First Exploratory Draft and Notes

(All Things Not Considered (2002) by Naomi Shihab Nye)

In the poem ‘All Things Not Considered’ by Naomi Shihab Nye, humans conflict are describes by using the historical event on the setting of the poem, Middle East. The poet portrays it by using her own life experience in the place, she describe how human are struggling to live within desperation of life, and one of that is the differences in believes and religion.

First she said that we can’t giving back one life when it has end, it is a tension within human’s life. Explosion is cause by war and that destroys happiness of children playing toys, she puts question marks to spark a thought within our mind on the causes or effects of war. Then she pictures how a Jewish boy killed and a Palestinian died because of religious extremist that could not find solution to their own struggle. She wants people to considered of having a new religious maybe only to giving us a new insights that everything are need to be considered.

The Arab father burying the baby girl alive also one of the historical occasions, where Arabian men just couldn't accept having a daughter and in here Shihab portrays how much discrimination was happening towards women in the Middle East society. Then women have to struggle in finding a way to survive through that time and this conflict actually remains until today, it doesn't involve burying anyone alive but discriminate in various other ways.

In the end of the poem, the poet gives the reader a grasp of hope that desperate death will come to an end, the ‘calm bucket waiting for water’ to wash away all their pain and suffering.

The humans conflict over the contrast between religions here are describes with the historical event between Jewish and Muslims. Shihab next sharing her despair with the reader that this conflict will continue if people didn't realize that we’re wrong and made similar mistakes in life, and giving no chances for peace to walks through.