The Gammage Cup - References To "Real World" Culture

References To "Real World" Culture

The book contains several clever references to our world in the things that Fooley brings back from his balloon ride.

  • The names of the periods are derived from common abbreviations (Ltd. means limited, Co. means county, Bros. means brothers, etc. (that's one too))
  • Paintings are family trees and family trees are paintings. This is because Fooley brought back a painting of a tree in front of a house and when the villagers matched the list written in Fooley's book with the things he had brought back they thought it was a family tree and they called the family tree a painting because it was the last thing left.
  • Fooley also brings back the poem Mary Had a Little Lamb and it is the prevailing opinion that something that doesn't follow its rhyme scheme and meter is not a poem but a scribble.

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