English
Jabberwocky
Year One
English | Jabberwocky | Poetry | Familiarising a Poem | Lesson 1 of 4
Familiarising a Poem
Success Criteria
Aim
Introducing the Poem
Jabberwocky is a narrative poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of an animal called the Jabberwock.
Jabberwocky was included in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There – a sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Introducing the Poem
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe
All mimsy were the borogroves,
And the mom raths outgrabe.
Let’s think about the first verse…
What are your first impressions of the poem?
What do we learn about the poem from the first stanza?
Write down at least one question you would like to know the answer to when you read the rest of the poem.
What is the feel of the poem to begin with?
Looking at Language
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe
All mimsy were the borogroves,
And the mom raths outgrabe.
The first stanza of the poem has many nonsense words.
Can you identify the nonsense words?
We are now going to try to identify whether these nonsense words are nouns, adjectives, verbs or adverbs.
Looking at Language
Looking at Language
Noun | Adjective | Verb | Adverb | Replacement word (This must be in the same word category and must make sense in the context of the poem.) |
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‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Look for clues in the text as to whether each nonsense word is a noun, adjective, verb or adverb.
Remember: there is no right or wrong answer. Be brave and go for ambitious replacement words.
brillig
slithy
toves
Looking at Language
Now have a try on your own.
Share a Question
Share your ideas about what the next verse/verses will be like.
Let’s have a look at some of the questions that we thought of earlier.
Success Criteria
Aim