News Break Synopsis

1. The Title
News Break means reporting something that is
unusual. The title is used to indicate that the boy is doing
something unusual by showing a change in his behaviour.

DISCUSSION
The words “News Break” are usually associated to
important events in one’s life. In this poem, the child is
afraid to tell the parent about his result. Instead of telling
the parent, he started to behave differently by being nice
to make up to the bad news. The child realises that his
report card may not please the parent. Hence, he tries to
be extra nice so that the parent will not be angry. The
poem demonstrates what a small child has to do just to
please his parents before the parents take any action
against him. He also tells us the fear he is undergoing
when things do not turn out as they are supposed to. The
poet has observed the trauma a child faces before he
hands over his progress report to his parents. The job of
the poet is to voice the actions of the small child to gain
credit from his parents so that there would be no shelling
from their parents.
 In the first stanza, the parent is wondering why
his child’s behaviour is suddenly so loving. The child
even gives a kiss to the parent and the parent is
bewildered that the child offers help. The parent
desperately wants to know the reason for the sudden
change.

In the second stanza, the parent is surprised to

see the child’s face neat and tidy. The child’s clothes
are also neat as if it has been ironed and has no
crumples. The parent is also shocked to know that
the child did not spend his money for lunch that day
as he usually does. The parent is astonished with all
the surprises that he is getting and thinks when it
would all end.
 In stanza 3, the parent is surprised that his child
did not drop his school books as he returns home.
The child does not scream or show an outburst of
anger. The parent praises the child for his good
behaviour that day as the child acts like a gentle
lamb when just the previous day, the child was going
against his parent.
 In stanza 4, the parent feels as if the child is a
stranger to him – like a new person.

The child does not show any anger or any emotional

disturbance. Therefore, the parent asks the child to
come closer so that he can see his child better as he
wonders if that is really his child.

In stanza five, where he also wonders whether

his child had been struck by lightning or injured
during sports that has made him temporarily unable
to react. Finally, he understands the real reason for
the change as he noticed that the child has brought
his school report card.

Point Of View

The first person point of view is used- here in the

poem is the mother
Setting
The setting is in a house.