Shel Silverstein 2 Essay Research Paper Shel

Shel Silverstein 2 Essay, Research Paper

Shel Silverstein, an exemplary poet born in 1932 Chicago, Illinois is still among us today. He is an extremely opinionated and open-minded man who has effected may children and adults and benefited important parts of modern society.

Silverstein’s knack for appealing to all ages in a single book first became apparent when he published The Giving Tree in 1964. The Giving Tree could slant in two directions. It s a little too sad for children, and kind of simple for adults. Although, churches and teachers found it necessary to use it as a parable for society. Each book was a pure example of energetic wordplay. A Light In the Attic, published in 1981, scored a major breakthrough for children’s literature when it captured the number one spot on the adult, nonfiction, best seller list, a position it occupied for several weeks. Where The Sidewalk Ends, published after A Light In The Attic, was considered a children’s classic. Each was a special book filled with realistically funny poems. Two of them adored by many read:

“Cloony the Clown”

I’ll tell you a story of Cloony the Clown

Who worked in a circus that came through the town.

His shoes were too big and his hat was too small,

He just wasn’t, just wasn’t funny at all.

He had a trombone to play loud silly tunes,

He had a green dog and a thousand balloons.

He was floppy and sloppy and skinny and tall,

But he just wasn’t, just wasn’t funny at all.

And every time he did a trick,

Everyone felt a little sick.

And every time he told a joke,

Folks sighed as if their hearts were broke.

And every time he lost a shoe,

Everyone looked awfully blue.

And every time he stood on his head,

Everyone screamed, “Go back to bed!”

And every time he made a leap,

Everyone fell asleep.

And every time he ate his tie,

Everyone began to cry.

And Cloony could not make any money

Simply because he was not funny.

One day he said, ” I’ll tell this town

How it feels to be an unfunny clown.”

And he told them all why he looked so sad,

And he told them all why he felt so bad.

He told them of Pain and Rain and Cold,

He told of darkness in his soul,

And after he finished his tale of woe,

Did everyone cry. Oh no, no, no,

They laughed until they shook the trees

With ” hah-hah-hahs” and “hee-hee-hees.”

They laughed with howls and yells and shrieks,

They laughed all day, they laughed all week.

They laughed until they had a fit,

They laughed until their jackets split.

The laughter spread for miles around

To every city, every town,

Over mountains, ‘cross the sea,

From Saint Tropez to Mun San Nee.

And soon the whole world rang with laughter,

Lasting till forever after,

While Cloony stood in the circus tent,

With his head drooped low and his shoulders bent.

And he said, ” THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT –

I”M FUNNY JUST BY ACCIDENT.”

And while the world laughed outside,

Cloony the clown sat down and cried.

– A Light in the Attic

“No Difference”

Small as a peanut,

Big as a giant,

Were all the same sizes

When we turn off the light.

Rich as a sultan,

Poor as a mite,

We’re all worth the same

When we turn off the light.

Red, black or orange,

Yellow or white,

We all look the same

When we turn off the light.

So maybe the way

To make everything right

Is for God to just reach out

And turn off the light!

– Where the Sidewalk Ends

” When I was a kid, 12, 14, around there, I would much rather have been a good baseball player or a hit with the girls. But I couldn’t play ball, I couldn’t dance. Luckily, the girls didn’t want me; not much I could do about that. So, I started to draw and write.” ( Silverstein,211) From his words it is clear to see how his career began. Due to the way he started writing, almost as a last resort, a desperate reach for a way to express himself, he achieved and learned so much in and from life. Shel was never a big fan of any real literary figures. He learned to make an example of himself. ” I was much into my thirties until I really noticed other writers around me, it was probably a good thing.” ( Silverstein, 213 ) He went on personal instinct and trust. In his earliest days he wrote as an editorialist for a local press. Those stories consisted mostly of community gossip and leisure activities. Later he moved on to write unique poetry that better held his interest.

People could learn so much from a man like Shel Silverstein. Everybody takes up a hobby or career for different reasons and all pursue them differently. Many do the things they do for money. Shel doesn’t praise the money yet he feels it s nice to have. He worked very hard to get where he is although he doesn’t feel he’s anywhere special. He thinks he’s exactly the same as everyone else, yet his writing ability is a little more polished than others. He feels that everyone has the t

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