Shel Silverstein

The Homework Machine

The Homework Machine - meaning Summary

Wish for Effortless Answers

The poem imagines a fantastical Homework Machine that promises to produce perfect homework instantly. The speaker eagerly tests the device, only to get an absurdly wrong answer, revealing the machine is flawed. In plain, playful terms the poem satirizes the desire for easy fixes and highlights the gap between expectation and reality, using a child's perspective and comic disappointment to question quick solutions to learning tasks.

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The Homework Machine, Oh, the Homework Machine, Most perfect contraption that's ever been seen. Just put in your homework, then drop in a dime, Snap on the switch, and in ten seconds' time, Your homework comes out, quick and clean as can be. Here it is— 'nine plus four?' and the answer is 'three.' Three? Oh me . . . I guess it's not as perfect As I thought it would be.

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