Shel Silverstein's poems

The Little Boy and the Old Man by Shel Silverstein:

Question 1: The relationship between parents and children, is often strained and poor, such as the old man and the little boy being "ignored" by their children and parents respectively. This tells us that we must always be filial  

to our parents.

Question 2: Shel Silverstein used repetition, and since the little boy and the old man's word are almost the same, this creates the image of how similar they are treated.

Messy Room by Shel Silverstein:

Question 1: The character in the poem thought that the messy room was somebody else's, and made many negative comments of the room. However, in the end, the character was told that it was his, and the forgetfulness of the character makes the poem humorous.

Question 2: The aspect of the human character is forgetfulness and untidiness.

Cloony the Clown by Shel Silverstein:


Question 1: Everybody did exactly the opposite of the reaction that Cloony wanted from them. For example, when he is trying to be funny by telling a joke, everybody's hearts were broken.

Question 2: Yes. It showed how tragic one's life could be, when people do not do what you hope they would do, and this might make one's life miserable and become unable to take it anymore and do something silly like committing suicide.

Question 3: The poetic devices are rhyme, repetition and aliteration.

I can identify with the poem Cloony the Clown by Shel Silverstein the most out of the three, since this poem is quite interesting and the way of writing is different from the first two. Also, I can visualise the imagery of the poem the easiest.