For those of you who enjoy teaching your kids poetry, here is a really neat poem by Lewis Carroll (from Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There-1873). Jabberwocky is a poem of nonsense verse. For those of you who celebrate Halloween, this would be the perfect poem to study. I am presenting this poem to the students I teach (I am a teacher's aide in ps) the week before Halloween. If time allows I would like for them to make up their own poem and make a Glossary with the definition of their made up words. Reference: Wikipedia I have the lesson on my Microsoft Works if anyone would like to save some time typing it yourself, I can email it to you! PM me! JABBERWOCKYLewis Carroll (from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There-1872) Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!" He took his vorpal sword in hand: Long time the manxome foe he sought— So rested he by the Tumtum tree, And stood awhile in thought. And as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came! One, two! One, two! and through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back. Glossary Bandersnatch- A swift moving creature with snapping jaws, capable of extending it neck. Beamish- Radiantly beaming, happy, cheerful. Borogove- A thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round, “something like a live mop”. The the initial syllable of borogove is pronounced as in borrow rather than as in worry. Brillig- Four o’clock in the afternoon: the time when you begin broiling things for dinner. Burbled- Possibly a mixture of “bleat”, “murmur” and “warble”. Chortled- Combination of chuckle and snort. Frabjous- Possibly a blend of fair, fabulous and joyous. Frumious- Combination of “fuming” and “furious“. Galumphing- Perhaps a blend of “gallop” and triumphant”. Used to describe a way of trotting down hill, while keeping one foot further back than the other. The enables the Galumpher to stop quickly. Gimble- To make holes as does a gimlet. Gyre- To go round and round like a gyroscope. Jubjub- A desperate bird that lives in perpetual passion. Manxome- Fearsome, the word is of unknown origin. Mimsy- Combination of “miserable” and flimsy. Mome- Possibly short for “from home”, meaning that the raths had lost their way. Outgrabe- (past tense; present tense outgrive)- Something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle. Rath- A sort of green pig. Snicker-snack- Of unclear meaning, probably referring to sharpness. Slithy- Combination of “slimy” and “lithe”. The I is long, as in writhe. Tove- A combination of a badger, a lizard, and a corkscrew. They are very curious looking creatures which make their nests under sundials and eat only cheese. Tulgey- Thick, dense, dark. Uffish- A state of mind when the voice is gruffish, the manner roughish, and the temper huffish. Vorpal- See vorpal sword. Wabe- The grass plot around a sundial. It is called a “wabe” because it goes a long way before it, and a long way behind it, and a long way beyond it on each side. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rpCUZXLuck You Tube of the poem, neat!
I never thought of it as a Halloween poem! Great idea!!! There's a music CD out called "Fright Night: Music that goes bump in the night". It's classical "scary" music, such as La Danse Macabre, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Night on Bald Mountain. When I was in the classroom, we would listen to it this time of year and talk about the patterns in music.
YES! I love it! We actually just read this one last month in our first poetry book. I am going to read it again with Grace for Halloween! Thanks!
I love Jabberwocky. Have since the first day of 11th Grade. My Lit teacher was just the most amazing, most alive person in the world and he read "Jabberwocky" in class the very first day of the very first period of that day. Yes. Eng Lit was first. I fell completely in love with language that day. Hope it inspires the students.
