Making a long story shortThe theme of making a long story short is the very essence of what “Mulberry Street,” is about. The story starts out with a simple idea from a little boy and as he walks on Mulberry Street he imagines. He looks and sees things. Then he exaggerates them. By the time he has reached his home, however, his story is small again. Though this may not be the orthodox way to make a long story short, it illustrates well the concept.
A horse becomes a zebra as Seuss writes, “That can’t be my story. That’s only a start. I’ll say that a ZEBRA was pulling that cart!” Soon the Zebra becomes a Reindeer and the driver becomes a charioteer. Finally, the story ends with the boy telling his father, ‘“Nothing”, I said, growing red as a beet, “But a plain horse and wagon on Mulberry Street.”’ Quite literally, the boy’s story goes from short to long and back. Using print to match meaning"That can't be my story. That's only a start.
I'll say that a ZEBRA was pulling that cart!" (Seuss, Dr. Six By Seuss. New York: Random House, 1991. 16. Print.) Here Dr. Seuss uses italics to express added emotion. He uses capitalization to express surprise when the narrator changes the horse pulling the cart to a Zebra. "But it isn't too late to make one little change. A sleigh and an ELEPHANT! There's something strange." (Seuss, Dr. Six By Seuss. New York: Random House, 1991. 24. Print.) Again, he uses the same techniques to add extra emotion and emphasis to the text. "FOR I HAD A STORY THAT NO ONE COULD BEAT! AND TO THINK THAT I SAW IT ON MULBERRY STREET!" (Seuss, Dr. Six By Seuss. New York: Random House, 1991. 40. Print.) Dr. Seuss uses all capital letters in this sentence to show the complete and utter excitement of the narrator now that he has decided on his story and that he is so confident that no one could come up with something better that the words "no one" are bolded and slightly bigger than the rest of the sentence. |
Repeating sentence structuresDr. Seuss is very good at repetition. He is the master. He uses the title of the book in several variations throughout the story.
"When I say that I saw it on Mulberry Street."(Seuss, Dr. Six By Seuss. New York: Random House, 1991. 26. Print.) "Rumbling like thunder down Mulberry Street!" (Seuss, Dr. Six By Seuss. New York: Random House, 1991. 18. Print.) "On old Mulberry Street." (Seuss, Dr. Six By Seuss. New York: Random House, 1991. 21. Print.) "When I say that I saw it on Mulberry Street." (Seuss, Dr. Six By Seuss. New York: Random House, 1991. 25. Print.) "When I say that I saw it on Mulberry Street!" (Seuss, Dr. Six By Seuss. New York: Random House, 1991. 35. Print.) "AND TO THINK THAT I SAW IT ON MULBERRY STREET!" (Seuss, Dr. Six By Seuss. New York: Random House, 1991. 40. Print.) |