EN 11 Analyzing Poetry: How do race, family culture, and/or tradition affect

identity for individuals living in America?

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2
Name: ____________________________ Date:_____________ Pd: _____ Blood by Naomi
Shihab Nye
Formative Assessment
Background: Naomi Shihab Nye was born in the state of Missouri in 1952 to a Palestinian father and an
American mother. She still has family in the Middle East, and her poetry often concerns Palestinian life.
Nye sees poetry as a bridge to other cultures in a world that is increasing marked by dissension. Currently
a resident of Texas, Nye has traveled to the Middle East and Asia for the United States Information Agency
promoting international goodwill through the arts.

View: Naomi Shihab Nye reads Blood to her father

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mojLH_0y0m8

Initial response: What is your initial response to Blood by Naomi Shihab Nye? Do you
like it? What do you think the poem is about/why?

Question: Write down one question you have after reading Blood by Naomi Shihab
Nye. (Your question might ask for clarification; it might pose a philosophical thought, or
it might ask for anything in between).

Evaluate: What three images do you think are the most important or evocative in the
poem? Explain your reasoning for choosing each one of the images.
EN 11 Analyzing Poetry: How do race, family culture, and/or tradition affect
identity for individuals living in America?

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2

Name: ____________________________ Date: _____________ Pd: _____ Poem: Blood

Group Discussion

Share your readers response with your group members. Attempt to answer each
others questions about the poem. Discuss the significance of the authors craft in the
poem (imagery, metaphor, symbolism, personification, etc). Take notes on your groups
discussion
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Writers Notebook Entry

Directions: In your writers notebook, title your response Analyzing Blood by

Naomi Shihab Nye and record todays date. Using your annotations and
understanding of the poem, Blood by Naomi Shihab Nye answer the following
question.
EN 11 Analyzing Poetry: How do race, family culture, and/or tradition affect
identity for individuals living in America?

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2
How has your thinking about the poem changed? (Did you develop an entirely new
interpretation, did you expand on an existing idea?)

How do race, family culture, and/or tradition affect identity for individuals living in
America?
EN 11 Analyzing Poetry: How do race, family culture, and/or tradition affect
identity for individuals living in America?

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2