"From where does your strength come, you southern jew/ split at the root, raised in a castle of air". This is a quote from Adrienne Rich's 1982 essay, "Sources". Adrienne Rich is a southern jew who grew up in the forties. As she grew up, her father hid the fact that they were Jewish. Her father acted like he was fully assimilated and didn't show ethnicity in any way. He did this to fit into society that was against Jewish people. This quote reflects one of many themes Rich deals with in her poetry. The theme is racism, hate, and bigotry.

In many of Rich's works she talks about being oppressed. In the poems, "1948: Jews", "Two Arts", and "A Vision" there is a theme of oppression. In the poem " 1948: Jews", Rich refers to her college years. At her college, she was to stay away from Jews. No matter how brilliant a person was, she couldn't unite with them as a group because socially it was less acceptable. She couldn't let herself get attached, she had to avoid her own ethnicity to survive in American culture. "Never mind just going to sleep like an ordinary person" Rich says about the situation in the end of the poem. An ordinary p

VLS. No. 3, December 1981. P.22, 30

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1443
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)