Learning objectives

In this lesson plan, the poem 'Unruly Night' by Iyad Hayatleh is used as a basis for pupils to

• consider issues around exile and emigration
• research the history, culture and present circumstances of Palestine.

Keywords

World, culture, refuge, refugee, migration, exile, identity, home, community, flight, history, Palestine, Israel

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Read

This poem is in three verses, each longer than the previous. Each verse begins with the same six lines ( 'It is early morning... and I have yet to sleep'). Verses 2 and 3 both contain the next five lines ('A bird has fluttered... the south east.')

Questions

This is quite a complicated poem to understand. It works by suggestion, rather than clear description, and there are different ways of interpreting what the poem means.

• Read the poem aloud, then ask pupils to read it to themselves.
• Ask if they have any questions about it. Define any words they might not know: 'beseeching', 'navigate', 'mirage', and the phrase 'tempting my fate'.

Read the poem aloud again. Ask the pupils:

• Why do you think the narrator 'has yet to sleep'?
• Why might the bird be 'heading for the south east'? (Think of Palestine in relation to Scotland.)
• Think about the relationship between 'over there' and 'here' in verse two, lines17-8.
• Why do you think the narrator says 'I'm nothing but a mirage here'?
• Where do you normally find a 'mirage'?
• How does this image link with 'the land of rain'?

TOP 

Find out

Palestine

Before doing any research, make a list of things you already know about Palestine.

• Think about where it is, who its neighbours are, which seas it lies on, its capital city, any other cities or regions, its main geographical features (rivers, lakes, mountains, etc), what its main industries are, what its main religion is, any historical facts about it, which wars were fought there during say the last 100 years.
• Then research these things, using the internet, an atlas, an encyclopedia or a history book about the Middle East, and find out how much of what you thought originally was right.

In the papers

Over the course of say a week, look through a newspaper or newspapers and see if you can find any stories about what is happening in Palestine and the neighbouring countries, especially Israel.

The Security Wall

Israel is building what it calls a Security Wall on the border between itself and Palestine.

• Find out why Israel has been building this wall.
• How does it affect life in Israel?
• How does it affect life in Palestine?

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Speak

Discuss the situation in Palestine and Israel, based on what you have found out.

• How does Israel affect life in Palestine?
• How do Palestine affect life in Israel?
• What questions about the current situation would you like to ask to someone from Palestine?
• What questions about the current situation would you like to ask to someone from Israel?

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Write

Early morning

Write your own poem structured like this one.

• First of all, describe the early morning, before the world wakes up.
• You've been awake for some time – what have you been thinking about?
• A bird takes off – where is it going? What kind of emotion do you feel? Perhaps longing, or satisfaction, or sadness, or excitement...
• What questions do you ask of the bird?
• Describe how you see yourself.
• If you were looking for your 'lost self', where would you look?

People

Using what you have found out about Palestine and Israel, write about two people, one from each country.

• Write two verses, one describing each of them. Think about what makes them different from each other. You could describe

what they wear
how they speak
what they believe in
…

• Then write a third verse that describes what they have in common – things that they both need and like and approve of, and things neither need nor like nor approve of.
• At the end, say whether you think their differences or their similarities are more important.

Note: You could also try this after reading 'Queen Street Station Blues', another poem in this series.

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6. Unruly Night

This PDF contains lesson plan, reading list, and full text of the poem 'Unruly Night'