Blog post on sample poetry analysis due Monday by midnight. Questions are on the class blog. Choose ONE question only to answer in a short essay. On the IB test, you will need to discuss TWO poets, but for this assignment, only talk about Naomi Shihab Nye.
1. Hope and/or pessimism are sometimes reflected in poetry. In the work of at least two poets you have studied, examine either or both of these attitudes and the way in which the poets have chosen to convert them.
A particularity strong theme within Naomi Shihab Nye’s poetry is the way she constantly balances hope with pessimism. Within all of her poems she finds a cohesive way to incorporate the negative or upsetting side of her culture with the love and pride she has for it. Navigating the process of understanding her Palestinian heritage will have beautiful moments and dark moments. These ups and downs of being a part of an immigrant family are inevitable, thus the truth Nye aims to examine and display in her writing brings an honest sense of humanity to her poetry.
The first poem where this unique and efficient balance of hope and pessimism is shown is My Father and the Fig Tree. In this poem Nye tells a short story of her father, their relationship and his obsession with figs, a fruit from his homeland. The poem goes into detail, using deep symbolism to show how the fig is a metaphor for her connection to Palestine and her father. It also follows the story of her own identity crisis. These themes can be seen clearly in the line, “At age six I ate a dried fig and shrugged./"That's not what I'm talking about! he said,/"I'm talking about a fig straight from the earth — gift of Allah! — on a branch so heavy it touches the ground./I'm talking about picking the largest, fattest, sweetest fig/in the world and putting it in my mouth."/(Here he'd stop and close his eyes.)” (Nye) In this short passage it is already clear that there is somewhat of a disconnect in culture between Nye and her father. Through the line “shrugged, That’s not what I’m talking about!” There is a conflict between the father and daughter. He loved the figs and she doesn't understand why. Since they come from the Palestine it is clear this has something to do with that part of their lives. This is obviously pessimistic because it conveys how Nye may never feel the same way about Palestine that her father does. She is confused by it and this bothers her father since he values it so much. However, this is where the balance comes in. The next line, when her father explains the love for figs, the vivid detail and kind words such as ‘sweetest’ and ‘gift from Allah’ it is clear this experience is a positive one. This line shows the other side of the story, which is the hope that one day Nye and her father can share their culture over figs.
The next poem where this hope and pessimism are balanced is in Blood. In the lines, “Years before, a girl knocked, /wanted to see the Arab. /I said we didn’t have one./After that, my father told me who he was, “Shihab”—“shooting star”— /a good name,/borrowed from the sky. /Once I said, “When we die, we give it back?” /He said that’s what a true Arab would say.” (Nye) These lines clearly show the mix of hope and pessimism in Nye’s poems. The first lines are of a negative experience, when a young girl causes Nye to question her pride of being Palestinian. It causes an internal conflict for her as now she must confront her own insecurities and differences. This shows the negative parts of being an Arab. This is upsetting as a reader because Nye writes in a way that seems like we may never progress. Although, this is contrasted by the hopeful moment when Nye talks with her father about her name’s origin. This memory sparks a feeling of pride and understanding. Nye in this moment learns of a reason her culture is beautiful, which combats the negative experience she had in the first lines.
This balance is integral in telling Nye’s story. This is because to not discuss the negative parts of being an Arab in America, she would be invalidating those struggles and stories. Although, never speaking of the hopeful or loving moments, further stereotypes of Palestinians and perpetuate their oppression by only allowing them to have one story. This is what Nye does best, she gives her experiences many voices and themes to be fully truthful of her culture. While Nye chooses to display hope and pessimism fairly obviously, there are moments to dig deeper and find even more layers.
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