Shel Silverstein's Poem Answers

1) The boy and the old man although have a big age gap, experience the same problems of not getting as much attention as most other people.
2) Shel Silverstein used assonance and rhyming to make the poem sound more synchronised to relate the old man the the young boy's similar points.


1) Yes i feel that this poem is humorous because the main part of the poem is where the character is complaining about a dirty room which he find familiar but do not know was his, but in the end was told by another person that the dirty room was his, so all along he was complaining about himself.
2) Shamelessness has been highlighted in this poem, blaming others before finding out he was the one at fault.


1) The irony is that when the clown wants his audience to laugh they feel bored, but when the clown seeks sympathy everyone just laughs at him.
2) Shel Silverstein conveyed that our lives are filled with difficulties which happen when we were not expecting them to, for example things may happen the total opposite from what you have expected.
3) Shel Silverstein used hyperbole to exaggerate the number of people that was affected by Cloony The Clown's seek for sympathy.