Literary Technique: Hyperbole
Poem Example:
Somebody Has To
By Shel Silverstein
Somebody has to go polish the stars,
They’re looking a little bit dull.
Somebody has to go polish the stars,
For the eagles and starlings and gulls
Have all been complaining they’re tarnished and worn,
They say they want new ones we cannot afford.
So please get your rags
And your polishing jars,
Somebody has to go polish the stars.
Biographical Information: Shel Silverstein is best known as the author of iconic books of prose and poetry for young readers. His immensely popular poetry collections are Where the Sidewalk Ends, a 1974 Michigan Young Readers Award winner; A Light in the Attic, recipient of the School Library Journal Best Books Award in 1982; Falling Up (1996); and Don’t Bump the Glump! And Other Fantasies, which was originally published in 1963 and reissued in 2008. Runny Babbit, a posthumous poetry collection of spoonerisms, was conceived and completed before his death. Silverstein’s books, which he also illustrated, are characterized by a deft mixing of the sly and the serious, the macabre, and the just plain silly. His unique imagination and bold brand of humor is beloved by countless adults and children throughout the world.
Explanation of Technique: Hyperbole are exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. The hyperbole in this poem is the phrase 'Somebody has to go polish the stars'. The stars cannot litterally be polished or cleaned, it's a just an exaggerated phrase saying that the sky needs to be cleared.
Interpretation of Poem: This whimsical poem addresses the growing problem of air pollution, and how it is our job to 'polish the stars' since we 'cannot afford' a new atmosphere. We only have one sky, and we have to take care of it before it's too late. The lines 'For the eagles and starlings and gulls/Have all been complaining they’re tarnished and worn,' state that the air is becoming worse for airborne wildlife. In countries such as China, the air is polluted that the stars are hardly ever visible at night, which would explain the line that says the stars are becoming dull.
Visual Representation:
Explanation of Visual: I selected an image of a flock of birds flying over a smog filled city. This represents the poem because the poem's main theme is that we need to prevent air pollution. The poem's purpose is to bring attention to the problem of air pollution, and this image helps convey that message very well.
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