Talk Like an Animal

What seperates us from our caveman ancestors of long ago? Is it fire? Or perhaps it is the nice houses and the fancy governments. In simple terms, language is what sets modern day society apart from a more primitive civilization.

Language can be both written and spoken. Spoken language sets humans apart from animals. Although animals are able to communicate danger, the desire to mate, ect., they are unable to truly express themselves in the way humans are. I have yet to have heard of a chimpanzee waxing poetically about his love as Shakespeare has. Nor have I ever seen a cat express rage and passion through words the way a human can.

Written language allows furthur development. It is written language that has allowed civilization to be created. You not only have spoken promises, but you have contracts and commitments that span years and eventually form civilization. Written language allows us to record and encode our past as well as present. We are able to take notes, create money,  textbooks and tomes, and we are able to form a true civilization.

The dictionary will tell us that a civilization is defined as an advanced state of human society, in which a high level of culture, science, industry, and government has been reached. Language, both written and spoken, is what has allowed us to reach this advanced stage. Language has allowed us to progress past animals and develop beyond a primitive society. Language is the reason we are so advanced today.

There's a wocket in my what?

“When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles
and the bottle's on a poodle and the poodle's eating noodles...
...they call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle
bottle paddle battle.”
― Dr. Seuss, Fox in Socks



 Sam holding green eggs and ham. A fox in blue socks standing in a box. A wocket in a young boy's pocket. These images are from several of Dr. Seuss's books. Many of us have grown up with Dr. Seuss's stories. Children have learned to read from these stories. Dr. Seuss's stories often didn't start off with a moral for Dr. Seuss felt that children could spot a moral from a mile-off. Instead, his stories included crazy characters and made up words. Children often learned to read off of these books, and they were full of made up words. Children are still, to this day, learning to read from books full of made up words such as wockets.

 Dr. Seuss books are designed to be an easy read. This means exactly what it sounds like- they are books that are easy to read.The books usually have large print as well as illustrations that make it easy for the child to 'decode' what the words are saying, even if that word is 'wocket.'

 These books also taught children to read in a way that was much more fun than the standard 'See Dick run' books. With his fun, charismatic rhymes, Seuss teaches children to learn through rhymes as well as through making reading fun for children. The great doctor taught us simple things, such as to never stop learning. In 1954, children weren't learning to read because they they books they had were boring. Dr. Seuss solved that by writing the Cat in the Hat. This is his legacy. Through rhymes and new words, Seuss allowed children to read and truly question. He allowed us all to ask, what is a wocket? And why is it in my pocket?