Hey guys, once again, I will be showing you a poem by Shel Silverstein, and I would share with you, the usages of figurative language in the poem. Here goes:
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window,
His sweater's been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.
His books are all jammed in the closet,
His vest has been left in the hall.
A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
Donald or Robert or Willie or--
Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!
Do you like the poem? Haha, well I did.
Here, I am going to analyse it. So you know, the 5 main devices in figurative language is Hyperbole, Personification, Metaphor, Simile, Symbolism.
Hyperbole - exaggerated statement invoking emotion. The hyperbole that was used in the poem are: Huh? and Oh, dear. This piques the curiousity of the readers to read the last bit of the poem. In addition, the repetition of the word "ashamed" shows the disdain of the poet towards this room, or his room. Let's move on.
Personification - give inanimate objects human traits. Personification is not used here.
Metaphor - directly comparing similarily unrelated objects without using as, like or than. Metaphor is not used here.
Simile - use of like, as and than to explicitly relate to subjects. Simile is not used here.
Symbolism - using a representative figure to carry additional meaning. The symbol here, might be the messy room. In the last line that he wrote that the room was his, he was probably trying to show his feelings right there and then. Ashamed. This is my perception. Yours might be different though.
Lastly to end off, i would like to tell you why I like this poem.
The language used in this poem is fairly simple, yet vivid. It describes clearly very nook and cranny of the room, where all the stuff in the room has been scattered around carelessly. Furtheremore, the repetition of the word ashamed brought out the poets strong dislike for the room and owner. He display's the owner's indifference towards his messy room and does not bother to clean up. He then describes the owner of the room as a lizard who props his legs on the wall, sits there and does nothing. The humour element in the poem also makes the passage easier to read, and more enjoyable too. This poem brings out the true feelings of the poet within the writer in the last few lines, and the poet pulled it off well. That is why I like it.
=) any comments? feel free to voice them out!