- Action, Linking, and Auxiliary Verb: Definitions, Functions, and Examples
- Correct Use of Verbs
- Correct Use of Preposition
- Present Perfect vs. Present Perfect Continuous Tense
- Uses of Articles (A, An, The)
- Active and Passive Voice
- Indefinite and Definite Articles: Definition and Examples
- Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives
- Comparison of Adjectives & Adverbs: Examples, Sentences & Exercises
- Adjectives
- Irregular Verbs with Examples
- Modal Auxiliary Verb
- Use of Modal Verbs
- Compound Antecedents: Definition & Examples
- What is an Antecedent? Definition, Meaning & Examples
- What Are Collective Nouns?
- What Are Possessive Nouns? Examples, Definition & Types
Comprehensive English: Sentence Structure: Understanding Grammar
- Parts of Speech
- Degree of Comparison
- Difference Between Direct & Indirect Objects in Sentence Structure
- Gerunds: Are They Verbs? Are They Nouns?
- Conjunction vs. Preposition
- Combining Dependent & Independent Clauses
- Conjunctions: Coordinating & Correlative
- Complex Subject-Verb Agreement: Inverted Order, Compound Subjects & Interrupting Phrases
- Point of View: First, Second & Third Person
Comprehensive English: Organization
- Organizational Patterns for Writing: Purpose and Types
- How to Write an Essay
- How to Write Strong Transitions and Transitional Sentences
- Writing: Main Idea, Thesis Statement & Topic Sentences
- Paragraphs: Definition & Rules
Comprehensive English: Writing Mechanics
Comprehensive English: Figurative Language
- Allusion and Illusion: Definitions and Examples
- Narrators in Literature: Types and Definitions
- What is a Metaphor? Examples, Definition & Types
Comprehensive English: Writing Assessment Tools & Strategies
- Qualities of Good Assessments: Standardization, Practicality, Reliability & Validity
- Forms of Assessment
- Self-Assessment in Writing: Definition & Examples
- How to Set a Grading Rubric for Literary Essays
- Standard Score: Definition & Examples
- Raw Score: Definition & Explanation
- How to Create a Writing Portfolio
Comprehensive English: Effective Listening & Speaking
Comprehensive English: Developing Word Identification Skills
English: Class 6 : Honey Suckle
- The Banyan Tree
- Desert Animals
- A Game of Chance
- Fair Play
- Who I Am
- A Different Kind of School
- An Indian-American Woman in Space: Kalpana Chawla
- How the Dog Found Himself a New Master
- Who Did Patrick’s Homework
English: Class 6 : Poem
English: Class 6 : A Pact with the sun
- A Strange Wrestling Match
- What Happened to the Reptiles
- A Pact with the Sun
- The Wonder Called Sleep
- The Monkey and the Crocodile
- Tansen
- The Old Clock Shop
- The Shepherd’s Treasure
- The Friendly Mongoose
- A Tale of Two Birds
English: Class 7 : Honeycomb
English: Class 7: Alien Hand
- An Alien Hand
- A Tiger in the House
- The Bear Story
- Chandni
- I Want Something in a Cage
- Golu Grows a Nose
- The Cop and the Anthem
- The Desert
- Bringing Up Kari
- The Tiny Teacher
English: Class 7: Poem
- Garden Snake
- Meadow Surprises
- Dad and the Cat and the Tree
- Mystery of the Talking Fan
- Trees
- Chivvy
- The Shed
- The Rebel
- The Squirrel
English: Class 8: Honey Dew
- The Great Stone Face II
- The Great Stone Face I
- A Short Monsoon Diary
- A Visit to Cambridge
- This is Jody’s Fawn
- The Summit Within
- Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory
- Glimpses of the Past
- The Best Christmas Present in the World
English: Class 8: Poem
English: Class 8: It so happened
- Ancient Education System of India
- The Comet — II
- The Comet — I
- Jalebis
- The Open Window
- The Fight
- The Treasure Within
- The Selfish Giant
- Children At Work
English: Class 9: Beehive
- Kathmandu
- If I were You
- The Bond of Love
- Reach for the Top
- Packing
- My Childhood
- The Snake and the Mirror
- A Truly Beautiful Mind
- The Sound of Music
- The Fun They Had
English: Class 9: Poem
English: Class 9: Moments
- A House Is Not a Home
- The Last Leaf
- Weathering the Storm in Ersama
- The Happy Prince
- In the Kingdom of Fools
English: Class 10: First Flight
- The Proposal
- The Sermon at Banaras
- Madam Rides the Bus
- Mijbil the Otter
- Glimpses of India
- The Hundred Dresses - II
- The Hundred Dresses - I
- From the Diary of Anne Frank
- Two Stories about Flying
- Nelson Mandela Long Walk to Freedom
- A Letter to God
English: Class 10: Poem
English: Class 10: Foot prints
English: Class 10: Supplementary : Prose
English: Class 10: Supplementary: Poetry
English: Class 11:Hornbill
- Silk Road
- The Adventure
- The Browning Version
- The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role
- Landscape of the Soul
- Discovering Tut: the Saga Continues
- We’re Not Afraid to Die..if We Can All Be Together
- The Portrait of a Lady
English: Class 11: Supplementary
- The Tale of Melon City
- Birth
- The Ghat of the Only World
- Albert Einstein at School
- Ranga’s Marriage
- The Address
- The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse
English: Class 11: Poem
- 2Ajamil and the Tigers
- Ode to a Nightingale
- Felling of the Banyan Tree
- Refugee Blues
- For Elkana
- Hawk Roosting
- Mother Tongue
- The World is too Much With Us
- Telephone Conversation
- Coming
- Let me Not to the Marriage of True Minds
- The Peacock
English: Class 12: Prose
- Going Places
- The Interview
- Poets and Pancakes
- Indigo
- The Rattrap
- Deep Water
- Lost Spring
- The Last Lesson
English: Class 12: Supplementary
Chapter Summary
‘What If’ is a poem written by the famous poet Shel Silverstein. This poem is called a pght as verses in this poem are some questions by the speaker and he presented them in the form of what ifs. He asked the question to himself and through this presents some doubts in his mind.
The night came and the speaker was lying on his bed he thinks of the previous night and at that time some what-ifs came into his mind. He can feel that the what-ifs are entering his head through his ears. The speaker assumes that the questions are pranced, partied, and as well sang their old songs. Therefore, shortly it can be said that the speaker here spent his whole night thinking about different absurd as well as possible imaginations. The imagination here can take place or it may not but the thoughts make the speaker worry. The announcer also shows his concerns about the students that fall under the category of the same age group as him. He sometimes becomes tense thinking about the matter that he can be treated as a stupid person in school or cannot be able in passing the examination. In this part, the orator also voices out some of the concerned faces that are shown by the young kids.
The speech provider here expresses his fear of being treated badly in the school as well as ignored by them. Another fear of the orator is that if his parents get spanorced or one kept poison in his food. Therefore, it can be said that in this poem the speaker expresses his insecurities. It presents the doubt of the announcer if he will grow tall or not. The curious mind of the announcer also worried about the question that what will happen if he does not learn to dance.
Who is the speaker in the poem?
The poet Shel Silverstein himself is the speaker of the poem What If.
List out the happenings that the speaker is worried about
The speaker in the poem is worried about things as well as different happenings. The happenings include his fears of the mind and he thinks about what would happen if he is dumped in school. His tension goes to the matter that he can get troubled if he becomes confined to a swimming pool.
The orator expresses his fear through the words that he can be beaten up in school by his parents. Another point of worrying is coming out by his presentation of words pke if poisons are added into his cups, or if he starts crying, as well as becoming sick, of faipng in the test. The matter goes to the extreme that he thinks he can also die and what will happen then.
The childish thinking of the speaker also thinks about the matter of hair growth that is green in colour on his chest. He expresses his tension by saying What if my head starts getting smaller? The orator’s worry about the matter goes to the extent that he is tense about the matter of the spanorce of his parents.
Why do you think the speaker has worries? How do you think the speaker can get rid of such worries?
The speaker is surrounded by worries at the time of night because his mind is free at that time. The speaker is not busy with any kind of thought at that time of midnight and that is the reason he is worried about those thoughts. There is a thought that speaks that the Idle mind is the devil s workshop and it leads the speaker to think about those matters that look worrisome as well as gathered around his mind.
Yes, those thoughts can be got rid of and for this, the speaker will have to engage his mind with some effective activities. The activities can be reading, dancing, playing games or other works.
“Some ‘What Ifs’ crawled inside my ear.” The poet is trying to make an image of what he experiences. List out some more images from the poem.
This is an image made by the speaker and the poem also presents some other images. It is seen that humans mainly think in terms of words. Some other images from the poem are poison in my cup, green hair grows on my chest, a bolt of pghtning strikes me, my head starts getting smaller, my teeth don’t grow in straight. These all are examples of images presented in this poem and they give vivid images of the speaker’s fear.
Some other examples include the fear of failure the speaker in the test, being beaten by the teacher, the spanorce of his parents, as well as his fear of not getting taller. These all prove the imaginative mind of the poet also in a skilful way.
FAQs
Q1. What does the word if mean in this poem?
Ans. This poem What If presents or reveals some insecurity of the kids and through the word if those insecurities are presented. Some of the insecurities include whether they would grow taller or their teeth would grow even.
Q2. What is the moral of the poem What If?
Ans. What If is a poem written by Shel Silverstein and it gives a moral. The moral mainly says that people should not worry about the things that may or may not happen. Instead of this, people should involve their time with fruitful works such as reading, as well as playing.