Page 91 - 100 Best Loved Poems - Teaching Unit

“Jabberwocky”
by Lewis Carroll, pages 71-72

Vocabulary
bryllyg – The time of broiling dinner, i.e. the close of the afternoon
slythy – smooth and active
tove – a species of Badger
gyre – to scratch like a dog
gymble – to screw out holes in anything
wabe – the side of hill
mimsy – unhappy
borogove – an extinct kind of parrot
mome – grave
rath – a land turtle
outgrabe – squeaked

1. Using the vocabulary above, write out the first stanza of the poem in a more standardized version of
English.

Answers may vary. Example: It was evening, and the smooth active badgers were scratching and
boring holes in the hill side, all unhappy were the parrots, and the grave turtles squeaked out.

2. The poem is an example of nonsense poetry. The term comes from nonce, or a made-up word.
Carroll, however, claims that all the words actually have standard English roots. Choose any two of
the words above and explain what you believe their English derivatives to be.

Answers will vary. Examples: Brillig (broil); slithy (slimy and lithe); gyre (from the old English
gyaour meaning dog); mimsy (miserable).

3. What is the poetic form of “Jabberwocky”?

The poem is written in traditional ballad form.

4. The poem makes substantial use of alliteration. Find three examples of alliteration.

Answers may vary. Examples: “gyre” /“gimble”; “the”/“that”/“the”/ “that”; “claws”/“catch”;
“snicker-snack”; “Callooh”/“Callay.”

5. Why do you think this poem ends with the same stanza as it began?

Answers may vary. Example: Carroll may have done so to reinforce the ridiculousness of the poem.
He may also have wanted to show that the world, which began in this poem as a relative calm
place, was once again a place free of fright, thanks to the killer of the Jabberwocky.

6. Most of the nonsense words in this poem are nouns or adjectives. Why do you think Carroll chose
to use nonsense words to replace these parts of speech in his poem?

Answers may vary. Carroll may have been hoping to show that, with actions in tact, what
characters look like, see and say can be left to the imagination of his readers so that the story told
can be different for each person.

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