesce, for a character or an action to take shape, there has to be an imaginative transformation of reality which is no way passive..."(610). Imaginative transformation means to be able to look at something from different perspectives, what might seem black to one might be white to the another. Imaginative transformation allows one to express themselves freely through their imagination and question the way things are. It allows one to have their own opinion on things and not be wrong. It is important for an author to this because it allows her to write freely on any topic and allows the reader to interpret it anyway they like. In Rich's case, she writes about how women need to break from the enduring attitudes and views of traditions in which society has placed upon them. In "Aunt Jennifer's Tiger", Rich writes a poem about a woman who does not break from the accepted roles of society. The character, Aunt Jennifer, uses imaginative transformation in order to free herself from her life. In this poem Rich's tone is very powerful, she makes i
Aunt Jennifer is a woman who does not have the freedom to live for herself because of society's expectations. As a result, she is force to express her true identity by knitting. Jennifer acts out who she is or wants to be through her quilting. The screen in line one is a barrier separating her dreams from reality, it could also be symbolic to her husband, as the screen is a barrier keeping her from what she wants just like her husband. Aunt Jennifer portrays the life she could have through the images on the screen. Rich uses the screen to allude to Aunt Jennifer's miserable, pathetic life and by creating these images Jennifer is able to escape to an alternate reality where she is no longer threatened. In essence, she is able to cross a "screen" between reality and a fantasy world. Aunt Jennifer suffers for not living the life she obviously desires and dreams about. In Rich's writing structure she contains the real life within the fantasy life. The first stanza of the poem is about the proud tigers. The second stanza is about terrified Aunt Jennifer. The third stanza refers to the continuation of the second
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 758
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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