First lesson....

Well, for the first lesson, we did nothing much, but I learnt that poems do not really convey its underlying meaning directly, it is to be inferred indirectly as a hidden meaning. Let me give you the example our teacher gave us......

The little boy and the old man by Shel Silverstein
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Said the little boy,"Sometimes I drop my spoon."
Said the old man,"I do that too."
The little boy whispered,"I wet my pants."
"I do that too."Laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy,"I often cry."
The old man nodded,"so do I".
"But worst of all," said the boy,"it seems,
Grown-ups dont pay attention to me."
And he felt a warmth of a wrinkled old man,
"I know what you mean," said the little old man.

This poem shows that both the boy and the old man are not being paid attention by grown-ups obsessed with their pursue of wealth. It highlights indirectly that while it is true that technology is advancing swiftly, people are becoming more and more self-centred, giving more to themselves only while neglecting their parents, even their children. It also makes one infer that as adults were once children, their parents might have neglected them, causing them to not take care of their parents well after they grow up. This hence turns into a malignant cycle which repeats itslef over and over again as people steadily become more selfish than ever. Presumably the poet had observed this and it inspired him to write about this poem.