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
According 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, wolf-man
or Frankenstein'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. Whenever his father sees a spider,
he will not touch it and mother has to come to help him.
 Themes and Point of View

Themes
There are several themes in this poem:
Hero worship and admiration
Parent - child relationship
Respecting others
People have their own skills and strengths
Admit that everyone has weaknesses and flaws
Learn to accept people for what they are
Living up to people's expectations

Point of View
First person
Persona talks about his father
Example:
My dad's as brave as a dad can be,
I rate him Number One,
My dad could just defeat 'em.

Literary Devices

Repetition

'My dad's as brave as a dad can be,' - to emphasize the persona's belief that
his father is a brave man.
'He's not afraid of..' - repeated in four stanzas to emphasise the persona's
father is brave.

Symbol

'Dead of night' - symbolize darkness and anything and everything not feared by
the persona's father
'anything under the sun' - anything that can be seen during the day

Imagery
 'a late-night film, Full of horrors' - signifies a terrifying horror movie
'vampires, or a wolf-man' - gives a clear image of horror figures
'I rate him Number One' - shows the persona's pride and hero worship towards
his father

Assonance
'monster knocked on our door'
'He'd even smile and greet them'

Alliteration
And 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.

Rhetorical Questions
'And is he afraid of skeletons?'
'Does Mum have to come and remove it?'

Irony
The irony is that the father does not seem to be afraid of horror movies and ghoulish
figures like 'vampires' and even Frankenstein's monster but he is afraid of a little
spider.

Moral Values

We should acknowledge other people's abilities and strengths.

We must be ready to admit our own weaknesses.
We have to learn to accept other people's weaknesses.
We must respect each other.
We have to value and treasure family relationships.
We must try to set good examples to others.
As an adult, we should try to live up to young children;s expectations.
Language and Style
 The language used by the poet is
light
simple
easy to comprehend
It is attributive as the poet the persona talks about his parents.
Use of few negative sentences
He's not afraid of the dead of night,
He's not afraid of meeting ghosts,
He wouldn't let that upset him.
There are four lines per stanza.
Tone, Mood and Atmosphere
Direct and matter-of-fact
Innocence and purehearted
Serious
Pride
Rhyme and Rhythm
Stanza 1 - a, b, c, b
Stanza 2 - a, b, c, b
Stanza 3 - a, b, a, b
Stanza 4 - a, b, c, b
Stanza 5 - a, b, c, b

The Notes for My Hero by Willis Hall in Poetry for Pleasure (Form2 Literature Component)

When we watched the superhero movies like Spiderman, The Hulk, Ironman, Thor, Xmen, and
many others, we find that no matter how strong the person is, he or she still has weaknesses.
Even a superhero has its weaknesses, we as an ordinary person, of course we do have
weaknesses. In our life, we could be elder brother or sister, could be parents, could be teacher,
and could be leader in a group. There are expectations that we have to show bravery and hide
away our timidness, just as some people might say it, not brave enough? Then act like you are.
This poem explore this issue from a perspective of a child towards 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.
Tone: Irony and Humourous

Stanza to Stanza Guides

Guides to Understand
Original Poem the Poem

1. Who is the
persona?
2. How the persona
thinks of the dad?

3. What are the things

that the father is not
My Dads as brave as a dad can be, afraid of?
I rate him Number One,
4. What is dead of
Hes not afraid of the dead of night, night?
Or anything under the sun.

1. Anything else the

father is not afraid of?
2. What is the telly?
3. not on your
Hes not afraid of a late-night film,
nelly = not at all
Full of horrors on the telly,
And is he afraid of skeletons?
Not Dad, not on your Nelly!

Hes not afraid of meeting ghosts, 1. What is another

Hed even smile and greet em, thing that the dad is not
afraid of?
2. How will the dad
And things that scared most dads the
react?
most,

3. What will the dad

My dad could just defeat em.
do even if he met the
scariest thing?
 Hes not afraid of vampires,
Or a wolf-man come to get him,
If Frankenstein monster knocked on
our door,
1. List down the
He wouldnt let that upset him.
monsters that the dad is
not afraid.

My dads as brave as a dad can be,

And hes always ready to prove it.
1. The dad always
shows off that he is
So why, when a spiders in the bath,
brave.
2. What happen when
Does Mum have to come and remove there is a spider in the
it? bathtub?

Exercise
1. Which of the following is NOT the lesson learnt of this poem?
Father is afraid of the
A. We should be humble C. spider

Parents should not lie Everyone has strengths

B. to their children D. and weaknesses

2. How is the fathers reaction when he sees a ghost?

A. happy C. panic

B. calm D. angry

3. What is the dead in stanza 1 line 3 meant?

A. the dead person C. Monsters and zombies

B. Silence and darkness D. Robbers

4. Who is the persona?

A. child C. mother
 B. father D. Vampires

5. What is the tone in the last stanza?

A. curious C. worried

B. serious D. irony