Analyzing the vocabulary and analyzing the meter are some ways to interpret Jabberwocky. This poem breaks conventional approaches to poetry by using disconcerting vocabulary and using meter to establish meaning throughout the poem. At the time it was written, it was a fresh new way of thinking.
Karen Alkalay-Gut thinks that Lewis Carroll used nonsense to let the readers focus on the meaning instead of the vocabulary. For example, she states in her essay, “The function of nonsense, at least in many of the works of Carroll, is to rid the words and events of transient meaning and allow their full significance.” Alkalay-Gut implies that the nonsense in Jabberwocky gets rid of the meaning of the vocabulary so the reader can interpret it. In addition,
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For example, “Carroll employs what is called amphigory, which is, in essence, nonsense verse that appears to have meaning but in fact has none. This classification, however, should not be taken at face value to mean the poem hasn’t any meaning” (Levchuck). I believe she means that one cannot see the meaning of the poem from a quick glance, so the reader must look deeper to see the true meaning. In addition, “It is a poem that works on two distinct levels, conveying different ideas, making it a portmanteau poem. ‘Jabberwocky’ works in two distinct manners, first as a stand-alone poem with rich imagery and a compelling narrative that comes full circle. Secondly, it serves as a commentary on the English language and literature, sometimes celebratory, at other times mocking their conventions” (Levchuck). Portmanteau words combine the meanings of two words. Caroline Levchuck is saying that Jabberwocky has two manners, which makes it portmanteau. She states in her essay, “Of course, it has been long pointed out that Humpty Dumpty is a rather unreliable source” (Levchuck). Humpty Dumpty, a fictional character made up by Carroll, explains the vocabulary used in stanza one to Alice. No one knows for sure if he is a reliable source for explaining the confusing vocabulary because according to Paul Witcover’s critical analysis, Humpty Dumpty does not give a translation for the poem as a whole, but defines single words. According to …show more content…
There is nonsense in sense, insanity in sanity, disorder in order. It is all up to the reader to interpret it. “This is an attempt, however ridiculous and satirical, to link the nonsensical words of the ‘curious fragment’ to the normal, everyday world inhabited by Dodgson and his siblings. Humpty Dumpty makes no such attempt. He offers Alice no literal translation, offers her no bridge back to the other side of the looking glass; he merely explains the meanings of individual words with little or no regard for the sense of the passage as a whole. Many but by no means all of his meanings are derived from the application of what might be called the portmanteau rule, a portmanteau being a kind of suitcase” (Witcover). “In the end, each of these systems of extracting meaning from the words explains the poem equally well—which is to say, not at all. This is part of the game Carroll is playing with his readers, a game of nonsense that is also a practical jokes (and like all practical jokes, a little bit cruel). He teases his readers with the perfectly sensible expectation that every
nonsensical poem, “Jabberwocky,” was written by Lewis Carrol in 1871 for Alice’s second adventure: Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. In this poem, Carrol creates a whimsical, alternate reality filled with heroes, villains and magical creatures, undergoing a constant battle between good and evil. Carrol uses vivid imagery, neologisms and themes in “Jabberwocky” to exemplify and play with the oddities of Wonderland and display a fanciful heroism within the character. Jabberwocky is brought
Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll The jabberwocky is a poem written by Lewis Carroll in 1875, it uses a unique style of written English illustrated by the names of the beasts. The writer used this kind of language because unlike today, English continues to wither as expression like that in the poem become more scarcely. The theme of the poem is good versus evil. The jabberwocky’s theme comes out when our brave little warrior meets with this mythical creature. In essence, the jabberwocky represents a bigger
“Twas brillig, and the slithy toves/Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:.” (1) Looking through a dictionary, one would be unable to find a majority of those words (brillig, slithy, toves, gimble, wabe). What makes Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky”, an exceptional poem that is still academically relevant since its public debut in Carroll’s novel Through the Looking-Glass in 1871, are these “words”. Carroll devised the words to further carry out what this poem is about, nonsense. Some readers will take the
Throughout Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky”, his proficiency in the nonsense genre of poetry is evident. The poem is set in the same fantasy world as Alice in Wonderland. Carroll exhibits the use of childlike diction and uses the perspective of a father escorting his young son. “Jabberwocky” exhibits peculiar, infantile diction. The poem consists of informal diction, characteristic of the fantasy world it takes place in. Carroll uses words that are characteristic of a young child’s vocabulary. He
“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll, is written in an iambic tetrameter. The four line stanzas have a regular unstressed and stressed pattern. For example, the first two lines with marked accents are as follows (with the bold and italicized print meaning stressed): “Twas brill|ig, and| the sli|thy toves”, and “Did gyre| and gim-|ble in| the wabe”. There are four unstressed syllables followed by four stressed syllables in each line. As page 170 from “An Introduction to Poetry” by X.J. Kennedy and Dana
Lewis Carroll(1832-1898) is a British writer with impressive works including, “Alice In Wonderland” as well as “Jabberwocky”. In “Jabberwocky”, readers are taken on an adventurous journey through sounds and images of a world all its own. His main purpose when using those details was to to make a creative world in which the reader would feel not only like they’re reading the poem, but that they’re actually going through the same journey as the main characters. He achieves the purpose by using the
Hunter West In Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll utilizes the structure of a ballad alongside the portmanteau language, such as “slithe,” throughout the poem to convey the theme of man versus nature. Symbolism also plays a major role in the poem as the young son, representing innocence and youth, overcomes and beheads the symbolic Jabberwock, representing a violent force of nature. Carroll’s fun, child-like poem captures all ages as his work provides an underlying theme that even captures the attention
The Jabberwocky In the poem “the Jabberwocky”, Lewis Carroll, the author of the poem, communicates an epic story using nonsense vocabulary.This paper is going to analyze the development of the plot and determine the nonsense words, which make up the mood. This poem takes place on an afternoon with strange nonsense creatures (borogoves and raths) milling around and making noise. These creatures are milling around despite a little unease lurking amongst the creatures in stanza one. This creates
when he wrote this book? This will happen in both the lorax and jabberwocky. They have many differences and similarities. They both would give you some good trouble trying to read them fast. The setting is different along with the characters and theme but the weird words are in both there are lots of similarities and differences. Nonsense words are something that will confuse you and much more they also both occur in the Jabberwocky and Lorax. They both have words like biggering and snickety snack
“Jabberwocky”- Speaker: Mom/Dad, Tone: Playful, Figurative Language: Lines 14-16, Sensory Image: “The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came”. In “Jabberwocky” by Louis Carroll, the boy playfully conquers the creature called the Jabberwocky and feels appreciated. The poem is about a boy playing in the woods and killing a creature that his parent refers to as the Jabberwock. The use of diction in this poem shows that it is playful when Carroll
A Jabberwock is a fictional beast which first appears in a poem in the novel “Through the Looking Glass.” The poem in that novel is in fact “Jabberwocky” written by Lewis Carroll. The poem itself is full of “jabberwocky,” which in the dictionary, is defined as nonsense or gibberish coined by Lewis Carroll himself. The speaker uses many literary devices throughout the poem, but there are three specific literary devices that have the most effect on the work. Those three are the diction, imagery, and
Jabberwocky Prompt: Read the poem carefully. Then, in a well-organized essay, discuss how Carroll uses structure and language to convey the theme of man vs nature in his poem. In Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” the simple complexities of the structure and language used throughout the course of the poem play an impressive role in conveying the theme of man versus nature. Specifically, Carroll’s use of rhyme scheme, repetition, and vernacular in telling the story of the Jabberwocky in Wonderland creates
and the Jabberwocky each decision comes at a cost of losing everything or risking something uttermost important to you. Some of the differences of the poems are the characters, the settings, and the nonsense words. First and foremost, the characters from both of these poems are very similar and sure-enough different, but the differences in this case are more important. The characters from the Lorax and the Jabberwocky are unquestionably different indeed, like the hero from the Jabberwocky he saved
Dr. Seuss once stated, “Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.” The nonsense poem “The Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll takes readers to a fantasy world with new exciting places and creatures to discover. The poem was featured in the author’s novel Through the Looking Glass, another mystical world in itself. In the poem, a father warns his son of a dangerous creature called the Jabberwocky. The son ventures out to find it, and eventually slays the beast. He brings back the monster’s head to his
demons or a literal monster. In Lewis Carol’s poem “Jabberwocky”, we see a young boy combat the dreaded creature and ultimately kill it, reigning victorious. In the song “Giants in the Sky” from Into the Woods, we hear young Jack ramble on about his grand adventure above the clouds to the confused Baker. Both of these pieces feature what we might see as someone small taking on something much larger than we would expect them to. Carol’s “Jabberwocky” and “Giants in the Sky” both tell in a unique way