Name___________________________________________________ Oswalt/Period _______ Due Date ______________________ #1.

1
Using Context Clues with Nonsense Words in “Jabberwocky”
from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872

‘twas is a contraction of 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

“it was” Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

A term of endearment
or pet name between
annoying lovers who
constantly PDA.
“Does shmoopie want a
tuna-woonie
sandwich? Aww,
shmoopie.”
by shmooperkins
rodriguez May 29, 2003
A website that
summarizes and
analyzes books for lazy
students.
“Dude, I really don’t
understand this book at
all. Shmoop it, bro!”
by kdepasquo137 July
18, 2013
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree.
And stood awhile in thought.
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came wiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

Source: UrbanDictionary.Com
"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Directions: On the other side is a chart that includes 20 nonsense words from this famous poem. Follow the steps below
to complete this group assignment. For “inspiration” visit Shmoop.com – but try to use your brain when possible.
►►Step 1: Go through the entire poem and underline or highlight the vocabulary words that you see in the chart. This
will make it easier to identify them as you answer the questions. A context clue helps the reader to infer or understand
the definition of a word based on the information in the sentence.
A weak context clue sentence: “The directions were nebulous.” Nebulous could mean a number of things: “excellent”,
“clear”, “lengthy”, or “comical” if a person isn’t familiar with the term. Notice that there are NO clues in the sentence
that reveal information helpful information to the reader.
A strong context clue sentence: “There was no way I could do the assignment because the directions were so nebulous;
Miss Othmar had not given us a topic, due date, or any verbal instructions.”
** So based on the context clues in the strong sentence, nebulous probably means? ______________________
►►Step 2: Complete the chart by determining how each nonsense word is contextually and grammatically used in the
poem – then list the part of speech and possible definition. Be creative and we will go over the results, there are lots of
possibilities!

Nonsense Word Part of Speech Context Clue Definition (Just guess creatively)
brillig adjective or noun brilliant + shindig (festive, informal party)
slithy adjective slithering + slimy (snake connotation)
1. toves
2. gimble
3. wabe
4. mimsy
5. borogoves
6. raths
7. outgrabe
8. Jabberwock
9. frumious
10. Bandersnatch
11. vorpal
12. snicker-snack
13. manxome
14. uffish
15. wiffling
16. tulgey
17. galumphing
18. frabjous
19. callooh
20. callay

No u n ● V e rb ● A dje c tiv e ● Ad v e rb ● Pr o n o u n ● Pre po si ti o n ● Co n j u nc tio n ● I n te rj e c ti o n

☺Bonus +5: Miss Othmar is an allusion to what in pop culture? ______________________________________