MY HERO

by Willis Hall

STANZA 1

My dads as brave as a dad can be,

I rate him Number One,

Hes not afraid of the dead of

night,
Or anything under the sun.

STANZA 2

Hes not afraid of a late night film,

Full of horrors on the telly,

And is he afraid of skeletons?

Not Dad, not on your Nelly!

STANZA 3

Hes not afraid of meeting ghosts,

Hed even smile and greet em,

And things that scare most dads the most,

My dad could just defeat em.

STANZA 4

Hes not afraid of vampires,

Or a wolf-man come to get him.

If Frankensteins monster knocked on

our door,
He wouldnt let that upset him.

STANZA 5

My dads as brave as a dad can be,

And hes always ready to prove it.

So why, when a spiders in the bath,

Does Mum have to come and remove it?

PARAPHRASE
OF THE POEM

My dads as brave as a dad can be,

I rate him Number One,
Hes not afraid of the dead of night,
Or anything under the sun.
Stanza
The

persona is very proud of his

father who he feels is as brave as
any other father or even braver.
In his eyes, his father is Number One
as his father is fearless and not
afraid of the dead of night and
anything unddr the sun.

Hes not afraid of a late night film,

Full of horrors on the telly,
And is he afraid of skeletons?
Not Dad, not on your Nelly!
Stanza 2
The

persona says his father is not

afraid to watch horror movies late in
the night.
Horror scenes of skeletons do not
scare him or put him off watching
them.

Hes not afraid of meeting ghosts,

Hed even smile and greet em,
And things that scare most dads the most,
My dad could just defeat em.
Stanza
The

persona is positive his father is

not afraid of ghosts and would even
smile and acknowledge them.
His father dares to fight agains
things that most other dads are
afraid of.

Hes not afraid of vampires,

Or a wolf-man come to get him. If
Frankensteins monster knocked on our door,
He wouldnt let that upset him.
Stanza
The

persona's father will not be

intimidates by horror figures like
vampires, wolf-man or Frankeistein's
monster even if they appear at the
door

My dads as brave as a dad can be,

And hes always ready to prove it.
So why, when a spiders in the bath,
Does Mum have to come and remove
it?
Stanza
The

persona says his father is as brave as a

father can be and he's always keen to show it.
But when his father sees a spider, he will not
touch it and mother has to come to his aid.
This is something the persona cannot
understand about his brave father.
Is he really afraid of a mere spider ?

EXERCISE :
Write TRUE of FALSE for each
statements below.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

The persona, like his father, has a liking for ghoulish movies. (
)
The persona feels his father is not as brave as other fathers.
(
)
Most people shy away from ghostly figures but not the
personas father. (
)
The father is not likely to encourage the persona to watch
horror movies. (
)
Vampires, werewolves and Frankenstein monsters are
figments of the imagination. (
)
The personas family has a phobia of spiders. (
)
Only heroes can deal with unexpected horrors but they have
weaknesses too. (
)
All fathers are brave enough to greet ghostly figures that
come knocking on their door. (
)

ELEMENTS OF THE
POEM

THEMES

MORAL VALUES

MESSAGES

DISCUSSION

 Write

down your definition of a hero,

and the qualities of a hero. Who is
your hero? Why? Compare and
discuss your responses with your
partner. You may use the mind map
to list the qualities of your ideal hero
in real life.

WHO IS YOUR HERO?

______________________

MY
IDEAL
HERO

PT3 EXAM
PRACTICES

STANZA 1
1. How do you think the persona problaly looks
when he talks of his father ? Choose two words from
the list given - sullen, bored , mischievous , serious ,
proud.

2. Why does the persona use the phrase 'dead of

night' to refer to the father being considered brave ?

1. How do you think the persona problaly looks when he

talks of his father ? Choose two words from the list
given - sullen, bored , mischievous , serious , proud.
=Serious and proud
2. Why does the persona use the phrase 'dead of night'
to refer to the father being considered brave ?
=The father is not afraid of darkness of the night

STANZA 2
Stanza

3. How would a person who does not enjoy latenight horror movies react to horror scenes ?

4. Describe the father's reaction to show that he

enjoys horror scenes shown over the television

 Stanza

3. How would a person who does not enjoy latenight horror movies react to horror scenes ?
=Not afraid of watching horror movies
4. Describe the father's reaction to show that he
enjoys horror scenes shown over the television
=The skeletons do not scare him

STANZA 3
Stanza

5. Name the object mentioned by the persona that

most people are afraid of.
6. What does the persona say his father will do ?
7. What does the persona say his father will do if he
sees something which other fathers are scared of ?

 Stanza

5. Name the object mentioned by the persona that most people

are afraid of.
=Dead of night, watch horror movies, ghosts
6. What does the persona say his father will do ?
=His father is even smile and greet 'em
7. What does the persona say his father will do if he sees
something which other fathers are scared of ?
=The persona father will smile and acknowledge it

STANZA 4
Stanza

8. If the persona's father is not afraid

of ghoulish figures , what will he do if
one of these appears at his door ?

 Stanza

8. If the persona's father is not afraid

of ghoulish figures , what will he do if
one of these appears at his door ?
=Will not let it upset him

STANZA 5
Stanza

9. Why do you think the persona's

father is always ready to prove to his
son that he is brave ?
10. How does the persona feel about
his father and his fear of spiders ?

 Stanza

9. Why do you think the persona's father is always

ready to prove to his son that he is brave ?
=He is the role - model for his son
10. How does the persona feel about his father and
his fear of spiders ?
=The persona is very proud of his father and the
persona cannot understand about his father fear of
spiders