Research Paper on Dr. Seuss free essay sample

These famous words not only started my childhood but many children’s childhood. Theodore Seuss Geisel or most commonly known as Dr. Seuss was born on March 2, 1994 and from there the world was changed. Theodore Geisel is a charismatic man who put his lively personality into his fun and lighthearted books like Green Eggs and Ham, The classic Cat in the Hat, and the iconic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Born on March 2,1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts Theodore Seuss Geisel made his way into the world. His mother Henrietta and Theodore were very busy people. His father managed the family brewery and later supervised Springfield’s public park system after the brewery closed because of prohibition. â€Å"His mother was a baker who often chanted the names of the pies she was making at the bakery in a soft lively rhythm to the children as they fell asleep at night. † (Kallen 8). Geisel grew up speaking German and English, and his fascination quirky words began at an early age due to his family. We will write a custom essay sample on Research Paper on Dr. Seuss or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For example, his sister, Margaretha, called herself Marnie Ding Ding Guy, and his first creation was the Wynnmph with ears three yards long (Kaplan). Some books that inspired Dr. Seuss were The Whole Book for writing and The Brownies: Their Book for drawing. â€Å" Theodore Geisel, was an American author, artist, and publisher who wrote more then forty books for children. † (Kallen 8). Some of these books include: Hop On Pop, The Cat In The Hat, Horton Hears A Who, The Lorax, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Oh, The Places You’ll Go, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, The Sneetches, Fox In Sox, Yertle the Turtle, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, and If I Ran the Zoo. Three iconic works of Dr. Seuss are Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Green Eggs and Ham is a very popular childhood favorite. In this short tale Dr. Seuss depicts two very opposite characters. Sam is the persistent â€Å"child† in the tale who tries to get the older much grumpier elder in this story to eat green eggs and ham. As the story moves along Sam out the elder in different situations to see if he would eat the green eggs and ham, but to Sam’s dismay the elder wouldn’t. Finally after trying and trying and trying Sam gets the elder to try the Green eggs and ham. One of the most popular stories by Dr. Seuss is the classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. This story became so popular that Universal Studios not only picket it up for a movie, but also a whole theme for their Christmas season theme park. In this story the Grinch loathes Christmas and the who’s with every fiber of his being. The Grinch presents himself as socially cut off from the who’s down in whoville. He lives on top of Mt. Crumpit with his dog Max. All of this hate is because his heart is two sizes too small (and this time he’ll keep it off). He finally had enough of the Who’s bangboozaling and clangclangaling so he devised a plan to steal Christmas. After Santa Clause came and delivered all the presents to the houses he would sneak in, in his Santa Clause suit and steal every present, every light, every decoration, every tree, and all of the food for the feast. He even stole the roast beast! He would empty the houses one by one and he didn’t leave anything. Not even a crumb big enough for a mouse. So as he got done with emptying the houses and was about to dump everything over Crumpit he heard a noise, a weird noise not of sorrow but of singing. That day his heart grew 10 times bigger. So in the end the Grinch that stole Christmas ended up being the Grinch that saved Christmas, he even served the roast beast and the feast! The next story that is pretty popular and also got picked up for a movie is The Cat in the Hat. In this silly story Dr. Seuss tells a tale about a control freak sister, Sally and a rule-breaking brother, Conrad. Conrad not only doesn’t follow the rules but if you tell him to do something he always does the opposite of what any authority figure tells him to do. On the other hand his sister sally always foes what she is told and never really has any fun, she sucks the fun out of everything. On this rainy day the kids don’t know what to do. Then a miracle happens! The magical cat in the hat comes to visit comes to provide all the fun they can have with no consequences. As the day goes on and the mess gets bigger the cat in the hat introduces Thing 1 and Thing 2 from his world to Sally and Conrad. They came from this bow that lead to the cats universe, of course the cat knowing the Conrad does the opposite of whatever he is told tell Conrad to not open the box or else he will unleash the mother load of all messes. Of course Conrad being Conrad opens the box and unleashes the mess. When they finally get the box closed the house was wrecked. They had to fix it before their mom got home. So Sally, Conrad, Cat, and Thing 1 and Thing 2 worked together to clean up the house and they did it! Some of the literary devices he uses are alliteration. For example who’s in Whoville of Horton hears a who. Another literary device is his symbols like the Cat in the hat. In the story the hat symbolizes magic and fun. Also, the box in the story symbolizes cause and effect, consequences when rules are broken, and lastly unprecedented fun. Lastly, he uses rhyme scheme to add a rhythmic feel to his poem and also his own personal style. Even though Dr. Seuss makes it hard not to love his up beat wacky stories that while they provide you a giggle hear and there and skip to your step all while teaching you life lessons many people still criticize Dr. Seuss. Many because Dr. Seuss’s stories address political and social issues. â€Å"In an insightful 1995 analysis in the journal Children’s Literature, Tim Wolf of Middle Tennessee State University points out a recurring theme in his books: the desperate need â€Å"to win the approval of a rejecting parent. † On the first page of Dr. Seuss’ first children’s book, 1937? And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, a father sternly tells his son: â€Å"Stop telling such outlandish tales. Stop turning minnows into whales. † Also, Timothy Cook wrote in the Political Research Quarterly in 1983 like L. Frank Baum, â€Å" â€Å"present a distinctly negative aspect of government and authority. † In such tales as Yertle the Turtle and The 500 H ats of Bartholomew Cubbins, â€Å"Seuss shows political authority as potentially selfish and exploitative, thirsting for more power, heedless of the best interests of the community,† Cook asserts. Both Baum and Seuss, by the conclusions of their stories, appear to argue that government should be limited in its scope. † †. As you can see even though Dr. Seuss’s Stories are meant to make us giggle they also serve a larger purpose and that is to address social and political issues in the world that he sees. All in all Dr. Seuss plays a prominent role in American literature because he sets the basic building blocks for children at a young age. No matter what age you are you can’t help but let your inner child out when you read these silly tales.