Journal
9-7-2011
Think about children’s stories that you
have read. When you look deeper, are
their underlying messages- more than
just “themes”? Like, the story is this
but really it is talking about this. Think
about and write about one.
Let’s SALSA
*Show actions that facilitate learning for
the self and others
 *Actively participate and be cognitively
present
 *Learn to be open to new learning
 *Study even when you think you don’t
need to study
 *Act with a positive attitude
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Word of the day! Write it!
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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.
Thus an allegory is a story with two
meanings: a literal meaning and a symbolic
meaning.
Cutting “Leuss” With Dr. Seuss
You should already realize that the literature you
read in school conveys themes and lessons that
apply to various life situations and experiences.
 It may surprise you; however, that young
children's stories also impart important themes
and lessons.
 The Dr. Seuss books are particularly good
examples of this.You will discover some of the
themes of Dr. Seuss's major books.
 By listening to a Dr. Seuss story, you will see how,
despite being written for young children, Dr.
Seuss' books contain powerful messages about
important themes in American history and
society.
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ASSIGNMENT
Look at the story of The SNEETCHES. What is
this an allegory about?
 When you figure that out, what aspects of The
SNEETCHES mirror events or objects of that
what you wrote in the first bullet point?
 Find at least two and write an individual
paragraph on each.

The Sneetches
Take your notes as you watch.
 This video is about 12 minutes long, so
pay attention! You will have time after
viewing to work on your assignment.
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Play clip

The Sneetches provided an insight into Seuss'
own personal beliefs on a turbulent period of
time in American history.The Sneetches
begins by stating the background of the area
the story took place in: it was a blatantly
racist territory with two classes of Sneetches.
One class had stars on their bellies and the
other did not.Therefore, the "star-bellied
Sneetches" believed in their superiority
merely because of their added stars.


The Sneetches described Dr. Seuss' stance on the
American Civil Rights movement of the 1960's.
Obviously, Dr. Seuss believed in the senselessness of
racism and saw it as a blemish in an otherwisepowerful society.
The star-bellied Sneetches represented the white
Americans while the plain-bellied Sneetches
represented the African Americans. The message
of the story is not meant to completely parallel
the exact outcome of the segregation problems;
at the time the book was published, segregation
was at its peak an accepted facet of society. Dr.
Seuss instead wrote the book to cure the new
American generation of the sad sickness of
racism and to vocally express his stance on the
situation American society was in at the time.


The "evil entrepreneur" represented a savior
to the society who did not truly intend to be
a savior. Dr. Seuss meant for the
entrepreneur to represent the equal-taxes,
equal-rights anti-segregation beckoning to
the government in the 1960's.
All the Sneetches paid money to suit their
own needs; in the Deep South, citizens
bribed government officials to vote against
anti-segregation laws. The African Americans
stated that since they needed to pay the
same taxes that whites did, they should have
the same rights. In the end, all the money
was lost, but the territory was united.
Allegory of…?

The Sneetches is an allegory of the
holocaust/racism.
Timeline of Dr. Seuss
The next few slides are an overview of
Dr. Seuss’ life.
 Let’s look and see what inspired him to
write these stories

Theodor Seuss Geisel: A timeline

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March 2, 1904 – Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in
Springfield MA
1925 – Graduated from Dartmouth College. Proceeded to
Oxford University with the goal of getting a doctorate
degree in English Literature, however he discovered that
studying about literature was not for him. Met Helen
Palmer.
1927 – Married Helen Palmer. Returned from Europe and
began working for Judge, the leading humor magazine at
the time, writing humorous articles and cartoons. He was
also writing and drawing for Life,Vanity Fair, and Liberty
magazines. He was also hired by Standard Oil to draw
humorous ads about Flit Insecticide. He spent 15 years in
advertising.
1936 – On a trip to Europe, through the rhythm of the
ship’s engines, he was inspired to write And to Think That I
Saw It on Mulberry Street. It was published in 1937.
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1943 – Although he was not an advocate of war, he
was disturbed by what he saw happening in Europe
and in Asia. He provided from 3 to 5 political
cartoons per week to PM magazine. He felt, however,
he needed to do more for the war effort.
1944-45 – Joined the army and went to Hollywood to
write for Frank Capra’s Signal Corps Unit and to do
documentaries such as Hitler Lives and Design for
Death.
1948 – Moved to his home in La Jolla. Billboards and
construction disturbing the peace of his community
triggered an awareness and concern for the
environment.
1954 – Because of a Life article on illiteracy amongst
school children, he became concerned about books
available for children to learn to read.
1967 – Helen Palmer Geisel died.
1968 – Married Audrey Stone Diamond.
1970’s – Through the influence of his
second wife, Audrey, he began to address
much bigger issues in his books than in
the past.
 1980’s – The build-up of nuclear arms and
the heating up of the Cold War during the
Reagan administration caused him a great
deal of concern.
 September 24, 1991 – Theodor Seuss
Geisel died.

question
From your journal and now that you have
seen this first hand, now do you see
underlying messages in those books? If
not, go home and see if you have one!
So, what does this have to do with
The Crucible?

The events in the play itself are an allegory for the intolerance of
McCarthyism.

For a decade spanning the late 1940s to the late 1950s, the American
government was intensely suspicious of the possible influence of
communism on citizens and institutions. The FBI accused thousands of
people of “un-American activities” and monitored many more; these
people’s careers and personal lives were frequently destroyed. More often
than not, there was little to no evidence to support the accusations.
Nevertheless, the FBI and various government groups involved in
monitoring or accusing individuals, such as The House Un-American
Activities Committee, enjoyed widespread support from the American
population.

Similarly, in The Crucible, there is little evidence that much witchcraft
activity is going on, but once accusations started flying, many innocent
people get caught in the web of hysteria. Lives are destroyed and people
die based on zero evidence.