CRITICAL AND LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS OF FEELINGS BY C. J. Heck-ICSE BOARD CLASS 8 ENGLISH

You are going to go through ANALYSIS OF FEELINGS BY C. J. Heck. Understanding a poem meticulously in its entirety is very important for a learner for scoring better in the exam. Efforts have been made to ensure a thorough critical and line by line analysis. Let us find CRITICAL AND LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS OF FEELINGS BY C. J. Heck-ICSE BOARD CLASS 8 ENGLISH

About the Poet:

C. J. Heck is an illustrator, author and poet. Her book “Barking Spiders” is a best-selling book of poems written for children ‘who love to listen with their hearts’. She belongs to Florida.

About the FEELINGS BY C. J. Heck

This poem is about a child asking his mother as to why he is being picked upon by other kids of his age and why they say things to hurt me. The kid is curious to know as to why there is so much anger and why others behave the way they do and end up hurting people.

Structure of the FEELINGS BY C. J. Heck

Feelings

“Mom, why would kids say stuff to hurt me,
most especially, when they’re not true ?
Don’t they even care about feelings?
Can’t they think first, before they hurt you?

She said those that do that are unhappy,
they’re very angry deep down inside,
but they just don't know how to fix that,
so they pick on kids smaller in size.

Mom said life is too short to stay angry.
If you let it, angry gets bigger each day!
But happy grows faster than angry can,
so be happy, it’s better that way!

Mom said just stand up for my feelings,
but do it nice, and don’t get all mad.
I try, but it sure isn’t easy,
being nice when they’ve made me so sad.”

The rhyming pattern is abcb defe ghih jklk.

Line by line analysis of the FEELINGS BY C. J. Heck

Lines 1- 4:

“Mom, why would kids say stuff to hurt me,
most especially, when they’re not true ?
Don’t they even care about feelings?
Can’t they think first, before they hurt you?”

The kid is the speaker in the first stanza. He is asking his mother as to why other kids of his age say things to hurt him. He is shocked when he feels that they do not even care about others’ feelings. The kid asks if it is that difficult to think before acting.

Lines 5- 8:

“She said those that do that are unhappy,
they’re very angry deep down inside,
but they just don't know how to fix that,
so they pick on kids smaller in size.”

The mother is the speaker in this stanza. In this stanza, she is making the kid understand the main reason as to why bullies pick on other weaker and smaller individuals. As per her, the bullies are filled with anger and unhappiness inside. They just don’t know how to deal with all the negative feelings; thus, they bully others.

Lines 9- 12:

“Mom said life is too short to stay angry.
If you let it, angry gets bigger each day!
But happy grows faster than angry can,
so be happy, it’s better that way!”

In the third stanza, the child is saying whatever the mother has told him earlier. The mother had said that life is too short to be angry and it is worst to pile up anger and unhappiness within oneself. Happiness, as per her, grows faster and easier than anger. Thus, one should always be happy. Life seems better that way.

Lines 13- 16:

“Mom said just stand up for my feelings,
but do it nice, and don’t get all mad.
I try, but it sure isn’t easy,
being nice when they’ve made me so sad.”

In the last stanza, the mother is advising the child to always stand for his own feelings. She has also mentioned that one should not get mad while doing that and do it in a positive way. According to the kid, it is not always easy to be happy and be nice to everybody, that too knowing that the same people would say hurtful words.

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Figures of speech used in FEELINGS BY C. J. Heck

Alliteration:

This is a figure of speech where closely associated words or corresponding words begin with the same alphabet in a sentence.

“Mom, why would kids say stuff to hurt me”

“She said those that do that are unhappy”

Hyperbole:

This is a figure of speech where exaggeration is used. It is mainly used in order to overstate a situation.

“but do it nice, and don’t get all mad.”

Here getting all mad does not mean literally going insane. It instead means being angry.

Important Word Meanings:

Pick on: To corner someone deliberately to irritate them (unpleasant treatment).

Stand up: To defend or speak up in favour of something.

The theme of the FEELINGS BY C. J. Heck

The central theme of the poem surrounds around the child’s question to his mother as to why others hurt him and pick on him deliberately. He is curious to know why people do not think before they speak. In the last two stanzas, the mother advises him with why people bully and how to handle them calmly without getting mad.