NAME:________________________________________

DATE:___________________________
HEIR CONDITIONING
by M. Shanmughalingam

Grand dad did you breathe

Before air cons were invented
Wasn't it hard staying
Alive without modern inventions
Gandma weren't you flustered
As you fluttered with paper fans
Could you communicate before
Faxes and long distance calls
Became basic necessities?
Grandchild we lived
Before your age because
Of our ignorance,
We did not know
Pollution, stress, traffic jams
Destruction of forests, streams and hills
We feared God and nature
Now nature fears you and
Money is your new God

THE POET: M.SHANMUGHALINGAM

Studied at the Victoria Institute School, Malaysia from 19521958.
Holds an Honours degree from University Malaya, a Masters
from Harvard and a Doctorate from Oxford University.

Literary publications include short stories and poems in Commonwealth

Anthologies, internal anthologies, universities and in national literary journals.
The co-editor of an anthology of Malaysian poetry.
Has always been active in the debating, literary and drama fields.

THE MEANINGS
Stanza 1: the grandchild asks questions to his/her grandparents.
Grand dad did you
breathe before air cons
were invented
Was it hard staying
alive without modern
inventions?
Grandma werent you
flustered
as
you
fluttered with paper
fans?
Could
you
communicate
before
faxes and long distance
calls
became
basic
necessities?
Stanza 2: the grandfather/grandmother responded to the questions posed
by their grandchild in stanza 1.
Grandchild
we
lived
before your age.
Because
of
our
ignorance, we did not
know pollution, stress,
traffic jams, destruction
of forests, streams and
hills.
We
feared
God
and
nature
Now nature fears you
and money is your new
God.
THEMES
Life in the past was simple and peaceful.
Developments in the present life come with stress, pollution and destruction of
nature.
Love of money and material things.
No fear of God and no love of the environment.
Modern inventions are beneficial but are indirectly gives us problems.
MORAL VALUES/MESSAGES
We must love our environment.
We must be God-fearing.
We should not be greedy and materialistic.

We
We
We
We
We

must realize that material comfort does not ensure a better quality of life.
must always respect and preserve nature.
must use the technology wisely.
must be not blinded by money.
should be religious and do not forget our responsibilities.

SETTING
Time frame:
Stanza 1 - past time
Stanza 2 - present time

Place:
Stanza 1 a place in the past
Stanza 2 a place in the present

PERSONA
There are three personas.
One persona is a curious child talking to his grandparents.
The other two personas are an old man and an old woman answering their
grandchilds questions together.

LITERARY DEVICES
Alliteration
Used to reflect the sound of
the wind from her
grandmothers
paper
fans
The repetition of similar
consonants
at
the
beginning of words put
close to each other.
Rhyme Scheme
Pun
Pun is used as an irony as
the usage of air-conditioner
is causing harm to the nature
as we enjoy the cool air.

Repetition
Words or ideas that are
emphasized to show the
importance of a certain
concept

Example:
Consonant: /f/
Grandma werent you flustered
As you fluttered with paper fans?

Contemporary. Followed no rhyme scheme

Example:
Heir conditioning and air-conditioning
Heir
An heir is a person who will legally receive
money, property or a title from another person,
especially an older member of the same family,
when that other person dies; someone who now
has the responsibility for dealing with a problem
or situation that existed or was created earlier.
Condition/Conditioning(INFLUENCE)
It is to train or influence a person or animal
mentally so that they do or expect a particular
thing without thinking about it.
Example:
Line 1- 9
:You
Line 10- 18 :We
Line 18- 20 : You & We.
Here the poet emphasize the word you,

Style
The style use is simple but
rich in contrast.
Tone
This poem has a rather
serious and sarcastic tone.
This is because the use of all
these
technological
appliances that are supposed
to make our lives more
comfortable
is
actually
destroying the world we live
in.

focusing all attention to the grandparents. Also

signify blaming; you as pinpointing.
Example:
The lines in the poem are presented in a non-standard
tradition of style.
The poem is presented in 9 lines in the first stanza.
The second stanza contains 10 lines.
The tone of the grandchild (line 1-9) poses
question. The child asks questions in an innocent
and naive tone. Example ( did you , was
it , werent you , Couldyou )
The tone of the Grandparents (line 10-18) is
serious. The voice of someone scolding,
preaching, and teaching an ignorant person.
Example (we did not)

Irony
An expression of meaning Example:
often humorous or sarcastic,
In this poem, the poet highlights the comforts of
by the use of language of a
modernization (telephones, air-conditioner and
different
or
opposite
modern transportation), and the consequences
tendency
(stress, consequences of traffic jams and
pollution) they have brought into us.

QUESTIONS
1) Explain the meaning of before your age?
______________________________________________________________________________
2) Why do the grandparents says now nature fears you?
______________________________________________________________________________
3) What does the word heir refer to?
______________________________________________________________________________
4) List two negative aspects of modern inventions.
______________________________________________________________________________
5) The poem states that money is your new God. Why?
______________________________________________________________________________
6) What is the personas view of life during his grandparents time?
______________________________________________________________________________
7) What is the poem about?
______________________________________________________________________________

STRUCTURAL RESPONSE
PRACTICE 1: Read stanza one of the poems and answer the following
questions.
1. The poem is a dialogue between a
3.
Grand
dad
did
you
breathe/before air cons were
invented. The tone in the line above is
A. child and his grandfather
A. worry
B. grandchild and his parents
B. disgust
C. grandchild and his grandma
C. concern
D grandchild and his grandparents
D. amazement
2. When grandma fluttered with paper fans,
modern gadget?
she did it
A. slowly
B. quickly
C. merrily
D. boringly

4. Which of the following is not a

A. fax
B. computer
C. paper fan
D. handphone

PRACTICE 2: Read stanza two of the poems and answer the following
questions.
1. Grandchild we lived/before your age.
3. The grandchild feels that
Your age refers to the
A. years of suffering
A. money is not important
B. grandchilds age
B. his grandparents are wise
C. grandparents age
C. he is living in a better world
D. era of technology
D. inventions are not basic
necessities
2. All the things below are products of modern 4. What are the things
important to the
times except
grandparents?
A. clean air
A. money
B. pollution
B. God and nature
C. traffic jams
C. material things
D. destruction of forests
D. modern things

that are