Shel Silverstein poems

The Little Boy and the Old Man

1. What is the underlying message that is being conveyed in this poem?
The underlying message that is being conveyed is that the old man, being older than the boy, should be a lot wiser, but whatever mistake the little boy made, the old man had encounter. Which mean that the old man has gone through whatever the little boy had, and he want to share his love of little children.

2. Has Shel Silverstein used any particular poetic technique that brings out this message more clearly?
Silverstein would make the last word of each sentence rhyme with the last word of the next sentence.

Messy Room

1. Can you say that the poem is humorous? If so how?

Yes it is, it's humorous because of the writer's irony of the room in the first place, he'll complain about how messy the room is, but finds out it's his in the end, feeling that it is familiar but still doesn't feel ashamed.

2. What aspect of the human character has been highlighted in this poem?

The aspect is that people would criticise actions or words done or said by other people, but when they themselves do or say those words or actions, they'll feel that they'd done nothing wrong and do not like being criticise at, but then realise their mistakes in the end.

Cloony the Clown

1.Explain the irony in this poem.

Cloony the clown wanted to tell jokes and make people laugh, but instead people do the opposite of what he had actually wanted. He felt sad and told them what he felt to be an unfunny clown and he wanted them to feel sympathetic towards him, but instead they started to laugh at his accidental joke, making him feel sad, when he wanted people to laugh in the first place, but now when people are laughing, he cried.

2.Does Shel Silverstein manage to convey some harsh realities in this poem?

He managed to convey some harsh realities, saying that whatever you do might be the opposite of what you had expected, so expect the worst before thinking whether to do it or not. Because it shall never always be the positive result, as a negative result might appear.

3. What poetic devices has the poet used to effectively convey his message?
The poet made the last word of each sentence rhyme with the last word of the next sentence making the poem sound more smooth.