Jabberwocky: Lewis Carroll
English 10 Intensified (Burns) Points Available (Extra Credit: 1-10)
My spell checker did not like this poem very much. Apparently Carroll has a significantly less
restrictive poetic license than the rest of us. And, yet, for all the neologisms in his poem, we have
some idea what Carroll is talking about…don’t we? Carroll has taken the quest for the perfect word
one step further: he has invented his own words to indisputably (?) convey their intended
meanings.
For any 10 of the following “words,” identify the part of speech (verb, noun, adjective, adverb),
then provide a synonym or definition that you think most closely approaches Carroll’s intended
meaning for the term. After the definition, provide some sort of justification for your definition
(perhaps Carroll’s word sounds like a word the dictionary recognizes, or its syllabication produces a
specific image, or the context around the word allows you to draw a defensible conclusion). Each
“valid” identification/definition/justification can earn you up to 1 point.
1. Ex. brillig: (Noun)
Definition: a period of time before dawn, particularly in winter
Justification: the initial sound, “Br,” suggests being cold (Brrrr) and the “ig” at the end
sounds like the “ing” in morning
2. slithy
3. toves
4. gimble
5. wabe
6. mimsy
7. borogoves
8. mome
9. raths
10. outgrabe
11. frumious
12. vorpal
13. manxome
14. uffish
15. whiffling
16. tulgey
17. burbled
18. galumphing
19. beamish
20. frabjous