Literature and Life worksheet - Shel Silverstein

The Little Boy and the Old Man by Shel Silverstein

Q1.) What is the underlying message that is being conveyed in this poem?
ANS: The poem conveys the fact that as teenagers and adults, we often make the mistake of forgetting our youth and our feelings of being neglected, bullied or even of abuse during our childhood and also of forgetting that we are to become old, hence resulting in neglect and abuse for the old and young, causing them to think that grown-ups do not care for them.

Q2.) Has Shel Silverstein used any particular poetic technique that brings out this message more clearly?
ANS: Shel Silverstein has inserted a lot of dialogue in this poem, and has also depicted the old man as full of empathy for the young boy by agreeing with him.

Messy Room

Q1.) Can you say that the poem is humorous? If so how?
ANS: The poem is humorous as it points out all the aspects of the room, mostly in an exaggerated way. It describes an extremely dirty and unhygienic room. After describing the room, the persona goes on to blame others for having such a messy room before discovering it is his own, which must have been an embarrassing moment.

Q2.) What aspect of the human character has been highlighted in this poem?
ANS: The persona's character highlights the fact that people are prone to find fault in others while turning a blind eye to our own faults and the poem warns us not to do so, so as to avoid embarrassment.

Cloony the Clown

Q1.) Explain the irony in this poem.
ANS: The irony in this poem is the fact that while Cloony tries to be funny, nobody finds him funny and instead feel bored and depressed. However, when Cloony is depressed and tells his woes to people to try and gain their sympathy, everybody laughs at Cloony, the only one not laughing, the only depressed one.

Q2.) Does Shel Silverstein manage to convey some harsh realities in this poem?
ANS: In this poem, Shel Silverstein manages to convey that some people tend to refute attempts to cheer them up, instead laughing at other's misfortune and gaining happiness from other's sadness.

Q3.) What poetic devices has the poet used to effectively convey his message?
ANS: Shel Silverstein has inserted many poetic devices to convey his message effectively, including onomatopoeia, metaphors, irony, enjambment and rhyming to bring out the message in this poem, which is that sometimes life can be hard on you but you should not despair and also that humans are sadistic by nature.

Poem Analysis for home learning

In the first stanza, the poet talks about his badge and the Latin motto on it. The tone in this stanza makes me feel like he does not really care about the Latin motto and is just saying it to start his poem. The second stanza is where the poem really starts to go into its topic, describing his primary school life. In the third stanza, the author hints that he is very untidy in nature. The fourth stanza probably shows his co-curricular activity, scouts. I think the fourth stanza is in relation to the third, as he puts them side-by-side and scouts usually go outdoors for their CCA, so I think the poet is stating that his CCA is on Wednesday. Then, the poet is probably showing the scene outside his school at dismissal, as he states that malay chauffeurs are waiting for his schoolmates. The next stanza has only one line, and is probably hinting that he does not like Mathematics. Then, he depicts the scene at Chinese New Year, and what his teacher did. The next stanza also only has one line, which shows that he is proud to be a Singaporean. The ninth stanza shows that the poet is probably very playful, because he feels that shading all the multiple choice questions 'A' is very heroic. Stanza ten, eleven and twelve are about the same thing-the picture that was in the yearbook. The poet feels that the candid picture that the time that the picture was taken was memorable.
I feel that my primary school days are very memorable and I feel the same as the poet about my primary school days.