The Elephant's Child Analysis

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b. Identify the source of the material
This poem is from Rudyard Kipling.
It was taken from a story, "The Elephant 's Child" from the book “Just So Stories" published in 1902
Found from http://allpoetry.com/I-Keep-Six-Honest-Serving-Men

c. Summarise the material
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist. Kipling 's works of fiction include The Jungle Book, Kim, and many short stories, including "The Man Who Would Be King". The first half of the first stanza of this poem has become a very common saying amongst journalists and businessmen all over the world, as it reflects the spirit of journalism and questioning in one single verse.
The first stanza is about Kipling 's ways of learning, questioning and discovering the world. The serving men are the questions he asks about what he sees around him. These questions are the best way of discovering the truth, hence the phrase 'honest serving men '. …show more content…

In the second stanza it shows that the composer has stopped questioning things all the time, 'I let them rest from nine till five ' 'as well as breakfast, lunch, and tea’. He simply accepts thing for how they are and has stopped questioning things as often, he doesn’t challenge new claims. He has given up discovery. Some commentators think this is a way of criticizing adults who have become complacent about information and the world around them. They become busy and caught up in the daily routine without stopping to discover new things or to think about the significance of the world

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