Emma graduated from East Carolina University with a BA in English, minor in Creative Writing, BFA in Fine Art, and BA in Art Histories. Literature is one of her greatest passions which she pursues through analysing poetry on Poem Analysis.
Sunday, June 20, 2021
Dr. Seuss - Poem Analysis of 10 of His Poems
Saturday, June 19, 2021
Dr. Seuss: A Guide to Life
Seuss-isms: A Guide to Life for Those Just Starting Out and Those Already on Their Way
Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, was the famous children’s book author. He was also a philosopher. Seuss-isms! A Guide to Life for Those Just Starting Out…and Those Already on Their Way offers a taste of some of his wit and wisdom.
Be True To Yourself
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
— Oh, the Places You’ll Go
Listen to Good Advice
Then he spoke great Words of Wisdom
as he sat there on that chair:
“To eat these things,” said my uncle,
“you must exercise great care.
You may swallow down what’s solid …
BUT … you must spit out the air.”
— My Uncle Terwilliger on the Art of Eating Popovers
Think Before You Speak
My father had warned me, “Don’t babble. Don’t bray.
For you never can tell who might hear what you say.”
My father had warned me, “But button your lip.”
And I guess that I should have. I made a bad slip.
— Steak for Supper
Tell the Truth
“Stop telling such outlandish tales.
Stop turning minnows into whales.”
— And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
Focus
This was no time for play.
This was no time for fun.
This was no time for games.
There was work to be done.
— The Cat in the Hat Comes Back
Don’t Be Afraid to Accept Help
I floated twelve days without toothpaste or soap.
I practically, almost, had given up hope
When someone up high shouted, “Here! Catch the rope!”
Then I knew that my troubles had come to an end
And I climbed the rope, calling, “Thank you, my friend!”
— I had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew
Expect the Unexpected
I heard a strange ‘peep’ and I took a quick look
And you know what I saw with the look that I took?
A bird laid an egg on my ‘rithmetic book!
— Marco Comes Late
Try New Things
I do not like
green eggs
and ham!
I do not like them,
Sam I am.You do not like them.
So you say.
Try them! Try them!
And you may.
Try them and you may, I say
— Green Eggs and Ham
Take Chances
The places I hiked to!
The roads that I rambled
To find the best eggs
that have ever been scrambled!
If you want to get eggs
you can’t buy at a store,
You have to do things
never thought of before.
— Scrambled Eggs Super
Reading Expands Your Horizons
The more that you read,
the more things you will know.
The more that you learn,
the more places you’ll go.
— I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!
Be Grateful
When you think things are bad,
when you feel sour and blue,
when you start to get mad …
you should do what I do!
Just tell yourself, Duckie,
you’re really quite lucky!
Some people are much more …
oh, ever so much more …
oh muchly much-much more
unlucky than you.
— Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?
Embrace your strengths
Shout loud, “I am lucky to be what I am!
Thank goodness I’m not just a clam or a ham
Or a dusty old jar of sour gooseberry jam!
I am what I am!
— Happy Birthday to You
Be Proactive
UNLESS someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better,
It’s not.
— The Lorax
Remain Humble
The rabbit felt mighty
important that day
On top of the hill
in the sun where he lay.
He felt SO important
up there on that hill
That he started bragging
as animals will …
— The Big Brag
Learn to Improvise
“All I need is a reindeer. …”
The Grinch looked around.
But, since reindeer are scarce, there was none to be found.
Did that stop the old Grinch?
No! The Grinch simply said,
“If I can’t find a reindeer, I’ll make one instead!”
So he called his dog, Max. Then he took some red thread,
And he tied a big horn on the top of his head.
— How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Seuss-isms! A Guide to Life for Those Just Starting Out…and Those Already on Their Way dispenses invaluable life advice like only Dr. Seuss can.
The Philosophies of Dr. Seuss
The Philosophies of Dr. Seuss
Amazon Link |
Since Theodor Geisel published his first children's book in 1937 under the pseudonym Dr. Seuss, children and adults alike have been captivated by the charming and laconic tales of whimsical characters and imaginative worlds. But Dr. Seuss' stories are more than just catchy poems; they often wrestle with serious philosophical and moral dilemmas, whether it is Horton discovering the very essence of life or the Lorax teaching us about morality. Dr. Seuss and Philosophy explores philosophical concepts such as the nature of the good life in Oh, the Places You'll Go!, the nature of knowledge in McElligot's Pool, postmodernity in On Beyond Zebra, business and the environment in The Lorax, and moral character in How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, among many others. Anyone who loves Dr. Seuss or is interested in philosophy will find this book to be intriguing and enlightening.
Contents
- Oh, the places you'll go! : the examined, happy life / Benjamin Rider
- My troubles are going to have troubles with me : Schopenhauer, pessimism, and Nietzsche / Jacob M. Held
- Gertrude McFuzz should've read Marx, or sneetches of the world unite / Jacob M. Held
- Socratic Seuss : intellectual integrity and truth-orientation / Matthew F. Pierlott
- Neither here, nor there, nor anywhere? / Randall E. Auxier
- McElligot's pool : epistemology (with fish!) / Ron Novy
- On beyond modernity, or Conrad and a postmodern alphabet / Jacob M. Held
- From there to here, from here to there, diversity is everywhere / Tanya Jeffcoat
- What would you do if your mother asked you? : a brief introduction to ethics / Jacob M. Held and Eric N. Wilson
- Horton hears you, too! : Seuss and Kant on respecting persons / Dean A. Kowalski
- Pragmatist ethics with John Dewey, Horton, and the lorax / Thomas M. Alexander
- The Grinch's change of heart : whodunit? / Anthony Cunningham
- Thidwick the big-hearted bearer of property rights / Aeon J. Skoble
- Rebellion in Sala-ma-sond : the social contract and a turtle named Mack / Ron Novy
- Whose egg is it, really? : property rights and distributive justice / Henry Cribbs
- It's not personal , it's just bizzyneuss : business ethics, the company, and its stakeholders / Matthew F. Pierlott
- Speaking for business, speaking for trees : business and environment in The lorax / Johann A. Klaassen and Mari-Gretta G. Klaassen
- Dr. Seuss meets philosophical aesthetics / Dwayne Tunstall.
Amazon Link |
Dr. Seuss and Philosophy delighted thousands of readers by demonstrating the insights of these children’s classics through a playful engagement with the philosophical tradition. In More Dr. Seuss and Philosophy readers will be offered a vision of the good life through the world of Dr. Seuss. Whether it’s stoicism and care of the self in Did I ever Tell you How Lucky you Are?, facing our own mortality in You’re Only Old Once, or the value of compassion, building communities, and resolving conflicts in the parables of Horton the elephant, King Derwin of Didd, or the Butter Battle Book, the essays in this book focus on living well through the wisdom of Dr. Seuss and other philosophers.Contributions by Elizabeth Butterfield, Cam Cobb, Timothy M. Dale, Joseph J. Foy, Kevin Guilfoy, Jacob M. Held, Glenn Jellenik, Sharon Kaye, Dennis Knepp, Rob Main, Bertha Alvarez Manninen, Jennifer L. McMahon, Matthew F. Pierlott, Janelle Pötzsch, Benjamin Rider, and Aeon J. Skoble
Dr. Seuss' Radical Politics
The Lorax, 1971 (Credit: Dr Seuss/Courtesy of Random House Children’s Books) |
“Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.”
- Oh, The Places You’ll Go! (1960)
Dr Seuss with his book The Cat in the Hat, pictured in 1957 (Credit: Getty) |
Arguing in a 1959 Life magazine interview that “kids can see a moral coming a mile off and they gag at it”, Seuss chose humour over dogmatism. There was a time, however, when he combined the two – and many believe it was during this period that the essential elements of Dr Seuss emerged. The surreal rhyming verse and strange creatures that populated his children’s books – whales with long eyelashes; goats joined at the beard; many-legged cows – find their roots in his World War Two propaganda cartoons.
The unique galumphing menagerie of Seussian fauna and themes that later enraptured millions… come into focus in these early drawings – Art Spiegelman
Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories, 1958 (Credit: Dr Seuss/Courtesy of Random House Children’s Books) |
The Lorax, 1971 (Credit: Dr Seuss/Courtesy of Random House Children’s Books) |
I’m subversive as hell! I’ve always had a mistrust of adults… The Cat in the Hat is a revolt against authority – Theodor Seuss Geisel
Whooo Was Dr. Seuss ??
An early cartoon from Geisel in 1920 that was published in The Central Recorder, a newspaper of Central High School in Springfield. Image courtesy of Wood Museum of Springfield History Archives, Springfield Museums |
Seuss at his drawing table. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth N. Cahill |
“Insure your home against Hitler!”, a July 28, 1942 political cartoon from Dr. Seuss. Image courtesy of Special Collection & Archives, UC San Diego Library |
“Cages cost money!”, a Dec. 15, 1941 political cartoon from Dr. Seuss. Image courtesy of Special Collection & Archives, UC San Diego Library |
A Flit bug spray advertisement proof, between 1930 and 1940. Image courtesy of Special Collection & Archives, UC San Diego Library |
A Standard Oil Company – Essolube advertisement, between 1930 and 1940. Image courtesy of Special Collection & Archives, UC San Diego Library |
Can you craft a best-seller with these 50 words?a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, you
In the book, a sign identifies a “nerd” as a red and yellow and white-haired sourpuss. It appears to be the first documented instance of the word, which has since morphed into a put-down for bookish people.
By — Joshua Barajas |
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/sdut-dr-seuss-theodor-geisel-tribute-2016jul01-story.html |
https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/how-dr-seuss-found-himself-at-the-forefront-of-a-debate-over-education-in-america |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss |
Amazon Link |