P1: Thesis: The message of the CINT like the LOTF is when supervision goes away the figurative and literal "beast" comes out to play.
P2:
Retell Lotf
The literal animal
The figurative animal
Retell CINT
Basic gist
The literal animal
The figurative animal
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss is a great book for children when they have nothing better to do, or they just want to read. This book keeps young readers engaged by the countless rhymes and surprises that are thrown into the book. Yet, it is more than just a children's book. It contains important themes for young readers to understand. In fact, it shares several themes with another well-known children's novel, William Golding's Lord of the Flies. One theme that the two have in common is that when adult supervision is absent, children's figurative and literal "beasts" come out.
A reoccuring theme in Lord of the Flies is authority leaving causes evil to come out. In a tropical area, a plane crashes on a deserted island, and the only adult, a pilot, dies in the crash. At first order is attempted; however, over time the order deteriorates into savagery and chaos. For example, Roger throws stones at Henry but does not hit him because he knows adults would consider it wrong. Golding tells us that "There was a space around Henry.... Around the squatting child was the protection of parents, and school, and policeman and the law" (Golding 62). However, by the end of the novel, when Roger murders Piggy he becomes a cold-blooded killer. The "taboo of the old life" deteriorates as does the circumscribed area of "adult" protection around others.
The Cat in the Hat also shares the theme of authority figures leaving causing the "animals" both literally and figuratively. The book starts with two children sitting in front of a window watching rain pour down from the sky as they wait for their mother to arrive. These two children were very bored, when what would show up but a talking cat in a hat. The Cat introduces some fun games to the children, but the fish tries to be the voice of reason and talk the children out letting him stay. "No! No! / Make that cat go Away! / Tell that Cat in the Hat/ You do NOT want to play. / He should not be here. /He should not be about. / He should not be here/ When your mother is out!” (Seuss 11) The cat's fun starts out simple and safe for all, but as he continues, everything falls. This is only the beginning of the unintentional chaos. The cat in the hat introduces a new "game" that includes a thing one and thing two. The chaos only amounts from there. These things go on a crash course throughout the house. The boy finally listens to reason, and wants to stop the madness. "I do not like the way that they play!/If mother could see this,/Oh, what would she say!” (45) The fish then sees the mother walking towards the house, saying that they have to revert to the order in which there was in the beginning The boy catches the things and put them back in the box, and orders the cat to leave. Even though the cat left, the house was a mess. The mother would surely be angry if she saw the house in that condition. For those who thought that cat was gone for good, they are wrong. He comes back, but this time to restore order. He cleans up the house, and soon after, the mother comes in to find the kids by the window.
Although The Cat in the Hat may seem different from The Lord of the Flies their themes are very much related. In The Lord of the Flies the beast is the children, and this beast comes out over a period of time that adult supervision is gone. Roger is an example of this; when they first landed on the island he plays a joke on Henry by throwing rocks at him. Although he plays this joke on him he makes sure to observe a six foot perimeter surrounding him. Golding describes this perimeter as the protection of the adult world. Later on when he becomes a hunter, and essentially loses his human half; which is logic and reasoning, he takes a boulder and uses it to kill Piggy. In this moment he has no fear of the consequences. The beast within him has come out fully because there was no adult around to scold him, and tell him what he was doing was wrong. In The Cat in the Hat the children start out sitting at the window just wondering what to do, because they cannot go out into the rain and play. They are bored and their mother is at work. Then all of a sudden a cat in a hat comes through the door and starts showing them all sorts of games. In this book the cat in the hat is literally the beast, but more than that he is directly linked to the kids because he is the physical manifestation of the children’s inner desire to have fun and play. The cat in the hat only appears when the mother is gone. In both books the beast comes in only when the adult has gone away. In The Lord of the Flies the adult figure was the pilot who died in the crash, and in The Cat in the Hat the adult figure is the mother who is at work. The direct opposite of the idea of the beast coming out when the adult is away is; when the adult comes back the beast goes away. In The Cat in the Hat the cat leaves when the mother has come home. In The Lord of the Flies the children are hunting Ralph and are ready to kill him, until they run into the navy officer, and that is when their humanity seems to return and they stop trying to kill Ralph.
The Lord of the Flies has many of the same messages as The Cat in the Hat. Both stories portray a figurative and literal beast. In The Lord of the Flies the figurative beast within the boys takes over because of the lack of adults present. As the book progresses the presence of the beast becomes more apparent as the Beast controls them and turn them into savages. In The Cat in the Hat the figurative beast is within the cat, we see the beast in the beginning of the short story, but in the end he comes back and cleans up the mess that he has made showing that he is not a savage, but it was only the beast side of him that acted when there was no adults. Overall, without an authority figure there is no way to maintain order.
Table of Contents
Cat in the Hat Essay
(The Cat In The Hat) Text
Hear The Cat In The Hat
OWL: Writing About Literature
Literary Essay PowerPoint
Three Prong Test for a Good Literary Thesis
P1: Thesis: The message of the CINT like the LOTF is when supervision goes away the figurative and literal "beast" comes out to play.
P2:Retell Lotf
The literal animal
The figurative animal
Retell CINT
Basic gist
The literal animal
The figurative animal
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss is a great book for children when they have nothing better to do, or they just want to read. This book keeps young readers engaged by the countless rhymes and surprises that are thrown into the book. Yet, it is more than just a children's book. It contains important themes for young readers to understand. In fact, it shares several themes with another well-known children's novel, William Golding's Lord of the Flies. One theme that the two have in common is that when adult supervision is absent, children's figurative and literal "beasts" come out.
A reoccuring theme in Lord of the Flies is authority leaving causes evil to come out. In a tropical area, a plane crashes on a deserted island, and the only adult, a pilot, dies in the crash. At first order is attempted; however, over time the order deteriorates into savagery and chaos. For example, Roger throws stones at Henry but does not hit him because he knows adults would consider it wrong. Golding tells us that "There was a space around Henry.... Around the squatting child was the protection of parents, and school, and policeman and the law" (Golding 62). However, by the end of the novel, when Roger murders Piggy he becomes a cold-blooded killer. The "taboo of the old life" deteriorates as does the circumscribed area of "adult" protection around others.The Cat in the Hat also shares the theme of authority figures leaving causing the "animals" both literally and figuratively. The book starts with two children sitting in front of a window watching rain pour down from the sky as they wait for their mother to arrive. These two children were very bored, when what would show up but a talking cat in a hat. The Cat introduces some fun games to the children, but the fish tries to be the voice of reason and talk the children out letting him stay. "No! No! / Make that cat go Away! / Tell that Cat in the Hat/ You do NOT want to play. / He should not be here. /He should not be about. / He should not be here/ When your mother is out!” (Seuss 11) The cat's fun starts out simple and safe for all, but as he continues, everything falls. This is only the beginning of the unintentional chaos. The cat in the hat introduces a new "game" that includes a thing one and thing two. The chaos only amounts from there. These things go on a crash course throughout the house. The boy finally listens to reason, and wants to stop the madness. "I do not like the way that they play!/If mother could see this,/Oh, what would she say!” (45) The fish then sees the mother walking towards the house, saying that they have to revert to the order in which there was in the beginning The boy catches the things and put them back in the box, and orders the cat to leave. Even though the cat left, the house was a mess. The mother would surely be angry if she saw the house in that condition. For those who thought that cat was gone for good, they are wrong. He comes back, but this time to restore order. He cleans up the house, and soon after, the mother comes in to find the kids by the window.
Although The Cat in the Hat may seem different from The Lord of the Flies their themes are very much related. In The Lord of the Flies the beast is the children, and this beast comes out over a period of time that adult supervision is gone. Roger is an example of this; when they first landed on the island he plays a joke on Henry by throwing rocks at him. Although he plays this joke on him he makes sure to observe a six foot perimeter surrounding him. Golding describes this perimeter as the protection of the adult world. Later on when he becomes a hunter, and essentially loses his human half; which is logic and reasoning, he takes a boulder and uses it to kill Piggy. In this moment he has no fear of the consequences. The beast within him has come out fully because there was no adult around to scold him, and tell him what he was doing was wrong. In The Cat in the Hat the children start out sitting at the window just wondering what to do, because they cannot go out into the rain and play. They are bored and their mother is at work. Then all of a sudden a cat in a hat comes through the door and starts showing them all sorts of games. In this book the cat in the hat is literally the beast, but more than that he is directly linked to the kids because he is the physical manifestation of the children’s inner desire to have fun and play. The cat in the hat only appears when the mother is gone. In both books the beast comes in only when the adult has gone away. In The Lord of the Flies the adult figure was the pilot who died in the crash, and in The Cat in the Hat the adult figure is the mother who is at work. The direct opposite of the idea of the beast coming out when the adult is away is; when the adult comes back the beast goes away. In The Cat in the Hat the cat leaves when the mother has come home. In The Lord of the Flies the children are hunting Ralph and are ready to kill him, until they run into the navy officer, and that is when their humanity seems to return and they stop trying to kill Ralph.
The Lord of the Flies has many of the same messages as The Cat in the Hat. Both stories portray a figurative and literal beast. In The Lord of the Flies the figurative beast within the boys takes over because of the lack of adults present. As the book progresses the presence of the beast becomes more apparent as the Beast controls them and turn them into savages. In The Cat in the Hat the figurative beast is within the cat, we see the beast in the beginning of the short story, but in the end he comes back and cleans up the mess that he has made showing that he is not a savage, but it was only the beast side of him that acted when there was no adults. Overall, without an authority figure there is no way to maintain order.