Dr. Seuss wrote and illustrated “Green Eggs and Ham,” a book loved by all children as it conveys the message of not judging something by its appearance. The illustration style that Dr. Seuss uses pushes the plot of a story forward giving notice to action, color, and tension within a picture. In addition to telling us what we need to hear Dr. Seuss also shows us what we need to see. Every page of “Green Eggs and Ham” is beautifully exemplified with double spread illustrations that are used throughout the book. In this way, the words feel like a part of the world Seuss is building instead of being autonomous; like yin and yang, without one the other would seem incomplete.
Dr. Seuss depended a great deal on the line element to communicate the sentiments of his characters. For example, the totally freaked out bug eyes of the unnamed character while they were on the train and the permanent smile on Sam’s face. He also uses line to represent sound, as in movement of the car or train. Dr. Seuss utilizes the color element in a
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brilliant way. The fact that the eggs and ham are green tell a lot. Dr. Seuss was indicating to the reader how unpleasant and ridiculous it would be to try eating these eggs and this ham. The unnamed character in the story is wearing a black hat which expresses the pessimist in the character. Another observation that I made was when the background of the illustration is subtle, Seuss makes the characters or objects explode with color. Dr. Seuss used the texture element to create the furred animal-like look of the characters and on the cat to give his fur a bristly look. Seuss utilized the medium of pen-and-ink line drawings filled with bold pieces of flat color to design his cartoon style drawings in this book. The element of shape is used throughout the book. Lines join and intersect to suggest shapes; a sheet of paper for example. Organic shapes are used to make leaves, and plants and trees that bend from the weight of a car. Geometric shapes are used to illustrate objects from air bubbles and tires to sheets of paper and train tracks. The drawings in “Green Eggs and Ham” provide hints to their connotations. Whether it’s something insignificant like a mouse in a house or some great hindrance like being stuck in a car in a tree, the quandaries that Sam and the unnamed character experience denote life’s many labors from something as simple as having a bad day to something more meaningful like the loss of a loved one. The second book’s illustration that I will analyze is “The New Beat at School” illustrated by Tim Warnes.
This book has a similar theme to “Green Eggs and Ham” but contrasting to Dr. Seuss illustration style, Tim Warnes takes a warmer more loving approach to his illustrations. The colors used were more subtle and natural and the soft, pastel colors created more of a calming effect. Mr. Warnes used different shades of brown to create the look of the main character and used size and placement along with color to create the dominant image of the main character in the illustrations. The illustrator also makes great use of the line and color elements to create a mood of compassion, textual imagery in the trees and shrubbery, and to bring personification to the characters. Most of the illustrations were single page however, there were a couple of double spread illustrations used when Mr. Warner wanted to give more understanding to the
scenes. Warnes skillfully used the shape element; mostly geometric shapes. Some organic shapes were used to illustrate the feathers on the teacher’s wings, and the body parts (ears, mouths, feet, etc.). This illustrator also employs the element of line to create sound. Thick lines were used to depict the boldness and strength in Boris’ “booming” voice or the sound from the chair breaking when he sat down. The medium for Warnes’ illustrations are ink and pen drawings filled with soft shades of water color paint that help build sympathy for the big grizzly bear. In conclusion, though the themes are similar the illustration style of the two books are very different. Dr. Seuss creates illustrations that are loud and busy and full of action and bewilderment. Tim Warnes takes a more understated and subdued approach to his illustrations. Despite their different artistic styles, they are both extraordinary illustrators that tell their stories in ways no one else can.
Along with many other children's poets, Dr. Seuss uses rhyme in his stories. Rhyming is a good way to engage children and keep their attention as well as help them learn new vocabulary. Seuss' work, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish is riddled with rhyming words such as star and car, blue and new, sad and glad, the list goes on. Not only do children find the rhymes to be fun, they present a great opportunity for children to learn to read. Teachers recommend Dr. Seuss for first time
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.
With the use of words the author also creates the novel's own private symbols that are key to the tone. The conch comes to symbolize authority, democracy and order. Upon the mentioning Piggy's glasses, images of insight and reason come to mind. With this highly connotative language, Golding creates many contrasts as well to convey his underlying theme. He compares the dazzling beach's "pink granite" [Page 12], green feathered palm trees and endless sand [Page 10] to the "darkness of the forest", full of "broken trunks", "cables of creepers" [page 28], and dense vegetation. He also compares the day's "torrid sun" [Page 176] to the night which makes everything as "dim and strange as the bottom of the sea" [Page 62]. The lagoon's security and the dangerous open sea are also contrasted when Golding qualifies them as "still as a mountain lake" [Page 10], "dark blue" [Page 31] and "deep sea" [page 62]. Golding also uses dark and inherently bad words such as "dark", "Jack", "broken", "torrid", "coarse" and "splintered" to describe sinister things and euphonious words such as "feathers", "glittering fish" and "Ralph" to describe more peaceful things.
The graphic essay “Show and Tell” by Scott McCloud is written in the form of a comic book as he explains the importance of words and images, and how to effectively use the two components when creating a comic. “Show and Tell” explains to the reader how creating a successful comic does not occur easily, as numerous components must be used in the right way and amount in order to create a product that is worthwhile to its readers. This insightful graphic essay portrays to the reader how in a comic, words and images can successfully be used in numerous ways if they are kept in balance with one another. Society traditionally believes that in a piece of literature words and images should be kept apart, whereas McCloud opposes this
After a four week survey of a multitude of children’s book authors and illustrators, and learning to analyze their works and the methods used to make them effective literary pieces for children, it is certainly appropriate to apply these new skills to evaluate a single author’s works. Specifically, this paper focuses on the life and works of Ezra Jack Keats, a writer and illustrator of books for children who single handedly expanded the point of view of the genre to include the experiences of multicultural children with his Caldecott Award winning book “Snowy Day.” The creation of Peter as a character is ground breaking in and of itself, but after reading the text the reader is driven to wonder why “Peter” was created. Was he a vehicle for political commentary as some might suggest or was he simply another “childhood” that had; until that time, been ignored? If so, what inspired him to move in this direction?
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”, ...
Imagery is when an author uses vivid and descriptive language that appeal to the reader’s senses and deepen the understanding of their work and characters. Steinbeck uses imagery throughout his novel to help the reader to see in the mind’s eye the way he wants him to understand his character’s actions and behaviors. Through the examples of imagery used with Lennie and a bear, Lennie and his dog, and Candy and his dog, readers are able to picture and feel these characters the way Steinbeck envisioned
There are many similarities to be found between the books written by Dr. Seuss and my original work . For this project I decided to mimic the writing styles that can be found within The Cat in the Hat and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, two of his most popular books. In 1954 Life magazine published a report about illiteracy among school children. This article stated that children were bored by the books that were available to them at the beginning reader level. His publisher sent Mr. Geisel a list of 400 words that he thought were important for “new readers” to learn. Geisel used 220 of the words and wrote the infamous book titled The Cat in the Hat. This book was an instant success among children and parents. While writing my original work for this project I wrote myself a list of 300 words that I thought would be important for new readers to learn. Out of the 220 words that I selected I utilized approximately 125 of them within my book. In the Dr. Seuss book titled One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish there is no plot that is carried throughout the entire book. Each page is a ...
Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss, was a popular American writer and cartoonist ironically known for his work with children’s books rather than wartime propaganda. His work was published throughout the wartime era by PM Magazine. As one of the few primary sources, this visual provides a foundation for criticism throughout my paper. The content provides an interesting vantage point, such that focusing more on the details enables the viewer to observe the sly innuendos of racism. Furthermore, the cartoon serves as a foundation in which it can be compared by its content and message to other works, such as the cartoon by Austin.
According to literary critic Clifton Fadiman, “Theodor Geisel Seuss provided ingenious and uniquely witty solutions to the standing problem of illiteracy among children (qtd. in Kaplan).” Due to various influential figures and profound experiences during his lifetime, as well as expert use of creative literary techniques, Theodor Seuss Geisel’s children’s books continue to compel readers of all ages – allowing them to escape into different worlds filled with nonsense.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Voices in the Park were published at either end of the twentieth century, a period which witnessed the creation of the modern picturebook for children. They are both extremely prestigious examples of picturebooks of their type, the one very traditional, the other surrealist and postmodern. The definition of ‘picturebook’ used here is Bader’s: ‘an art form [which] hinges on the interdependence of pictures and words, on the simultaneous display of two facing pages, and on the drama of the turning of the page’ (Bader, quoted in Montgomery, 2009, p. 211). In contrast with a simple illustrated book, the picturebook can use all of the technology available to it to produce an indistinguishable whole, the meaning and value of which is dependent on the interplay between all or any of these aspects. Moebius’s claim that they can ‘portray the intangible and invisible[. ], ideas that escape easy definition in pictures or words’ is particularly relevant to these two works.
Throughout time the way we visualize things has changed. When the Brothers Grimm’s created “Little Snow White” in 1812 they did not have any way to visually show their ideas to the public. They could not just make a movie or hire an illustrator to bring life to their words. So instead they relied on their readers to use their own imagination to create the characters and scenarios throughout the s...
Lines are paths or marks left by moving points and they can be outlines or edges of shapes and forms. Lines have qualities which can help communicate ideas and feelings such as straight or curved, thick or thin, dark or light, and continuous or broken. Implied lines suggest motion or organize an artwork and they are not actually seen, but they are present in the way edges of shapes are lined up.