Narratives: Readings

REFLECTION

Poet and novelist Naomi Shihab Nye has written or edited more than twenty books and has won dozens of awards for her writing. Nye’s mother is American and her father is Palestinian, and much of her writing is focused on helping people understand the similarities and differences between Middle Eastern and American cultures, and specifically on dispelling stereotypes about the Middle East. This piece appeared in Nye’s 2001 collection Mint Snowball.

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Reading the Genre

Question

1. Nye uses sentence fragments in this essay. Examine these incomplete sentences, particularly in the first two paragraphs of the essay. How is the content of each of these shorter sentences similar, and how does this work within the essay? (See Chapter 32, “High, Middle, and Low Style”; Chapter 53, “Commas,” and Chapter 54, “Comma Splices, Run-Ons, and Fragments”.)

Question

2. This narrative is divided into two parts. The perspective in the second part of the story radically shifts. How would you describe the perspective, or point of view, in the first half and in the second? What can the author do in the second half that she can’t in the first? Why? (See Chapter 29, “Transitions,” and Chapter 31, “Titles,”.)

Question

3. WRITING: Consider the work history of your own family: What kind of work do your parents do, and what kind of work did their parents do? What kind of work does your extended family do? Are there specific skills or lessons, or even ways of looking at the world, that have been passed down in your family because of the sort of work your family has done? Write a short personal reflection on this topic.

Question

4. WRITING: Visit a local business and interview the owner about the history of this business. Then write a short narrative that tells the story of the business — how it began, what it specializes in, what makes it unique, how it has changed over the years, and so on. (See “Develop the setting to set the context and mood.”)
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