Literature Form 2 2016 Poem - My Hero by Willis Hall Synopsis The personas admires his father a lot. He describes his father as very brave and not afraid of anything. Due to this, he rates him as Number One. His father who watches horror movies late at night will not be terrified by any scary scenes or skeletons. If any ghost appears in front of him, he will either greet them fearlessly or fight them off. Horror figures, ugly or scary looking creatures do not give him the creeps even if they appear at his door. However, his only weakness is fear of spiders.
Paraphrase of The Poem Stanza 1 The persona is very proud of his father. He feels that his father is a very brave man. To him, his father is Number One as his father is fearless and not afraid of the dead of night and anything under the sun. Stanza 2 The persona says that his father is not afraid to watch horror movies late at night. Horror scenes do not terrify him or hinder his father from watching the movies. Stanza 3 !ccording to the persona, his father will not be afraid if he encounters ghosts. He is of the opinion that his father would even smile and acknowledge them. In his eyes, his father dares to fight against things that most other dads are afraid of. Stanza 4 The persona"s father will not be intimidated by horror figures like vampires, wolfman or #rankenstein"s monster even if they appear at the door. Stanza 5 The persona says his father is as brave as a father can be and he"s always keen to show it. However, he is curious about something. $henever his father sees a spider, he will not touch it and mother has to come to help him.
Themes an Point of !ie"
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Themes There are several themes in this poem% Hero worship and admiration
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&arent child relationship
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'especting others
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&eople have their own skills and strengths
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!dmit that everyone has weaknesses and flaws
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(earn to accept people for what they are
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(iving up to people"s e)pectations
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Point of !ie" #irst person &ersona talks about his father *)ample% +y dad"s as brave as a dad can be, I rate him Number One, +y dad could ust defeat "em.
Literary #e$i%es &epetition •
'My dad's as brave as a dad can be,' to emphasi-e the persona"s belief that his father is a brave man.
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'He's not afraid of..' repeated in four stan-as to emphasise the persona"s father is brave.
Sym'o( •
'Dead of night' symboli-e darkness and anything and everything not feared by the persona"s father
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'anything under the sun' anything that can be seen during the day )ma*ery
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'a late-night film, Full of horrors' signifies a terrifying horror movie
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'vampires, or a wolf-man' gives a clear image of horror figures
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'I rate him umber !ne' shows the persona"s pride and hero worship towards his father
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+ssonan%e 'monster "noc"ed on our door'
'He'd even smile and greet them' +((iteration #nd things that scare most dads the most Methaphor The persona compares his father to a superhero who will take on ghostly or horror figures. He is a human who has supernatural courage.
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&hetori%a( ,uestions '#nd is he afraid of s"eletons$'
'Does Mum have to come and remove it$' )rony The irony is that the father does not seem to be afraid of horror movies and ghoulish figures like "vampires" and even #rankenstein"s monster but he is afraid of a little spider. Mora( !a(ues
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$e should acknowledge other people"s abilities and strengths.
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$e must be ready to admit our own weaknesses.
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$e have to learn to accept other people"s weaknesses.
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$e must respect each other.
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$e have to value and treasure family relationships.
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$e must try to set good e)amples to others.
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!s an adult, we should try to live up to young childrens e)pectations.
Lan*ua*e an Sty(e
The language used by the poet is light • •
simple
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easy to comprehend
It is attributive as the poet the persona talks about his parents. /se of few negative sentences He"s not afraid of the dead of night, • •
He"s not afraid of meeting ghosts,
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He "ou(nt let that upset him.
There are four lines per stan-a.
Tone. Moo an +tmosphere
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Direct and matteroffact
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Innocence and purehearted
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0erious
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&ride
&hyme an &hythm
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0tan-a 1 a, b, c, b
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0tan-a 2 a, b, c, b
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0tan-a 3 a, b, a, b
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0tan-a 4 a, b, c, b
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0tan-a 5 a, b, c, b
The Notes for My Hero by Willis Hall in Poetry for Pleasure (Form2 Literature Component) When we watche the superhero mo!ies li"e #pierman$ The Hul"$ %ronman$ Thor$ &men$ an many others$ we fin that no matter how stron' the person is$ he or she still has wea"nesses !en a superhero has its wea"nesses$ we as an orinary person$ of course we o ha!e wea"nesses %n our life$ we coul be eler brother or sister$ coul be parents$ coul be teacher$ an coul be leaer in a 'roup There are e*pectations that we ha!e to show bra!ery an hie away our timiness$ +ust as some people mi'ht say it$ ,not bra!e enou'h- Then act li"e you are. This poem e*plore this issue from a perspecti!e of a chil towars the father
Little Notes for this poem • • • • •
Poet: Willis Hall Setting of the Poem: No particular place, but most probably at home Persona: A child About the poem: A child is wondering about the bravery of the father. one: !rony and Humourous
Stanza to Stanza Guides
Original Poem
Guides to Understand the Poem &. Who is the persona' (. How the persona thin)s of the dad'
"y #ad$s as brave as a dad can be, ! rate him Number %ne, He$s not afraid of the dead of night , %r anything under the sun.
He$s not afraid of a latenight /lm, 0ull of horrors on the telly, And is he afraid of s)eletons' Not #ad, not on your Nelly 1 He$s not afraid of meeting ghosts, He$d even smile and greet 3em, And things that scared most dads the most, "y dad could 4ust defeat 3em.
*. What are the things that the father is not afraid of' +. What is dead of night-'
&. Anything else the father is not afraid of' (. What is the telly-' *. not on your nelly- 2 not at all-
&. What is another thing that the dad is not afraid of' (. How will the dad react' *. What will the dad do even if he met the scariest thing'
He$s not afraid of vampires, %r a wolfman come to get him, !f 0ran)enstein monster )noc)ed on our door, He wouldn$t let that upset him.
&. 5ist down the monsters that the dad is not afraid.
"y dad$s as brave as a dad can be, And he$s always ready to prove it. So why, when a spider$s in the bath, #oes "um have to come and remove it'
&. he dad always shows o6 that he is brave. (. What happen when there is a spider in the bathtub'
*ercise
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Which of the following is N% the lesson learnt of this poem'
A.
We should be humble
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0ather is afraid of the spider
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Parents should not lie to their children
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9veryone has strengths and wea)nesses
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How is the father$s reaction when he sees a ghost'
A.
happy
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panic
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calm
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angry
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What is the dead- in stana & line * meant'
A.
the dead person
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"onsters and ombies
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Silence and dar)ness
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;obbers
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Who is the persona' child
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mother
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father
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What is the tone in the last stana'
A.
curious
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worried
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serious
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irony
