What Are Little Girls Made of?

 

Level: TBD

Aims: Exposure to English culture, dictionary lookup skills, vocabulary development

Grammar: No grammar aims here

Time: 20-30 minutes

Materials: Photocopies of the rhymes, dictionary

 

Introduction: What Are Little Girls Made of? is a traditional rhyme of the English world. It’s interesting for its propagation of traditional gender roles. The rhyme supposes that girls and boys are fundamentally different; that they are “made of” different things. In contemporary America and England, this supposition is no longer held to be true.

The students will be given photocopies of the Text of the Rhyme. Using the Text of the Rhyme with Notes, go through the text. Follow this with the Discussion Questions.

 

 

Text of the Rhyme

 

What are little girls made of, made of?

What are little girls made of?

Sugar and spice and everything nice,

That’s what little girls are made of!

 

What are little boys made of, made of?

What are little boys made of?

Snips and snails and puppy-dog tails,

That’s what little boys are made of!

 

 

Text of the Rhyme with Notes

 

What are little girls made of, made of?

What are little girls made of?

Sugar and spice and everything nice,

That’s what little girls are made of!

 

What are little boys made of, made of?

What are little boys made of?

Snips and snails and puppy-dog tails,

That’s what little boys are made of!

 

 

Discussion Questions

  1. What does the rhyme mean when it asks what little boys and girls are “made of”? Who “makes” little boys and girls? This is probably a reference to the Christian God.
  2. What does the poem mean when it says little girls are made of “Sugar and spice and everything nice”? How does this suggest English girls are traditionally supposed to behave? Discuss the use of affectionate words in English that use the concept of “sweetness,” e.g., a father calling his daughter “Honey,” or a girlfriend calling his boyfriend “Sweetheart.”
  3. What does the poem mean when it says little boys are made of “Snips and snails and puppy-dog tails”? How does this suggest English boys are traditionally supposed to behave?