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Yertle the turtle summary
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“Yertle the Turtle” created and written by Dr. Seuss is a children’s book with a meaning children will understand. In this story Yertle the Turtle, who is known as the king of the pond, is dissatisfied with a stone he calls his throne. He commands the other turtles to stack themselves below him so that he could see more therefore expanding his “kingdom”. Nonetheless, he stacks these turtles to the point where he claims to “rule from the clouds! Over land! Over sea! There's nothing, no, NOTHING, that's higher than [him]!" (Seuss). Then, a little turtle at the very bottom named Mack, after suffering with the weight and pleading twice with Yertle, gets fed up, burps, making the throne shake leading to Yertle falling. This made this king of the …show more content…
ponds, the King of the Mud setting all the turtles free. Even though this may seem like a nice little story about how everyone should be free, there is actually a special inspiration behind who Yertle is. This inspiration was of a historical figure named Adolf Hitler, the Tyrant of Europe. With “Yertle the Turtle” being published first in 1950, then in 1958 with a hardcover, it is to no surprise that World War II influenced Dr. Seuss to create something based on the war that literally shook the world. Before he wrote about Yertle the Turtle, he became an avid Political Cartoonist from 1941 - 1943 and had a childhood filled with prejudice that all collectively influenced him to become who he was. Dr.
Seuss wrote numerous books about prejudice ranging from World War II with Yertle the Turtle to the environment with The Lorax. This awareness to social injustices has a motive behind and stems from his life as an adolescent. Since his grandfather had emigrated from Germany to the United States, Dr. Seuss found himself being bullied for being German-American. He talked of being chased by classmates carrying brick bats as they shouted “Kill the Kaiser!” (Nel) during the the first World War. On top of that Dr. Seuss told his biographers, “With my black hair and long nose, I was supposed to be Jewish. It took a year and a half before word got around that I wasn’t.” (Dr. Seuss) because of his looks, fraternities didn’t invite him to pledge yet in the end this all influenced his …show more content…
writings. Due to this past Dr.
Seuss had, According to the article published by The Huffington Post “Seuss… was vocal in his desire to educate children about politics. He once stated the character of Yertle was modelled after Hitler” (Zamon). He showed this through his illustrations which were always exaggerating a specific emotion one way or another. During this time period, Hitler, while he was in power, used the Jewish people as a scapegoat in order for him to have an excuse to create a war. This prejudice and hate crime by Hitler lead to Dr. Seuss creating “Yertle the Turtle”. Many times in the story Dr. Seuss shows the tyranny of Yertle, especially when he talks to Mack the little turtle at the bottom of the stack. Mack represents what would be the people he conquered and overthrown. Eventually Mack speaks up saying "Beg your pardon, King Yertle. I've pains in my back and my shoulders and knees. How long must we stand here, Your Majesty, please? "SILENCE!" the King of the Turtles barked back. "I'm king, and you're only a turtle named Mack” (Seus). With how Dr. Seuss words how Yertle “barked back” we get the idea that he really is a dictator. A dictator would be someone who made all the decisions by themselves with maybe some advisors on the side. This very much resembles Hitler since he had the final word in all that is
said. Dr. Seuss was an avid political writer that used his period in his own way to promote anti-semitism and the evils of prejudice. He showed it in many ways ranging from political cartoons and even children’s books. “Yertle the Turtle” is no exception to this category and even sparked controversy around the United states later in the years. It was almost banned for being too political for kids to read, yet that is exactly what Dr. Seuss wanted. He wanted to educate kids in the politics of the land and teach them the right way around life. At the end of “Yertle the Turtle” all the turtles are freed and with Dr. Seuss not afraid to express his own opinions concludes with “And to say the great Yertle, that Marvelous he, Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see. And the turtles, of course... all the turtles are free As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.” (Seuss). This ending that all creatures should be refers to what Hitler did, this control he had over the Jewish people. With Dr. Seuss’s quirky children’s books the meaning behind each book is always pure, yet behind each story there is an inspiration. An inspiration that even includes Adolf Hitler and many more like so.
Theodor Seuss Geisel was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. To Theodor Robert Geisel and Henrietta Seuss Geisel. His father was a successful brewmaster. All of his grandparents were German immigrants. His father managed the family brewery and later was a supervisor of Springfield’s public park system. The family brewery was closed because of the Prohibition his father had to get a different job he got the park system job from the mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts John A. Denison.
Theodor Seuss Geisel. [A profile of the author’s life and works]. (2004). Contemporary Authors Online. Retrieved from Gale Cengage Learning.
Dr. Seuss is an important figure in the lives of children everywhere. His stories are children’s classics that are fun to read and also tackle some real life issues. Dr. Seuss’s political views are very apparent in his some of his books like The Butter Battle Book, which discusses the issues of the Cold War.
Dr. Seuss, also known as Theodore Seuss, has written many poems as well as short stories, and is considered one of the greatest children’s author in history. His silly stories are able to excite children in ways that make them want read. His Wife says,” Ted doesn’t sit down to write for children. He writes to amuse himself;” Little do children know that often, in his stories, there is a lot of political undertone, a few examples include The Lorax, Yertle the Turtle, The Sneethces, and The Butter Battle Book. If you were to really critique some of his books or poems, you might see that some of his themes wouldn’t seem to pertain to children. But what he’s doing, is hoping that they will understand the main idea of the story enough that it challenges them to stand against the crowd of judgment and evil. Take notice of the issues around them, and make a change. He feels that they deserve to know about the issues, just as much as adults do. He is showing them early on, telling them that they do not need adults to make a difference.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960, is a novel which explores the theme of challenging racial prejudice. Within this novel, Lee has portrayed unintentional racial prejudice through the characters Atticus Finch, Link Deas and Scout Finch. With these characters, and their roles in exploring the theme of racial prejudice, Harper Lee has set unintentional boundaries for readers, as result, racial prejudicial thinking from contemporary perspective, in comparison to historical views, is challenged to a small extent.
Nature’s beauty has the ability to both entice its audience and frighten them. Mary Oliver in her passage explains her experiences with the two sides of nature. Her experiences with the owls elicit both an awe response and a frightened one. In connection, her experiences with a field of flowers draws a similar response where she is both astonished by them and overwhelmed. Oliver’s complex responses display the two sides of nature. It's ability to be both captivating yet overwhelming in its complexity. In “Owl” Mary Oliver uses descriptions of nature demonstrated by owls and fields of flowers in order to convey her complex responses to the two sides of nature.
Harper Lee wrote a story to express the different kinds of prejudice in the 1930’s in Maycomb County, Alabama. The thesis has been explained by using actual quotes from To Kill a Mockingbird, and then gave logical explanation on how it was relevant. Prejudices affect the world even today and still they are something that is a horrible thing.
The quote stated in the above paragraph is one of his many exact representation of his views on the world. Dr. Seuss is well known for writing many of the children's books my generation has grown up with, but is also known for inspiring and
After Seuss’s trip to Japan, Nel explains how Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who and How the Grinch Stole Christmas are modeled after the Japanese. He argues that in Dr. Seuss’s book, Dr. Seuss Goes to War, Whoville is Japan, and Horton represents the United States. Nel states that there is racism shown throughout Seuss’s work in his anti-Japanese illustrations as well as his PM newspaper cartoons. Nel claims that Seuss’s newspaper cartoons are also analytical of both anti-Semitism and prejudiced conduct of
“Dr. Seuss At Work.” Scholastic News—Edition 1 69.6 (2013): 1. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 5 March. 2014
Dr. Seuss I took an unconventional approach in the topic I chose for my reading assignment – whereas most groups selected single novels, my partner and I opted to read a collection of short stories by none other than the notorious Dr. Seuss. Were I writing this essay on a “normal” book, I would be able to pose a question about the book itself and answer it in an ordinary sort of way. However, given the subject matter I have chosen, an essay on an individual book, though possible, would be a very tricky thing to do. It would be wiser, and probably easier, to respond to the man himself. My decision to respond to the man himself makes many more choices – what facet of Dr. Seuss shall I ask myself questions about? I think perhaps I first need to give some brief biographical information on the man to understand the background he’s coming from. In 1904, Theodore Seuss Geisel was born in Massachusetts, USA. I have not been able to find too much documentation about his childhood, but he certainly did not come from a terribly poor or terribly unsuccessful family… in fact, his family had owned a local brewery in their home town of Springfield for several years. Ever since his childhood, Geisel had dabbled in the fields we all know and love him for today… for instance, during bible recitals, he read the verses to a rhythm and often in rhyme. In High School he wrote many short essays and drew cartoons for the school paper, and even then he had adopted a pseudonym for himself – “Pete the Pessimist”. Upon graduation, Geisel began studying literature at Oxford university, as his original intent was to become an educator… even then, he punctuated his time at Oxford with his job editing and contributing to the “Jack-O-Lantern”, ...
Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, is perhaps one of the most beloved children’s authors of the twentieth century. Although he is most famous as an author of children’s books, Geisel was also a political cartoonist, advertisement designer, and film director (Kaplan). He used the power of imagination to produce unforgettable children’s books and helped solve the problem of illiteracy among America’s children. By using his experiences in life as a foundation for most of his books, Theodor Geisel created a unique writing style that incorporated various elements and techniques, enabling his books to appeal to people of all ages.
Born and raised in Springfield Massachusetts, Theodor Geisel was born on March 2nd 1904. Under the pen-name Dr. Seuss, Ted was able to accomplish his dream of becoming a writer after attending Dartmouth College and wrote for the school paper – the Jack-O-Lantern. Upon graduation, Geisel went to Oxford in which he received a PhD in English Literature and was inspired to become an English teacher and writer. Some of Dr. Seuss’s works include Horton Hears a Who, Green Eggs and Ham, The Lorax, and The Cat in the Hat. Throughout his lifetime, Dr. Seuss earned three Academy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize, as well as numerous degrees and other awards. Dr. Seuss was not only a highly acclaimed children’s book writer as he is popularly known to be, but also, Ted Geisel is known for his work during the WWII era. He created hundreds of political cartoons in which he gave a voice to his views on topics such as war bonds and the war itself. Ted Geisel is an author who successfully revolutionized the way children read books through the creation of new “seussical” words, interesting rhyme scheme, as well as stories with meanings far beyond what they seem to represent at first glance. Geisel was able to enlist the help of the majority of the United States in WWII through the publication of cartoons and movies.
Dr. Seuss 's Go, Dog. Go, was a book I remember reading a lot (probably because I loved dogs so much). When I was younger I used to go to my aunt 's house during the summer, and my grandmother would always be there. She enjoyed reading, so she made me read a book a week, whether it was from the library or from the books on the shelves at my aunt 's house. I did not enjoy going over there to read, especially since it was summer, but I did get rewarded after finishing a book with a game of Guess Who? with my grandmother.
Seuss has made several contributions to literature. In numerous, if not all of his writings, Seuss uses funky rhymes, outlandish characters, and ties his story together with a heartfelt theme. (4) In relation to his works, Seuss himself said it best, “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple”(5); and I believe that this can relate to his works. The majority of Seuss’s books were children’s books, which contained an underlying message. By using his imagination and the way he arranged his words, he was able use the simplest words to create the biggest impact. Although he was immensely involved in his books, Dr. Seuss had a personal life as well. Behind the scenes, was a woman named Audrey Stone [Geisel], who greatly impacted and influenced his books later on in his life. (6) Because Seuss was successful, he received several awards. Some of these include: Lifetime of Contribution to Children’s Literature, An Academy award for “Gerald McBoing-Boing” (Best Cartoon, 1951). An Emmy for “Halloween is Grinch Night”. (7) It is obvious that Dr. Seuss’s writings have been and will continue to be loved and