6 whatif

1. “Whatif” Introductory Questions: Have you ever thought of the following questions? What will happen if the roof of your classroom breaks and falls on you? What will you do if the sky falls on you? What if you grow into a young man or a young lady all of a sudden? What if the sun does not rise tomorrow? What if you are given a month’s holidays from today? Let’s read a poem with more such ‘whatifs’ written by Shel Silverstein. Shel Allan Silverstein was an American Poet, singer, Song writer, cartoonist, screen writer and Author of many children's books. He projects himself as ‘uncle Shelby’ in some of his writings.

2. “Last night……….Whatif song” Explanation: Last night when the poet lay on his bed some imaginary questions haunted his mind. He calls these questions ‘ whatifs ’. These ‘ whatifs ’ danced all night long in his mind. These very interesting questions are as under:

3. “Whatif I’m dumb……..sick and die” Explanation: The narrator is anxious to think what would happen if he becomes dumb in school. What if the swimming pool is closed? Whatif he is beaten up or defeated? Whatif there is poison in his cup? What would happen if he starts to cry? What would happen if he falls sick and die?

4. Whatif I flunk……….getting smaller” Explanation: What will happen if he fails in the test? What may happen if green hair grows on his chest? What would happen if nobody likes him? What may happen if lightning strikes him? If he stops growing, what may happen? If his head starts getting smaller, what will happen?

5. “Whatif the fish …….. The bus is late” Explanation: What will happen if he fails to catch fish? What if his kite gets torn by wind? What will happen if a war starts? What he might do if his parents get separated by divorce? What problem he may face if the bus is late?

6. “Whatif……………strikes again!” Explanation: What he will do if his teeth don’t go straight? What will happen if his pants get torn? If he is unable to learn dance, what may happen? At that moment he found everything okay. Nothing of that sort had happened. But at night those ‘whatifs’ strike him again. His mind was again preoccupied with such ‘whatifs’.