ALLEGORY AND DR.

SEUSS

Day One – in the classroom:

1. Divide class into groups of 3.

Teacher-librarian reads The Sneetches, The Lorax, and The Butter Battle
Book to the class.

2.Give each group copies of the stories, a large sheet of newsprint, and
several coloured markers.

3.Teacher-librarian reads The Sneetches, The Lorax, and The Butter Battle
Book to the class.

4.Students will write down anything that strikes them interesting – parallels
to any situations, interesting phrases, what does it make them think of, word
association, etc.

5.Students share what they have written within their groups

6.Have each group write the one thing they thought was most important
about each story up on the board.

8.Discuss with the whole class what has been written on the board.
9.Give students a definition of allegory to write down.

10.Discuss what is allegorical about these books.

11.Hand out timeline of the life of Dr. Seus. Discuss why Dr. Seuss might
have chosen these topics.
Day Two – in classroom/library:
1.In the classroom, give students part one of the assignment.
2.Teacher-librarian outlines where students should be looking for
information and how to do a bibliography.
3.Students go to the library and finish part one of the assignment.
Day Three – in the classroom/library:
1.In the classroom, give students part two of the assignment.
2.Teacher-librarian outlines where students should be looking for
information.
3.Students go to the library and finish part two of the assignment.
Day Four – in the classroom/library
1.Students look for a current event for part three of the assignment using
newspapers, CBC on-line, CNN on-line, and online database.
Day Five & Six – in the classroom
1.Students work on part three of the assignment.
Assignment due on Day Seven.

ENGLISH

ALLEGORY AND DR. SEUSS

After winding up our look into the fantasy genre and the
link between surrealism and fantasy, the final weeks of
this term will explore the idea of allegory through the work
of children’s literature – in particular the work of Dr.
Seuss.

An allegory is a form of extended metaphor, in which

objects, persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated
with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The
underlying meaning has moral, social, religious, or political
significance, and characters are often personifications of
abstract ideas as charity, greed, or envy.

Below are three tasks to complete for both homework

and class time.

Part One: Dr. Seuss wrote many allegories on many

different subjects. Draw a time-line of Dr. Seuss’s life and
write a paragraph telling us which issues he felt
passionate about and why. Cite your sources.

20% (of marks)

Part Two: Look at the story of The Butter Battle Book. This
is an allegory of the Cold War. What aspects of The Butter
Battle Book mirror events or objects of the Cold War? Find
at least two and write a paragraph on each. Cite your
sources.
40%

Part Three: Find a current event. Research aspects of the

event – try to look at more than one side. Decide how you
feel about this event (i.e., which side do you support) and
write a children’s book or comic that is an allegory of the
event. You do not have to write it in a ‘Seussian’ style but
you should illustrate it. If you are not comfortable with
doing your own artwork, you may use magazine cut-outs.

40%