4. Writer’s Overview
Muhammad Haji
Salleh.
Famous author and poet of
Malaysia
Wrote the poem while teaching in
Sultan Abu Bakar School, Kuantan
(1968)
He writes in bilingual, English and
Malay.
He writes about Malaysia.
5. WHAT INSPIRES HIM?
His real experiences (teacher)
School over is rejoiced by everyone and he
want to record these happy moments down.
School over is something significant (new
starts)
The happiness of the children inspired him to
write this poem.
7. The theme freedom is well portrayed in the
poem. It is all about the temporary freedom
enjoyed by the students when school ends.
He describe school over as a door to
freedom for students.
8. The theme of happiness is
displayed throughout the
poem, especially clear in the
third stanza, when the boys
are running around.
9. Looking at the kids breaking rules and enjoying their
temporary freedom after school, we would naturally
miss the old school days. The feel of longing and
missing for the old days is probably one of the main
issue of this poem.
11. Mood
The mood in this poem is
pleasant as it is the writing from
the view of a teacher. The poet is
playing the character as an observer.
12. Tone
The tone in this poem is happy,
excited and the
eagerness waiting for the school to
end in a day. The poet is also joining the
children’s excitements of the happy
moment.
“boys running to catch friends from other
classes” (Stanza 3)
“the bell was life-giver,
the sudden god of freedom,
life rushed into the limbs” (Stanza 2)
“wandering plans for the schoolless
afternoon” (Stanza 1)
16. OXYMORON
“Wet from the heat”
where 'wet' is place side by
side with 'heat'. Wet only
happens when it is cold. It is
impossible to be wet on a
hot day!
17. ALLUSION
“hidden in Shakespeare or Usman Awang”
Shakespeare is a famous English author
while Usman Awang is Malaysian famous
author.
It symbolizes…
21. Mirrors
On the other hand, the girls were still calm.
They were combing their hair by “secretly
peering into some mirrors” that they had
brought to school. They were not allowed
to bring mirrors to school. Despite the
school rules, the girls had hidden the
mirrors in their books. This was the starter
of author’s confusion and feeling of
absurdness in that environment. He feel as
if he is peeking into someone’s privacy.
22. *The school over poem is overall a familiar and warm hearting piece of
work, we laughed and enjoyed throughout it as it matches the situation
which reminds us of our school days . The writings are genuine and
though it is the situation that we are all so familiar with, he managed to
get something different out of it. The poet observes and think more, he
connected those tiny little pieces in life to form a complete puzzle,
elaborates them and,
This is always how good things start small ^^.
