ZAP...ZING...ZONK...ZOWIE!!!!

The 2012 San Diego International Comic-con takes place this coming weekend, and I will be moderating a panel of AWESOME educators -Katie Monnin and Bucky Carter and graphic novelists - John Hogan (Graphic Novel Reporter), Joe Kelly (I Kill Giants), Jimmy Gowenly (the Amelia books) Matt and Jennifer Holm (the BabyMouse and Squish books).  Our panel  "Transforming Super-Powered Comic Book Readers into Comic Book Writers" will be on Saturday, 7/14/12 at  5:30p.m. - 6:30p.m., Room: 26AB IF you're there, please come say hello to me.

While I will be posting more about the convention and my panel later, in the spirit of great comics and graphic novels, I dedicate ABC Wednesday "Z" week to  these super awesome fun onomatopoeic Z words: Zap, Zing, Zonk, and Zowie!!!

According to Wikipedia:

onomatopœia ( pronunciation (US) (help·info), from the Greek ὀνοματοποιία;^[1] ὄνομα for "name"^[2] and ποιέω for "I make",^[3] adjectival form: "onomatopoeic" or "onomatopoetic") is a word that imitates or suggests the source of the sound that it describes.

Comic strips and comic books made extensive use of onomatopoeia. Popular culture historian Tim DeForest noted the impact of writer-artist Roy Crane (1901–1977), the creator of Captain Easy and Buz Sawyer:

It was Crane who pioneered the use of onomatopoeic sound effects in comics, adding "bam," "pow" and "wham" to what had previously been an almost entirely visual vocabulary. Crane had fun with this, tossing in an occasional "ker-splash" or "lickety-wop" along with what would become the more standard effects. Words as well as images became vehicles for carrying along his increasingly fast-paced storylines.^[4]

Aside from using onomatopoeic words when writing because it is simply loads of fun, advertising and marketing experts use it as a mnemonic to help customers and potential clients remember their particular product.  Rice Krispies is one example of a product with an onomatopoeic name, and Alka-Seltzer employed their "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz OH what a relief it is" jingle.

It's even been promoted in song - the chorus of John Prine's song Onomatopoeia is one great example as is Todd Rundgren's Onomatopoeia.

In 1963 Roy Lichtenstein used Whaam! as an early example of pop art and in 2002, DC Comics introduced a villain named Onomatopoeia, an athlete, martial artist and weapons expert who speaks sounds imitating the noises around him and is an enemy of Green Arrow and Batman. Did you ever wonder though about when these words were first used - and how? Let's look at a few...Zingers:

zap/zap/

Verb:	Destroy or obliterate: "zap the enemy's artillery".
Noun:	A sudden effect or event that makes a dramatic impact, esp. a sudden burst of energy or sound

Zap as far as I can tell, is the most used and integrated "Z" onomatopoeic word. There are ZAP electric vehicles, ZAP! comics, Zap skimboards, games, cleaners, photographic tools, and music. According to Wikipedia "A zap is an onomatopoetic word for a discharge of electricity or an electric shock." Regarding its origin, Dictionary.com notes that it was used as a sound effect in 1929 and as a verb in 1942 as a comic strip word in Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth Century. 

*******

zow·ie/ˈzou-ē/

Exclamation:

Expressing astonishment or admiration.

According to merriam-webster.com Zowie was first known to be used in 1902 as an onomatopoeic sound used it imitate a speeding vehicle. I remember it in Batman many years later. Zowie was the Riddler's henchman in Batman: The Animated Series. He was sent by the Riddler to steal goods but was defeated by the caped crusader! It is also the name of aNew Zealand singer-songwriter and drummer, and the name of a fashion accessories company. ******* zonk/zäNGk/ Verb: Hit or strike. Fall or cause to fall suddenly and heavily asleep or lose consciousness: "I always just zonk out" Zonk has also been somewhat integrated into our culture.  There are "zonks" in the popular TV show Let's Make a Deal, it is a dice game, and the name of a production company. According to dictionary.com it was first used 1950 as an onomatopoeic term to mean "hit hard." ******* zing/ziNG/ Noun: Energy, enthusiasm, or liveliness. Verb: Move swiftly: "an arrow zinging through the air". Zing is now the name of a cutting machine, the name of an ultralight aircraft, and a technology company that makes collaborative team learning and meeting systems. Random House Dictionary dates its origin to 1910-1925 as 'imitative' and according to Online Etymology Dictionary, zing was used in 1911 to mean 'high pitched sound,' and in 1918 as slang for 'energy, zest.' ******* In preparing this post, I realize how powerful pop culture and word play are, how widely comics books and the graphic arts have influenced and continue to influence our world, how word play is not only fun but it can be quite lucrative, and simply how much fun words can be and how easy it is to get lost in their world.  These are all important lessons to share with our kids - especially the reluctant readers and learners. So in closing, here are some great ways to make learning and words fun: Look at word origins and how the way the use them has changed over time; Make up your own fun onomatopoeic words Draw words to reflect their meaning See how many sentence strings you can generate using onomatopoeia Personally, 'splat' is one of my favorite onomatopoeic words (but this post I focused on "Z"). Please share your opinions or your favorite onomatopoeic words in the comments and have a great week. In the meantime, enjoy this music video, compliments of Zowie!!!

The No Nonsense of Nonsense

This post is a follow-up to an earlier post "Jabberwocky & Dr. Seuss:  A Lesson in Nonsense" (although one can be read at the exclusion of the other).

Playing with nonsense is important to language learning, critical thinking and creativity...aside from just being so much fun!

Whether playing with nonsense words (as in Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky) or nonsense ideas, places, and things (Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussycat or Dr. Seuss' The Lorax), the author invites the reader to:

• play with language - in terms of phonics and vocabulary;
• play with language - in terms of allegory, and metaphor;
• play with concepts - considering greater depth, inference, detail, fun and surprises as they pop up in the reading journey; and
• play with reading making it more active and interactive as author and reader play with words, sounds, and sentence structure.

Shakespeare, Carroll, Lear, Dr. Seuss are just a few authors well-known for their integrating nonsense words, verse, and ideas in their writing.

Shakespeare created his 'words' combining alliteration, onomatopoeia, and word play as he took two unrelated words and combined them to express some often-foul-filled image such as "boil-brained" to create a new, scathing curse or slam [Here is a link to create your own slams from Shakespeare's word lexicon].

Lewis Carroll used nonsense words to play with the sound and structure of language. He also integrated sound, onomatopoeia, illusion and alliteration and, in the case of Jabberwocky, was more inventive in terms of words /word choices (go to: for complete text):

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Yet, even with Carroll's truly nonsensical words, given their use and placement in the sentence, the reader can create an image and story. And upon closer examination, many of the nonsensical words are quite similar to ones we might substitute.  "Gyre" alludes to gyrate, and "mimsy" is close to whimsy, and whether intentional or not, the reader has fun actively constructing his or her own sense of meaning and intent.

Edward Lear, a third English author also integrated nonsense words with nonsense ideas (an owl marrying a pussycat, and the important thing is a ring?)  in his works, often in limericks and songs that he asserted were "nonsense, pure and absolute." His best known songs are probably The Owl and the Pussy-Cat and "The Daddy-Long-Legs and the Fly." [For more, visit Edward Lear Home Page. ]

Owl and the Pussy-Cat Verse II

Pussy said to the Owl, 'You elegant fowl!

How charmingly sweet you sing!

O let us be married!too long we have tarried:

But what shall we do for a ring?

They sailed away, for a year and a day,

To the land where the Bong-tree grows

And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood

With a ring at the end of his nose,

His nose, 

His nose,

With a ring at the end of his nose.

The Daddy Long-legs and the Fly - Verse 1

Once Mr. Daddy Long-legs,

Dressed in brown and gray,

Walked about upon the sands

Upon a summer's day;

And there among the pebbles,

When the wind was rather cold,

He met with Mr. Floppy Fly,

Add dressed in blue and gold.

And as it was too soon to dine,

They drank some Periwinkle-wine,

And played an hour or two, or more,

At battlecock and shuttledore.

Dr. Seuss' nonsense words were both like Shakespeare's in combining two unrelated words to create a third, and like Lear's and Carroll's in their play on sound, language, and sentence structure (as seen in Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please go Now):

 Marvin K. Mooney will you please go now!...

You can go On a Zike-Bike 

If you like....

You can go in Crunk-Car 

If you wish...

You might like going in a Zumble Zay...

You can go by bumble-boat...or jet

I don't care how you go.  Just get!

[For those of you who love political satire, here's a link to Dr. Seuss' play with political satire - as he sent a copy of Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! text to columnist Art Buchwald in July, 1974, with Marvin K. Mooney crossed out and Richard K. Nixon plugged in "Richard M. Nixon Will You Please Go Now!"]

"NONSENSE" in these instances in not nonsense at all - it is, in fact WORD-PLAY and we should be encouraging this with our kids as they learn to read, write, create, and express themselves. 


Lanaguage: Playing with nonsense words in rhyme, as Dr. Seuss does, allows young readers and language learners to:

• play with long and short vowel sounds;
• play with consonants, and consonant blends;
• play and experiment with sentence structure (using this along with mapping is integral for verbal and written expression)
• play with vocabualry, alliteration, onomatopoeia (Do you like the "piano tuna" ...create your own with your child!)

Critical thinking: Dr. Seuss, Edward Lear, nursery rhymes and fables all encourage children and readers in general to:

• compare and contrast to distinguish the 'real-life' from the fantastical fantasy. 
• infer - gaining greater understanding and expertise with metaphor, allegory, double/multiple meanings;
• brainstorm and  imagine our natural world not just for what it is, but for what it could be or might be.
• create - seeing and reading famous works about nonsensical characters, animals, and places encourages young writers to create their own worlds, to learn to exaggerate, to create and to express humor and metaphor. [Like this greeting "WHISK"ing you a Happy Valentine's Day!...make your own!]

 

But the most important thing, is that this kind of word play is fun, it is engaging, it creates multiple memory paths and it is incredibly interactive.  So have fun with nonsense.  Read some of the masters' works and create your own.  

In closing - here is a ditty my daughter wrote when she was young - her take on "Oowey Goowey":

The original

Oowey Goowey was a worm,

A gooey worm was he.

He sat upon the railroad tracks

The train he did not see....

OOOOweyyy Gooweey!!!

My daughter's version:

OOwey goowey was a slug
He was slimy and fat
He crawled upon the railroad tracks...
Chugga, chugga SPLATT!

Please leave some of your fun, nonsensical ideas in the comments so we can all laugh and enjoy!