Shel Silverstein’s Life and Work To start with, Sheldon Allan Silverstein also known as Shel Silverstein was an author, writer, cartoonist, poet, singer- songwriter, musician, composer, and screenwriter; he was even nominated for an Oscar because of his song “A boy named Sue” performed by Johnny Cash (“Shel Silverstein Biography”). Silverstein started his career in the U. S. Army while he worked at a magazine company writing poems and songs (“Shel Silverstein Biography”).
Later on, Silverstein became a children’s author and his books were among the most beloved by children, the most amous being “The Giving Tree” (“Shel Silverstein Essay – Silverstein, Shel – ENotes. com”). Written with a specific purpose in mind, Silverstein’s poetry for a young audience offered moral lessons (“Shel Silverstein Essay – Silverstein, Shel – ENotes. com”). Silverstein continued writing and drawing inspirational poems for many years as a result, he won many awards and received recognition for his work (“Shel Silverstein Biography, Quick Facts, Information”). Wisdom.
Wit and imaginative illustrations are the hallmarks of Silverstein’s work. Composer, musician, illustrator, nd cartoonist, Shel Silverstein was born on September 25, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois and died on May 10, 1999, in Key West, Florida (“Sheldon Allan Silverstein Biography”). Though Silverstein spent his early life serving in the U. S. Army during the 1950’s in Japan and Korea, he wrote for the Stars and Stripes throughout his time-serving (“Shel Silverstein Biography: Author, Illustrator, Poet, Songwriter (1930-1999)”). For example, during this time he wrote: “Hug O’ WAR” (“Shel Silverstein Quotes”).
After his service in the Army, Silverstein was a cartoonist for any magazines, and when he joined Playboy he started his career of writing poems and songs (“Silverstein, Shel”). More importantly, Silverstein was introduced to the distinguished book editor at Harper and Brothers, Ursula Nordstrom, who convinced him he could write for children (“Shel Silverstein Biography: Author, Illustrator, Poet, Songwriter (1930-1999)”). Though he never intended to write or draw for children, he ended up writing some best seller children’s books in the world (“Shel Silverstein Biography: Author, Illustrator, Poet, Songwriter (1930-1999)”).
Silverstein was not afraid to delve into new adventures as noted, “you can’t fall if you don’t climb but there’s no joy in living your whole life on the ground” (“Shel Silverstein Biography: Author, Illustrator, Poet, Songwriter (1930-1999)”). Particularly, Silverstein believed that having no one to copy made him develop his own unique style and said “When I was a kid-twelve, fourteen-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,” he recalled.
“So I started to draw and write. (“Silverstein, Shel”). Notably, he won Grammy Award for his song “A Boy Named Sue” performed by Johnny Cash in 1970, and he was an Oscar-nominated songwriter with the song “I’m Checkin’ Out”, in the film “Postcards from the Edge” (“Sheldon Allan Silverstein Biography”). In conclusion, Silverstein was successful, he won many awards because of his distinctive ideas through his poetry, and he lived the motto, “have a good time. ” In addition, there are many things that impacted Shel Silverstein’s writing style (“Shel Silverstein”).
Throughout most of Silverstein’s poems, there is a repeated theme of moral lessons that the audience, he readers could learn valuable lessons from which is a big significance in these themes; he also uses objects to symbolize meaningful aspects of life and how to handle difficult situations (“Shel Silverstein Facts”). Even though Silverstein hasn’t really influenced any popular poets, in particular, he had influenced and encouraged both adults and children with his poems.
More importantly, no other writers have influenced Silverstein, and he said he was glad for this because he was able to create his own personal writing style, not from anyone else’s style (“Shel Silverstein Facts”). Silverstein was influenced by his time spent in Japan and Korea, serving in the army and at the same time, working for a newspaper company called Pacific Stars and Stripes, later on, he worked for Playboy, where he built the foundation for his later poems, writing very humorous stories as a cartoonist (“Shel Silverstein Biography: Author, Illustrator, Poet, Songwriter (1930-1999)”).
Afterward, when Ursula Nordstrom from Harper and Row editor convinced Silverstein to write for children, he became one of the most famous children’s authors, she was a big help for his success, because he was truly nspiring to children even to this day, with his creative imagination, he was very influential about solving problems in a funny and relatable way that is easy to understand (“Shel Silverstein”). To close, many things had a huge impact on Shel Silverstein’s life from people, places, and feelings.
All things included, “Messy Room” uses rhythm, personification, hyperbole, symbolism, and irony to give a humorous account of a reason one should not be so ritical of people (“Columbus. edu”). To summarize, someone was in a room and was saying how the room was very messy and disorganized and ow its owner should be humiliated and ashamed. This narrative poem with sixteen lines grouped in one stanza following the rhyme scheme of ABCBDEFEGHJHKLML appears to take place in the narrator’s house (“Columbus. edu”).
Most importantly, the purpose of writing this poem was to show how we should not be quick to accuse others of carelessness when we are just as guilty of the same thing (“Poem #2: Messy Room by Shel Silverstein”). One should not be so quick to accuse others when fault also lies with us (“Poem #2: Messy Room by Shel Silverstein”). Silverstein uses visually descriptive and igurative language also called imagery in the poem when he said, “A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed” and “His smelly sock has been stuck to the wall” (“Messy Room by Shel Silverstein”).
The rhymes presented through the poem are hall and wall, lamp and damp, floor and door, sock and stuck, and Ed and bed. Another sound device used by Silverstein is alliteration. This can be found on line five where it says, “his workbook is wedged in the window” (“Messy Room by Shel Silverstein”). The rhythm of the poem is marked by the repletion of the words “and” and “his” as sentence starters and on the econd and last line of each stanza (“Columbus. edu”). There is onomatopoeia, used in the expression of the sound “Huh” (“Columbus. du”). Symbolism was used when he kept repeating that the owner of the room should be ashamed, and in the end, there is a twist and it is his room (“Columbus. edu”). It symbolizes that he was not ashamed, but proud of his room (“Columbus. edu”). Also, irony was used along with symbolism at the end of the poem. The poem means that it is not only to have an organized room, but it is also trying to teach us we shouldn’t udge other people because we aren’t perfect either (“Poem #2: Messy Room by Shel Silverstein”).
My reaction to this poem is how I can closely relate to this because I do it all the time, criticizing others people’s problems in their lives while I have problems of my own. In conclusion, this explains how Shel Silverstein uses sound and sense devices to write a humorous story about why we shouldn’t be critical of people. In summary, Shel Silverstein’s life and work are made memorable by an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for Best Music, from his original song in the film “Postcards from the Edge, 991” (“Silverstein, Shel” Contemporary Musicians, and “Shel Silverstein”).
In Silverstein’s early life, he served in the U. S. Army while writing poems and songs at a magazine company. After, Silverstein was encouraged to read books for children, writing best sellers all over the world. Later on, as Silverstein continued to write poems he began receiving recognition and honor from his unique and descriptive poems. To end, throughout Silverstein’s life he lived by two mottos, “Have a good time. ” and “Anything is possible. Anything can be. ” (“Shel Silverstein Quotes (Author of Where the Sidewalk Ends)”).
