Annotation and Brainstorming the Poetry

Dear readers,

This is in fact my first time drafting a poem in a blog. I would like to apologize if I have accidentally omitted some grammatical mistakes. I guess we do always learn From our mistakes in a continuous process of writing in order to create coherency of your main thesis statement. So, here is my first attempt to annotate and brainstorm my poem based on the questions in the poem itself. The asterisk marks (*) represent the annotated ideas in the poem. It is opened for various interpretations.

All Things Not Considered  

*Is there something that the society is not considering about? 

By Naomi Shihab Nye  - *A Palestinian poet who has a Palestinian father and an American mother

You cannot stitch the breath

back into this boy.  (*Stitch the breath? Representing death?)

A brother and sister were playing with toys

when their room exploded. (*Is there a war between two races in the given narration?)

In what language (*Is the metaphor of the language represents the religion of the Jewish and Palestinian?)
is this holy? (*The persona's monologue based on her emotional reaction to the war.)

The Jewish boys killed in the cave

were skipping school, having an adventure.

Asel Asleh, Palestinian, age 17, believed in the field

beyond right and wrong where people came together

to talk. He kneeled to help someone else

stand up before he was shot.  (*Were this really based on true events? Most of the stanzas is displaying oppressed children and deaths.)

If this is holy,
could we have some new religions please?  (*Repetition of "holy", oppression of the Palestinians. Does this indicate that religion isn't the main factor which enraged the Palestinian-Israeli war?)

Mohammed al-Durra huddled against his father

in the street, terrified. The whole world saw him die. 

(*True events of the Mohammed al-Durra's incident? Is he is the hero of the Palestinians)

An Arab father on crutches burying his 4 month girl weeps, (*The casualties of a terrible war)

“I spit in the face of this ugly world.” (*Narrator's monologue)

*

Most of us would take our children over land. ( *The war has killed the children as a result of greed and power)

We would walk in the fields forever homeless

with our children,

huddle under cliffs, eat crumbs and berries,

to keep our children.

This is what we say from a distance

because we can say whatever we want. 

(*Is the persona expressing her sympathise towards the deeply oppressed Palestinians that face more deaths compared to the Jewish in Isreal?) 

*

No one was right.

Everyone was wrong.  (*What have the Palestanian done wrong to the Isrealites Government?)

What if they’d get together
and say that?
At a certain point
the flawed narrator wins.  (* flawed narrator? Was the narrator reacting too personal towards the Palestinian War? Third person omniscient?)

People made mistakes for decades.

Everyone hurt in similar ways (* Generally, people make mistakes and hurt the third party.)

at different times.

Some picked up guns because guns were given. (*War is the only solution in punishing the ones who make mistakes.)

If they were holy it was okay to use guns. (*Repetition of holy)

Some picked up stones because they had them.  (*Some of the children also went into the war and take anything in front of them and throw their enemies)

They had millions of them.

They might have picked up turnip roots

or olive pits. (*Turnip roots, olive roots=Metaphors for weapons)

Picking up things to throw and shoot:

at the same time people were studying history,

going to school.   (*Younger generations of the Palestinian are being forced to face such drastic situation/ Some younger men were asked to join the war.)

*

The curl of a baby’s graceful ear. (Personification for a child's innocence)

The calm of a bucket   (Personification of a quieten the war)

waiting for water. (Why do the children need to wait for the water? Does this indicates the end of the war?)

Orchards of the old Arab men (What does the orchard symbolise? A nation or a family line with different generations?)

who knew each tree. (Does that indicate that the Middle East people know each other by their race?)

Jewish and Arab women

standing silently together. (*Still, women from the Middle East doesn't have the right to speak out their thoughts of such cruelty. Their voice were still left unheard by the nation. Does this stanza match the title of the poem?)

Generations of black. (The cycle of cruelty that continues the war)

Are people the only holy land? (The repetition of holy again in this stanza? Does this indicate that religion again is the main factor of causing this war to happen?)

End Comment: Did the Palestinian-Israeli violence in Gaza has caused such massive causalities among children in Palestine especially the major incident of Muhammad al-Durrah's death during the Second Intifada?

Questioning and Brainstorming Session

1. What would be your first thought while taking your first glimpse of this poem? 

2. Why does the poet name the title of the poem as "All Things Not Considered"? 

3. Is the title conveying something that was not considered by the society?

4. From stanzas 3-8, do you think the persona is expressing real situations that are happening among the Jewish and the Palestinian? Why are these people facing so many deaths? Was it due to casualties of Palestinian-Israeli war or being oppressed by their religions?

5.  Why does the persona reflects about the monologue that she has talked about in the given stanzas;

"In what language

is this holy?" (Stanza 3)

"If there is holy,

Could we have some new religions please?" (Stanza 7)

"Are people the only holy land?" (Stanza 18)

6. Why are there repetition of 'holy" in Stanza 3, 7 and 17? What does holy symbolise?

7. Is "language" in stanza 3 represents the religions of the Palestinians and Israelis? 

8. Does this indicate that religion isn't the main factor which enraged the Palestinian war?

9.Based on Stanza 8, what is your opinion about Muhammad-al Durrah's incident?

10. "Jewish and Arab women

      stand silently together,"

Does this stanza match the title of the poem "All That Not Considered"?

11. What does the "flawed narrator" (Stanza 11) symbolise in the poem? Is the flawed narrator referring to herself after seeing such incidents?

12. What have the Palestinian done wrong to the Israelis Government?

13. On Stanza 15, what does "orchard" and "each tree" stands for? A nation or a family line with different generation?

14. On Stanza 14, why does the persona need to "wait the water"? Is the persona hoping the war could end soon?