Nonsense in the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll"The "Toys" of Roland Barthes express the idea that French toys revolve around conventions, preparing children to become adults by allowing them to repeat normal adult activities without much imagination However, one only has to look in any modern toy store to see that today's American toys. focus more on imagination than imitation In contrast, children generally learn language based on conventions; some words have set meanings and some sounds mean nothing when put together. case? Is language limited by conventions and meaning? Wendy Steiner writes that language can be determined by both society and conventions (The Colors of Rhetoric 93). in Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There shows this paradox of language, requiring readers to use their imagination and gain a deeper understanding of the multiple uses of language. The poem illustrates Robert Frost's "sound of meaning" when he understands the general idea of ​​a conversation without ever uttering a clear word of it (Interview with Robert Frost 261). Readers can understand the “meaning” of Carroll’s poem without understanding every nonsensical word. Upon Alice's first encounter with the poem "Jabberwocky," she exclaims that it is in a language she does not know (Carroll 116). Upon closer examination, she realizes that she must look at the poem in a mirror. Likewise, Carroll's many syntactic and linguistic devices force readers to use their imagination and view the poem in an altered state. As Humpty Dumpty later explains to Alice, most words are portmanteaus, words made up of two meanings (164). Humpty explains that the word "brill... middle of paper...... the French toys that Barthes spoke of. It enters a world where imagination is not only encouraged, but required. It makes the unusual habitual. Whether Carroll's reader is a young child or an adult, the imaginative and unconventional ideology of nonsense and sound can be understood. The poem reminds readers not to limit the use of language and to imagine what seems impossible. Works Cited Barthes, Roland “Toys”. Mythologies. Trans. Annette Lavers New York: Hill and Wang, 1972 ed. Carroll, Lewis Ed. Donald J. Gray, 1992 ed. “…getting the sound of meaning.” Poetry and prose. Ed. Luthem and Thompson, 1972. Steiner, Wendy. The colors of rhetoric: problems in the relationship between modern literature and painting. University of Chicago P, 1982. 93.