Nonsense in Lewis Carroll's Poem "Jabberwocky"
Roland Barthes’ "Toys" expresses the idea that French toys revolve around convention, preparing children to be adults by allowing them to repeat normal adult activities without much imagination. However, one only has to look in any modern toy store to see that today’s American toys focus more on imagination, not imitation. In contrast, however, children are usually taught language based on convention; certain words have set meanings and certain sounds do not mean anything when put together. Is this truly the case? Is language limited by convention and sense? Wendy Steiner writes that language can be determined by both society and convention (The Colors of Rhetoric 93). Lewis Carroll’s poem "Jabberwocky" in Though the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There shows this paradox of language, requiring readers to use their imagination and acquire a deeper understanding of the multiple uses of language. The poem illustrates Robert Frost’s "sound of sense" in understanding the general idea of a conversation without ever making out a clear word (Interview with Robert Frost 261). Readers can make out the "sense" of Carroll’s poem without understanding every nonsense word.
At Alice’s first encounter with the poem "Jabberwocky," she exclaims that it is in a language she doesn’t know (Carroll 116). After further examination, she realizes that she has to look at the poem in a mirror. Likewise, Carroll’s many syntactic and linguistic devices force readers to use their imagination and look at the poem in an altered state. As Humpty Dumpty later explains to Alice, many of the words are portmanteaus, words comprised of two meanings (164). Humpty explains that the word "brill...
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...the French toys that Barthes talked about. It enters a world where imagination is not only encouraged, but required. It makes usual the unusual. Whether Carroll’s reader is a young child or an adult, the imaginative and unconventional ideology of nonsense and sound can be understood. The poem reminds readers to not limit the use of language and imagine the seemingly impossible.
Works Cited
Barthes, Roland. "Toys." Mythologies. Trans. Annette Lavers. New York: Hill and Wang, 1972 ed.
Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland. Ed. Donald J. Gray. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1992 ed. 116-164.
Frost, Robert. "…getting the sound of sense." Poetry and Prose. Ed. Luthem and Thompson. Henry Holt, 1972. 261.
Steiner, Wendy. The Colors of Rhetoric: Problems in the Relation Between Modern Literature and Painting. Chicago and London: U of Chicago P, 1982. 93.
Gerber, Philip L. Robert Frost. Ed. Kenneth Eble. Boston: Twayne Publishers, Inc. 1982. The. 124-125 Lentricchia, Frank.
Carroll’s works illustrate a firm understanding of nonsense. His stories and poems thrive in fantastic worlds of imagination. Because of this, they effortlessly thrive in the worlds of children, as well. Carroll writes with the mind of a child. He understood that, “For young children, whose brains are struggling to comprehend language, words are magical in any case; the magic of adults, utterly mysterious; no child can distinguish between "real" words and nonsensical or "unreal" words, and verse like [his] brilliant "Jabberwocky" has the effect of both arousing childish anxiety (what do these terrifying words mean?) and placating it (don't worry: you can decode the meaning by the context). Lewis Carroll, in whom the child-self abided through his celibate lifetime, understood instinctively the child's propensity to laugh at the very things that arouse anxiety…” (Oates 9)
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story about a little girl who comes into contact with unpredictable, illogical, basically mad world of Wonderland by following the White Rabbit into a huge rabbit – hole. Everything she experiences there challenges her perception and questions common sense. This extraordinary world is inhabited with peculiar, mystical and anthropomorphic creatures that constantly assault Alice which makes her to question her fundamental beliefs and suffer an identity crisis. Nevertheless, as she woke up from “such a curious dream” she could not help but think “as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been ”.
When we think or hear about Amish culture we may tend to wonder what exactly the appeal of living without modern day advances is; to gain a better perspective on this particular aspect of Amish culture we have to dive into religious origins and kinships between people of the Amish culture.
Socrates lived at a period when the ancient city-states of Greece were in war leading to the ultimate defeated of his polis, Athens by Sparta during the Peloponnesian War. Socrates was fond of discourse and arguments on free thought and rhetoric. One of his most famous works, the “Apology” and inspiring Greek writer Xenophon to recreate his conversations in literary works after his death to include “Memorabilia” and “Economicus”. These writings appeared around the same period of the height of Plato’s activity through teaching rhetoric and philosophy in ancient Greece (Huang 404). Thus, it is prudent to explore both the writings of other Greek thinkers to lay down the proper and exhaustive foundation on the philosophy, plays, and teachings of Socrates (Russell 59). The rhetoric of Socrates did not sit well with the aristocrats in Greece who constantly accused him of corrupting the youth and leading meaningless and at times profane thought in both the youth and his students. The writings of the “Apology” finally culminates in the death of Socrates, who was killed by poison after being accused by informants and his old accusers of not grounding his arguments
Nikora, L. W., Rua, M., & Te Awekotuku, N. (2007). Renewal and resistance: moko in
Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland . 3rd. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. Print.
Since brands depend on delivering a uniform, consistent product, global brands has traditionally adopted a “one size fits all” strategy (Crothers). Wal-Mart continues to expand internationally because it relates to other U.S global brands such as McDonalds. “ McDonalds grounded on one simple idea: provide desirable food and drink at low cost.”(Crothers 130). Wal-Mart’s strategy was almost the same to begin with. What they have in common is convenience and low cost. Its fast and quick just like McDonalds’. Customers at Wal-Mart can buy anything at one place and one time. It’s a superstore and everything you need is there. Customers do not need to leave to go to another store, which is why Wal-Mart is so successful. Smaller retail companies get replaced because they don’t have a chance with competing with Wal-Mart. A Wal-Mart store opening can destroy almost three local jobs for every two they cre...
Lewis Carroll's Wonderland is a queer little universe where a not so ordinary girl is faced with the contradicting nature of the fantastic creatures who live there. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a child's struggle to survive in the condescending world of adults. The conflict between child and adult gives direction to Alice's adventures and controls all the outstanding features of the work- Alice's character, her relationship with other characters, and the dialogue. " Alice in Wonderland is on one hand so nonsensical that children sometimes feel ashamed to have been interested in anything so silly (Masslich 107)."
Lewis, Carroll. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. New York: Oxford, 2009. Print.
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Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. New York: The modern Library, 2002. Print
The characters in the book often speak with puns and odd diction, usually confusing the person to whom the...
1. Frost, Robert. Robert Frost’s Poems. Ed. Louis Untermeyer. New York: Washington Square Press, 1968. 194.
Richard Morton, (December, 1960). "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass". Elementary English. 37 (8), pp.509-513