The document provides information about Lewis Carroll's famous nonsense poem "Jabberwocky". It was published in his 1872 novel "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There". The poem introduces made-up words like "chortle" and "galumph" that have since been added to the English language. The document then presents the first stanza of the poem and asks the reader to determine the part of speech for each made-up word. It also asks the reader to decide on the meaning of the words based on context clues. Finally, it provides the key with definitions for each nonsensical word from the poem.

1. Jabberwocky
(Information)
Parts of Speech
Meaning
Matching
Answers

2. Jabberwocky
 ‘Jabberwocky’ is possibly the most famous nonsense
poem in existence. It was written by Lewis Carroll and
published as part of the novel ‘Through the Looking
Glass and What Alice Found There’ (1872). The words
‘chortle’ and ‘galumph’, invented by Carroll in the
poem, have since been added to the English language!

3. `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Identify the unknown words in the text. What part of
speech do you think they are – noun, verb, adjective or
adverb?
brillig -_________ slithy -_________ toves - ________
gyre - _________ gimble -_________ wabe - ________
mimsy -_________ mome -_________ raths - ________
borogoves - _________ outgrabe - _________
How did you decide what part of speech they were?

4. `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Decide on the meaning of the words.
brillig -_______________________________
slithy - _______________________________
toves - _______________________________
gyre - _______________________________
gimble -_______________________________
wabe - _______________________________
mimsy -_______________________________
mome - _______________________________
raths - _______________________________
borogoves - ___________________________
outgrabe - ____________________________
How did you decide the meaning of the words?

5. Match the words to their definitions:
 broil a device used to tell time
 lithe shout loudly
 corkscrew cook using very strong heat
 sundial something which cleans floors
 grove a device to open bottles
 gimlet weak or badly made
 flimsy flexible and graceful
 mop group of close-together trees
 bellow a tool for making small holes

6. Answer Key:
Brillig — Four o'clock in the afternoon: the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.
Slithy — Combination of "slimy" and "lithe.” The i is long, as in writhe.
Tove — A combination of a badger, a lizard, and a corkscrew. They are very curious looking
creatures which make their nests under sundials and eat only cheese. Pronounced so as
to rhyme with groves.
Gyre — To go round and round like a gyroscope. However, Carroll also wrote in Mischmasch
that it meant to scratch like a dog. The g is pronounced like the /g/ in gold, not like gem.
Gimble — To make holes as does a gimlet.
Wabe — The grass plot around a sundial. It is called a "wabe" because it goes a long way
before it, and a long way behind it, and a long way beyond it on each side.
Mimsy — Combination of "miserable" and "flimsy".
Borogove — A thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round, "something
like a live mop".The initial syllable of borogove is pronounced as in borrow rather than as
in worry.
Mome — Possibly short for "from home," meaning that the raths had lost their way.
Rath — A sort of green pig.
Outgrabe (past tense; present tense outgribe) — Something between bellowing and
whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle.