Mentor Text Analysis #1

#MakeAFist

Naomi Shihab Nye is an American poet, editor, songwriter, and novelist who began composing her first poem at the age of six. Her poem"Making a Fist," shines light on hardships and obstacles that many human beings will encounter during their life. She provides readers with a symbol of a fist that represents strength which gives the poem a vibe of empowerment. There are no references to men in the text which further explores the idea of a mother-daughter relationship and #femaleempowerment. I imagine that Naomi wrote this poem because life threw more obstacles at her and she's channeling her mother's words for strength. This poem could be used to gain a feeling of hope when one is in despair. Naomi says that as long as she's living, she'll be clenching and opening her one small hand. This reminded me of a time a guest speaker at my school shared his experience of attempting suicide by jumping off of the golden gate bridge, only to survive, and then realize how precious life is. The main message I gathered from Nye's poem is to find the strength to keep going.