DR SEUSS PRESENTATION: BIODATA
Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 2, 1904.
His parents were Henrietta Seuss Geisel and Theodor Robert Geisel. He had an
older sister named Margaretha (Marnie). The family was Jewish decent but their
religion was Missouri Synod Lutheran
He was a really artistic child. He almost always had a pencil in his hand. His mother
always sang rhymes to him and his sister before bed. She also brought home
children’s books for them to read. (but they were too boring!), he was also inspired
by the comic strips in the newspaper. Ted liked reading for fun!
He graduated from Dartmouth in the summer of 1925. Most of Ted’s college friends
planned on becoming lawyers, bankers, or businessmen. None of those jobs
sounded interesting to Ted. Instead,
in 1926, he decided to enter Lincoln College in the UK to earn a Doctor of
Philosophy in English literature. Where met his future wife Helen Palmer, who
encouraged him to give up becoming an English teacher in favor of pursuing drawing
as a career, which he did and in 1927 returned home to Massachusetts and began
drawing cartoons for magazines and advertainments. (His artwork helped sell fans,
lightbulbs, shaving cream, pens, gasoline, and radios.). He and Helen married the
same year as they were financial stable.
Because everything was going upwards, so, He decided to write and draw a
children’s book of his own. Inspired by sound that made the ship during a trip to
Europe, he wrote And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.
Life was going well for Ted. But he worried about the rest of the world, 1939 the
world war ii started. In 1941 when the united states joined the war, Ted drew over
400 political cartoons in support of the war (he wanted to be in good side od history).
In 1943 he joined the U.S. military, but was too old to be soldier. So, he was sent to
Hollywood and was commander of the Animation Department of the First Motion
Picture Unit of the United States Army Air Forces.
After the war, in the 1950’s Geisel and Helen moved to the La Jolla community
of San Diego, California, where he returned to writing children's books. It was during
this time that he published most of his most well-known works including If I Ran the
Zoo, Horton Hears a Who!, If I Ran the Circus, The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch
Stole Christmas!, and Green Eggs and Ham.
In 1955, Dartmouth awarded Geisel an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters, Ted
joked that he would now have to sign "Dr. Dr. Seuss".
During the 60’s, Ted and Helen had begun to drift apart. And Helen’s health was
failing (she was suffering from Guillain Barre Syndrome that later developed a
cancer). In 1967, She committed suicide over suspicions her husband was having
an affair. She left a suicide note that implies that she knew darks secrets of Dr.
Seuss.
Audrey Dimond already had kids, but were sent to school no letting Geisel rise them.
though it was broadly known the famed children’s author did not much care for kids
in person. "You have 'em; I'll entertain 'em.". She made him feel happy again. In
1968, they got married.
Ted kept on writing funny books for children. But he also wrote about serious ideas.
One of his books was about taking care of the environment. He called it The Lorax.
Another book was called The Butter Battle Book. It spoke against nuclear weapons
and nuclear war. This kind of war could kill or harm millions of people.
Geisel died of cancer in 1991, his legacy was in charge of his second wife, who
started a company a year later his death.
SOCIAL/POLITICAL EVENTS THAT AFFECTED HIS LIFE
• The Prohibition Era (1920 - 1933): a time when the United States prohibited
the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages.
As his father had a brewery company, he lost his job and became the
supervisor of the Springfield’s public parks. That included the zoo, Ted loved
going on private tours of the zoo with his dad.
• The Great Depression (1929 - 1939): a severe economic crisis that marked
the start of a period characterized by high unemployment, hunger and
uncertainty. Dr. Seuss was lucky to have earned a good living during this
period as he found work as a creator of advertising campaigns designed to
sell products.
• World War II (1939 - 1945): a global conflict between the Allies and the Axis
powers. In 1941 when the united states joined the war, Ted drew over 400
political cartoons in support of the war (he wanted to be in good side of
history). In 1943 he joined the U.S. military, but was too old to be soldier. So,
he was sent to Hollywood and was commander of the Animation Department
of the First Motion Picture Unit of the United States Army Air Forces.
• Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Two atomic bombs
detonations by the United States over Japan that killed between 150,000 and
246,000 people
• Civil Rights Movement (1954 - 1968): a social movement and campaign in
the United States to abolish legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and
disenfranchisement in the country. Dr. Seuss have some controversial
images that were drawn through his life that are racist, as they depicted
Asians, Blacks and other ethnic groups in stereotypical fashion that was
common of the style of drawing of the time, but also mended himself and
drew anti-racist cartoons.
• The cold war (1947 - 1991): A period of geopolitical tension between the
United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies.
• Assassination J.F. Kennedy assassination (1963): the 35th president of
the United States, was assassinated while riding in a
presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas.
• The Chernobyl Disaster (1986): Explosions at the nuclear power plant at
Chernobyl, Ukraine, bring about the worst nuclear reactor accident in
history.
• The Internet was created (1983): a worldwide system that helped stablish
the third era of Globalization and interconnect the entire world.
LITERATURE STYLE
Dr. Seuss wrote and illustrated 46 children's books that shown a unique and
extraordinary style of writing. here are some features found in his literary style.
There are three big elements that can be found in his writing, imaginative characters,
rhyme, and frequent use of anapestic meter, which is a metrical beat that uses two
short syllables followed by a long syllable.
• WORD/SENTENCE: the words and sentences used are easy and simple, he
tends to continuously repeat a word and ask questions to the reader to convey
meaning and to integrate the reader. He invents words that does not help the
reader comprehend what they are reading but they are fun.
• FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: he relies on literal language with
dialogues, metaphors, and similes. At first glance, his works may sound very
simple but they all include a moral. The Sneetches and Other Stories contains
messages about tolerance, diversity, and compromise. The Lorax is an
environmental fable. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a neo-Dickensian
entreaty for generosity of spirit during the holidays.
• RHYTHM: The usage of an anapestic tetrameter is essential in Dr. Seuss
works, where each line of a poem has 4 words that have 3 syllables each. In
other words, the line is 12 syllables in total.
• TOPICS AND THEMES: he created poetries within stories that are full of
playful themes such as love, hate, relationships, fun, and enjoyment.
• ILLUSTRATIONS: all of his books have pictures mostly in black and white
ink with one or two colors to accent the illustrations.
