Ghastly Grownups

Style, Tone, and Narrative Point of View in The Twits.

Book Details Name: The Twits

Author: Roald Dahl

Illustrator: Quentin Blake

First published in 1980 by Jonathan Cape, London.

Target age group: 6-10 yrs

Sample quotes of reviews: “Dahl’s wicked sense of humor is given full scope in this story … children … will lap this up” – Practical Parenting “The Twits is really good because it’s silly and a bit disgusting” – 8-year old reader

Narrative Point Of View

aaWhat a lot of hairy-faced men there

are nowadays.

Style:Words Alliteration and Creation of

new words:

I'll swash you to a swizzle! I’ll gnash you to a gnozzle! I’ll gnosh you to a

gnazzle!

“Giant Skillywiggle

r”

“Roly-Poly Bird”

“Muggle-Wump the Monkey”

Style:Sentences

Come on, come on! Jump on the table!

Stand on the chairs! Hop on each other’s shoulders! Roly-Poly can do it flying! Don’t standing there gaping!

Style:Dialogue

I always grow plenty of spiky

thistles and stinging-nettles, they help keep out nasty nosy

children.

I’ll wring your necks, the

whole lot of you, and have you

bubbling in the pot for Bird Pie before the day

is out!

Tone:Humor

Exaggeration

Absurdity

Comic Violence

Tone:Didacticism

If a person has ugly thoughts it begins to show

on their face.

If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and

you will always look lovely.

References Dahl, Roald. The Twits. New York: Puffin

Books, 1980. Print.

Nodelman, Perry, and Mavis Reimer. The Pleasures of Children’s Literature. 3rd ed.

Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2003. Print.

Russel, David L. Literature for Children: A Short Introduction. 6th ed. Boston:

Pearson, 2009. Print.

“Roald Dahl” 1995-2009. Penguin Books Ltd. Web. 2 May 2009.

Wikipedia contributors. "The Twits." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 19 May. 2010. Web. 29 May. 2010.

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