Most kids aren’t hot on poetic analysis, but even so these two poems can be amusing to breakdown. Like this:ĭa da DUM / da da DUM / da da DUM /da da DUM Tetrameter refers to the number of poetic feet in a line (four). It is often used in nursery rhymes and children’s books because it has a nice flowing pattern.Īn anapest is a poetic foot that consists of three beats: two unstressed followed by one stressed.

Its connection to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, however, isn’t in its story but rather in its meter and rhyme scheme.īoth poems use rhyming couplets, and both employ Anapestic Tetrameter.Īnapestic tetrameter is a particular poetic rhythm. It has been turned into picture books and Christmas cards galore over it’s 100-plus year history. While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads The children were nestled all snug in their beds The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house This poem from 1823 is arguably the most well-known poem in American history, although most people don’t even realize they’re quoting a poem at all. The Grinch and The Night Before ChristmasĪnother text to consider is The Night Before Christmas - originally titled A Visit From St Nicholas by Clement Clark Moore. This allows some artistic creativity, and students can list the similarities and differences on their posters. This can be done in a classroom discussion, but it can also be done by creating two posters: one for Scrooge and one for the Grinch. Have students compare and contrast the two characters. Only ruining Christmas for the Whos will satisfy him.

The Grinch, on the other hand, has been left alone, and still he is not content. Scrooge, for example, hates Christmas but has no impulse to snatch the season away from others. Even for students who haven’t read either text, the characters are likely familiar to them by way of popular culture, movies and songs.īut it is not just the ways in which Scrooge and the Grinch are alike that is fascinating, but in the ways they are not.

One of the best places to start in teaching How the Grinch Stole Christmas is to compare these two wonderfully wicked characters. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right. The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season! Even so, his character shines through quite clearly as the story unfolds. Seuss does not go to great lengths to describe the Grinch, likely because he has the benefit of being able to draw his character in detail.

How the grinch stole christmas story