I is another.

by Susan Glaspell.

explorations of the text

2. what clues lead the women to conclude that Minnie Wright killed her husband?

     some of the important clues that lead the women's conclusion of the murder was the little hints, 'trifles' as you might say it, that they have noticed around the house. they first noted the the incomplete tasks in Minnie's kitchen, which argued the fact that she acted very soon after some sort of provocation, like something hurried disturbed her work in the kitchen that it was left unattended. next would be the contrasting quality of the patchwork of Minnie's quilt; indicating that something had happened while she was working on it. and then there's the dead bird and its's broken cage; a major clue that indicates a form of violence once occurred judging by the animal's wrung neck. because the women know how Minnie used to love singing they came into a conclusion that the bird's death was a crucial indication of a provocation; one that's enough to serve as a motive for a domestic murder.

3. how do the men differ from the women? from each other?

     the men's depiction in Trifles differs in terms of their perspective and tactfulness. the three men in the play; Court Attorney, Sheriff and Hale displayed their ignorance for details and seemed to only see things from the surface. for example they only noticed the unruly state of the kitchen being left on but they do not pause to ponder the reason why the housework was left incomplete. instead, they kept letting out a series of brash and dismissal remarks regarding the skill of women as a housekeeper and belittling their traits as "trifles". from this ignorance of details the men also differs from the women in empathy. women in this play understand what life is for other women while the men don't. they are completely uninterested in emotional response, which the women are in tune with in their discoveries of the pieces of Minnie's life. and because these men were generally depicted as condescending being in the play, they do not differ from each other much. the court attorney exudes an air of professionality in his inquiries but dismisses the female interest in minor details of domesticity; a sentiment shared by the sheriff and the farmer (Hale) when they too teases the women for their fussing over 'trifling' matters.

4. what do the men discover? why did they conclude "nothing here but kitchen things"? what do the women discover?

     the men found no worthy evidence that's convictive as the motive to the murder and in addition have come no closer to the revelations made by Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale. the court attorney has an intuitive sense for the evidence, as shown in his references to the quilt and the birdcage, but because he only looks at external rather than internal clues he fails to ascribe significance to the correct factor. he says, "It's all perfectly clear except a reason for doing it," suggesting that a panel of males, such as a contemporary jury, will never comprehend Mrs. Wright's motives, although they are by now clear to the audience. their conclusion of "nothing here but kitchen things" shows their disregard of details and values that surrounds a woman's life, hence the dismissive remarks of the kitchen's significance. meanwhile the women discovered the aiding motive of the murder through their little findings around the kitchen; a motive of which they had chosen to hid from the men.

 by Amiri Baraka.



1. what is the mood of the speaker in the opening lines? what images suggest his feeling?

     the speaker introduces the opening lines in a depressing, resigned manner. the images that suggest these mood can be seen from the line "The ground opens up and envelopes me" which signifies the speaker's lost of hope in his life.


2. what is the significance of the daughter's gesture of peeking into "her own clasped hands"?

     the significance of the daughter's gesture of peeking into her clasped hands signals the speaker's own detachment against the act of praying; hence the physical description of peeking instead of the direct act of praying itself. however this gesture as a whole could also signifies the speaker's hope for others to have their own faith still in tact; especially younger generation of his children.


3. what does the title mean? how does it explain the closing line?

     the title suggests the speaker's resignation on his life but yet, he has so many depressively repressed feelings that he had to label it as a preface. the closing lines of "Only she on her knees, peeking into [space break] Her own clasped hands" justifies the titles in a way that his notes will always be on-going so long as little flickers of faith albeit not present in him personally keep moving the volumes so as to the twentieth.


4. why does Baraka have three short lines, separated as stanzas? how do they convey the message of the poem?

     the three short lines separating the stanzas serves as the studded voice of clarity, which they convey the messages of the poem in an on-point, direct bullet of sudden emphasis in between slow-paced stanzas. they sway the readers melancholically but yet still gripping them right on focus.


5. why does Baraka begins stanzas with "Lately," "And now," and "And then"? what do these transition words accomplish?

    these transition words are believed to set the pace of its proceeding stanza; capturing and resetting readers' attention to its following verses as well as serving as a sort of timeline to his narration progress.
 

6. how does the speaker feel about his daughter? what does she represent to him?

     it can be said that the speaker holds his daughter in a careful, precious regard judging from the line of "And then last night I tiptoed up [space break] To my daughter’s room" on how he still feel the need to check up on her despite spending his day wallowing in depression. she represents the beacon of hope for life in general even though he may not believe in them personally for him. in this regard he probably sees whatever faith that he's losing being transferred and striving in his daughter, he's still standing there stuck in his unfinished woes of solemn notes.

by Naomi Shihab Nye.

You cannot stitch the breath
back into this boy.

A brother and sister were playing with toys
when their room exploded.

In what language
is this holy?

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.

If this is holy,
could we have some new religions please?

Mohammed al-Durra huddled against his father
in the street, terrified. The whole world saw him die.

An Arab father on crutches burying his 4 month girl weeps,
“I spit in the face of this ugly world.”

*

Most of us would take our children over land.
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.

*

No one was right.
Everyone was wrong.
What if they’d get together
and say that?
At a certain point
the flawed narrator wins.

People made mistakes for decades.
Everyone hurt in similar ways
at different times.
Some picked up guns because guns were given.
If they were holy it was okay to use guns.
Some picked up stones because they had them.
They had millions of them.
They might have picked up turnip roots
or olive pits.
Picking up things to throw and shoot:
at the same time people were studying history,
going to school.

*

The curl of a baby’s graceful ear.

The calm of a bucket
waiting for water.

Orchards of the old Arab men
who knew each tree.

Jewish and Arab women
standing silently together.

Generations of black.

Are people the only holy land?


notes

• thesis; through diction, imagery and tone the narrator clearly did not veil her sentiments of anti-violence and war between the Palestinians and the Israelis
• focused literary aspects; diction, imagery, tone
• name drop; "Asel Asleh", "Mohammed al-Durra" - for an impactful empathy?
• diction; straight-forward, uses of italic for emphasis purposes
• imagery; vivid, evident
• tone; firm, exasperated?
• repetition of the word "holy" - hint of criticism against religions
• destruction of humanity due to misguided beliefs and pointless disputes
• detach tone at the end - suggesting resignation? 

exploratory draft

the poem “All Things Not Considered” by Naomi Shihab Nye did not crept on you in its messages and intention. this is evident in the straightforward introduction of the first line; "You cannot stitch the breath back into this boy"  on what this poem intended to bring you through. it's gripping, it's vivid. from there it gives you a hunch of what the poem's going to be about and there's no way you wouldn't go on.

the poet plays with the reader's empathy in the most unmerciful way with the imagery of innocent children being destructed by violence as seen in the line "A brother and sister were playing with toys when their room exploded."  all the while perfectly timing in hints of criticism against religion emphasized in italics; "In what language is this holy?" , "

If this is holy, 

could we have some new religions please?" ; cohesive and inquisitive.

another notable aspects of the poem are the citations of real life names such as "Asel Asleh" and "Mohammed al-Durra" of which both respectively had been one of the millions victims of the disputes of injustice and violence. it is believed that the usage of these name are intentional on the poet's side in eliciting deep empathy in readers.  

to speak on the poet's tone for the poem, one couldn't help but feel the almost exasperated emotion laced through the language in its diction, imagery and questions. but at the same time the firm tone against the sentiment of violence and war are prominent enough that it leaves an akin to aching feeling in readers at the end when the poet resolute in a detach tone, leaving a haunting statement and a question to ponder about.