Dr. Seuss

Seussical Style

The Devices and Patterns that Typify Dr. Seuss' Style

Textual Arena

• The ways that words interact with one another to form patterns and meanings in a text

Conclusion

Climax

Parallelism

Capitalization

Capitalization

Punctuation

Capitalization

Parallelism

Synecdoche

Simile

Capitalization

Marco's father tells him to keep his "eyelids" up and see what he can see. He refers to a part of the boy's eyes to represent the whole, that is, to refer to the act of looking and watching for new sights on his journey. Seuss also refers to the singular "Police" to refer to the entire force or law. The use of synecdoche helps to show, identify, and characterize the subjects it addresses while adding imagery to the story.

Alliteration

Synecdoche

Rhetorical Questions

Anaphora

The repetition of the phrase "I've looked" emphasizes the boy's drudgery as he walks the same path every day. The repetition mimics the action of the boy as he repetitively looks for new and exciting sights.

Dr. Seuss' overall use of stylistic devices in the textual, social, and cultural arenas provides a rich source of analysis through language (and often rhyme) that is familiar and comprehensible to children.

Repetition

Repetition

The repetition of the beginning phrase, "stop," characterizes the father as a stern authoritarian and realist. The repetition of "stop" emphasizes the daily suppression of the boy's imagination.

Simile

Anaphora

The parallel structure creates a list of commands closely grouped together. This represents the rigid, attitude and structure of the father, furthering his characterization.

Parallelism

Anaphora

The list leads to a climax, ending in his exclamation of excitement. The reader's anticipation parallels the boy's anticipation upon arriving home.

Climax

The simile takes an abstract concept and compares it to a familiar visual image, making it easier for the reader to understand.

Rhetorical Questions

Simile

Dr. Seuss uses anapestic tetrameter to create a steady pace and rhythm throughout his work. This lends the story towards performance and engages the reader.

Anapestic

Tetrameter

The use of capitalization and other dynamic punctuation emphasizes the boy's emotions and creates similar emotions in the reader. It also lends the piece to performance and emphasizes Seuss' role as storyteller in most of his children's stories; the use of all caps engages younger readers by providing visual cues for how the lines should be read.

Punctuation/

Capitalization

Simile

The rhetorical questions "But now is it fair? Is it fair what I've done?" enlist the reader to think of responses. The questions are a call for participation and force the reader to respond to the text.

Synecdoche

Rhetorical

Questions

The alliteration creates a "sing-song" feel to the piece. This adds to the performance element within the work and also connects and engages the reader visually through patterns in the text. The alliteration also adds emphasis to the words Dr. Seuss most wants to stand out.

Alliteration

Parallelism

The apparent silliness and "nonsense" at the surface of Seuss' fantastical lands, invented words, playful rhymes and captivating illustrations inevitably work together with other stylistic devices to form morals and meanings in his work that are deliberately crafted to engage and reach children.

Use of definite articles

From: The 500 Hats Of Bartholomew Cubbins

"Into the Throne Room marched the smallest man, wearing the tallest hat that Bartholomew had ever seen. It was Sir Snipps. Instead of a sword, he wore at his side a large pair of scissors."

An example of Epistrophe

The use of definite articles communicates two things: first, Sir Snipps' entrance is not new information and second, Bartholomew is no dummy when it comes to hats. The story's theme centers on hats, and this is an important passage because it shows Bartholomew's interest in hats and his prior knowledge of who Sir Snipps is.

From: Oh, The Places You'll Go

"The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go

or a bus to come, or a plane to go

or the mail to come, or the rain to go..."

An example of Anadiplosis

From: The 500 Hats Of Bartholomew Cubbins

Epistrophe adds emphasis and rhythm, and mimics the monotony of waiting for action [to go] in the Waiting Place, where there is little action.

“A fine idea!" said the King. “Ho, Guard! bring me Nadd. Nadd knows about everything in all my kingdom.”

Anadiplosis adds emphasis on Nadd's name because he knows everything in all the kingdom, and is an important person. Moreover, it adds a certain rhythm and cadence to the flow of the words.

Social Arena

• Interactions between writers and readers through the words and structures in the text
• The writer often assigns a role to the reader
• Dr. Seuss commonly presents himself as a storyteller

Style as Performance in The Grinch

Motives focused on Readers:

Enlisting readers as collaborators

From: Oh, the Places You'll Go

"You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

any direction you choose.

Style Mirroring Subject Matter

Dr. Seuss' role as storyteller and use of illustrations, simple diction, rhyme, and specified intonation via non-standard punctuation and all caps encourages his audience to read his works aloud and "perform" them.

From: And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street

From: The 500 Hats Of Bartholomew Cubbins

You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go."

All the long way to school

And all the way back,

I've looked and I've looked

And I've kept careful track.

But all that I've noticed,

Except my own feet

Was a horse and a wagon on Mulberry Street.

"With a jangling of spurs and a clatter of horseshoes, the Captain and Bartholomew sped up the winding street toward the palace. Out of the narrow streets, on up the hill! Bartholomew clung to the Captain’s broad back. On and on they galloped, past the bright gardens of the wealthy merchants. Higher and higher up the mountain, on past the walls of the noblemen’s castles...."

The Grinch has since been made into both animated and non-animated full length movies, a medium easily enabled by his performance-like writing style and the culmination of above stylistic techniques.

Dr. Seuss enlists his readers by addressing them with the second person point of view. The repetitive use of "you" makes the reader feel like the story and its words of advice are addressed to him or her.

Dr. Seuss creates a sense of momentum by constructing the sentences with concisely consecutive dependent and independent clauses. These clauses work to increase the pace of the sentences and build the action of traveling to the king's palace, thus mimicking the actual carriage ride.

Rhetorical devices and vivid imagery combine to create an experience for the reader. The repetition and syntax mimics the monotony of the boy's daily walk, which creates a similar feeling of drudgery within the reader. Dr. Seuss uses this method of style mirroring subject matter to increase the reader's involvement and emphasizes the boredom of the boy's daily walk to school.

Cultural Arena

• Particular devices, known as rituals of language, have significance to larger communities of language users

Dr. Seuss' Oh, the Places You'll Go! has been broadly accepted as a book of guidance for kindergarteners and college graduates alike. Seuss' book fits into the cultural arena by rituals of language that a wide community of language users can identify with, including cliches and idioms.

Rituals of language in

"Oh, the Places You'll Go!"

Our representative text for analysis:

Dr. Seuss' first book

1. "You can get all hung up."

2. "You'll meet things that scare you right

out of your pants."

3. "And remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act."

4. "Kid, you'll move mountains."

5. "Congratulations! Today is your day."

Seuss incorporates several rituals of language to enlist readers in his wise words about the journey of life. In the examples, he provides a wide audience ( anyone from kindergarten graduates to PhDs) with a certain familiarity via the use of idioms and cliches, so that they can apply the broad statements and words of encouragement to their own individual life's journeys.

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street

An example of Neologism

Seuss uses two cliched images in this passage from Mulberry Street. The chinese boy "eats with sticks" is a cultural cliche, while the magician doings tricks is a cliche image. He immediately breaks this pattern on the next page with a "Seussical" (and less familiar) image of a man with a ten-foot beard that needs a comb.

From: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

"They'll dance with jingtinglers

tied onto their heels.

They'll blow their floofloovers.

They'll bang their tartookas."

Seuss invents words to enlist his larger cultural audience: children. The use of neologisms demand a sense of creativity from the audience while also adding humor.

Seuss Out Loud: Audience

• Dr. Seuss’ predominant audience is children, so it’s probable he assumed the role of storyteller with the intention of having his work read aloud.

• When shared orally, literature is more engaging for the narrator and the audience, especially younger audiences.

• Given Seuss’ wide use of neologisms and unconventional punctuation and all caps, juxtaposed with his simple diction, his works encourage a range of variations in intonation and pace when read on an active or "performative" level.

By Kristina Auten, Heather Roughton,

Michael Watkins, and Joe Mauriello