Mixed Review: Dr. Seuss’s Writing ChallengesThe letter of each correct answer holds the key to the lock.
The Cat in the Hat
The Cat in the Hat was Dr. Seuss’s first successful book. It was created as a challenge to write a book in under a certain number of words. In 1954, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist wrote an article about the use of primers – books used to teach kids to read – that were boring and didn’t inspire kids to want to read outside of what was required. In response to the article, Dr. Seuss was challenged to write a story that first graders wouldn’t want to put down and that would be limited to 225 distinct words from a list of 348 words selected from a standard first grader’s vocabulary list. The original story was supposed to be about a King cat and a Queen cat, but “queen” wasn’t on the list of acceptable words, so in looking for a match for cat, he discovered hat which lead to the creation of the story we know today. Seuss nearly succeeded in the challenge, using 236 unique words in the story. This endeavor took him nine months to complete. |
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Green Eggs and Ham
Dr. Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham on a bet that he couldn’t write a book with fifty or fewer distinct words. In 1960, Bennett Cerf, the co-founder of Random House, made the bet with Seuss for $50. Using exactly 50 unique words, Seuss won the bet, although Cerf never paid up. |
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1. What type of context clue is used to help you understand the meaning of the word primers?
A. synonym B. punctuation C. word parts D. antonym
2. What reference source would you use to locate the definition of the word endeavor?
A. dictionary B. thesaurus C. encyclopedia D. atlas
3. The fact that Dr. Seuss accepted the challenges shows all of the following character traits EXCEPT?
A. determination B. perseverance C. competitive D. frustrated
4. What organizational pattern is used for the entire article?
A. main idea B. cause and effect C. compare and contrast D. chronological
5. Which paragraph contains an opinion?
A. paragraph 1 B. paragraph 2 C. paragraph 3
6. What is the author’s purpose in writing the article?
A. entertain B. persuade C. inform
A. synonym B. punctuation C. word parts D. antonym
2. What reference source would you use to locate the definition of the word endeavor?
A. dictionary B. thesaurus C. encyclopedia D. atlas
3. The fact that Dr. Seuss accepted the challenges shows all of the following character traits EXCEPT?
A. determination B. perseverance C. competitive D. frustrated
4. What organizational pattern is used for the entire article?
A. main idea B. cause and effect C. compare and contrast D. chronological
5. Which paragraph contains an opinion?
A. paragraph 1 B. paragraph 2 C. paragraph 3
6. What is the author’s purpose in writing the article?
A. entertain B. persuade C. inform
