|
Issue 17
December 2008
The Truth About Seuss
In the world of classic children's literature, Dr. Seuss holds an elevated position, but some parents disapprove of his habit of making up words—wumbus, yuzz and diffendoofer, for starters. These critics argue that children's books should teach English, not nonsense, and they worry that their children will have difficulty distinguishing invented words from real vocabulary.
But the made-up words are much of the point. Even if it doesn't build SAT vocabulary, Dr. Seuss's nonsense verse helps teach children to focus on English sentence structures, pronunciation and rhythms. Ultimately, kids will figure out that oak trees exist and truffula trees don't. Some words, like nerd and grinch, have even leaped from Dr. Seuss's imagination into common usage and dictionaries. Not all non-standard English is substandard.
About this E-mail
The Awkward Adverb, an e-mail newsletter sent out once a month, highlights English-language flaws that have appeared on a sign, in print, on the Web, or anywhere in the public sphere. It may address grammatical errors, careless usage, bothersome buzzwords, punctuation problems, misspellings, or confusing writing in general.
Subscribers are encouraged to submit their findings for future editions of The Awkward Adverb by responding to this e-mail. Archived past issues of the newsletter are located here.
Action Copy, the publisher of The Awkward Adverb, is the business name for New Orleans-based freelance writer Henry Alpert, who works with businesses, ad agencies, and graphic design firms on a wide array of writing projects. For more information about Action Copy's services, visit action-copy.com.
<back to e-newsletter home>
|
|
|
