Responding to Lorde - Marina

It is often stressed how important the chosen vocabulary is in a work of literature. Audre Lorde is a black, lesbian, feminist writer whose choice in words only helps to accentuate the importance of specific diction. She believed that the experience of a white woman was different from that of a black woman, and especially of a black lesbian. She, like many others, expressed her experience as a woman through poetry.

All together, the word choice in her piece about the importance of writing to women writers, “Poetry is Not a Luxury,” is clearly picked meticulously, with each word having exactly the meaning she wanted in order to make up the whole piece. First, she has interesting positions referring to light and dark. In her terms, she flips the definitions typically used for the opposites and makes them something unexpected to the reader saying that the real, raw poetry written by women comes through our darkest parts inside of us. Typically, as humans we like to believe that there is light shining through us, deep from our souls, etcetera. Audre avoids the whole cliché and negates it completely. The darkness is not given a negative connotation in the piece, however. By saying to the reader that her respective power comes from ancient traditions, she adds legitimacy because things that are ancient typically come with power and importance.

Next, Lorde uses very specific diction to show the absolute necessity for expression through poetry in the life of women. First, the section is where the chapter title gets its name. She describes what poetry is and also what it is not, and then moves on to a section that is more based on ideas than facts. Audre telling about dreams and ideas that innately seem more airy and feminine because they are not concrete characterizes the end. This word usage is ultimately what I believe causes her audience to be drawn in (and for others to be lost)- fewer men are going to be willing to read about a woman who discusses how poetry comes from our souls and allows us to share our dreams with the world.