Annotated Bibliography

The hardest part of the annotated bibliography assignment was narrowing my focus enough to pinpoint a critical conversation from which to draw sources. I was reading some of Adrienne Rich's poetry when I came across a particular poem that struck me. I just decided to take that spark and run with it. It was a love poem. I can't actually remember which one it was, but it wasn't a "traditional" love poem where the speaker describes the beloved or uses over-the-top Petrarchan metaphors. It was simultaneously tragic, political, sentimental and hopeful. So I, at least for the purposes of an annotated bibliography, to go somewhere in that direction.

It was surprisingly easy to gather information on the subject. In fact it might be probably the first time I've ever stumbled across such a cohesive collection of criticism about my very subject. I found about 15 books and journal articles, and after going through all of Rich's work, settled on probably 5-6 collections of poetry and essays from which I will draw conclusions. It was fantastically stress-free. So check that off.

My next challenge was in finding the time to read everything. Obviously I failed at that. But I read enough to get a taste of the conversation. It's a body of criticism that is specific enough to my interest, but also extensive enough that I feel a bit intimidated by the task I have of contributing something "original," even if it is the small "o" kind.

Overall, it was a great assignment. Even if I shift my exact topic to be about something else, I learned more about Adrienne Rich as a writer, and more about how "love" as a subject is interconnected with nearly everything else she writes about in her poetry.