What is a Lipogram?

Read this...

This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious as to just how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so ordinary and plain that you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it. It is highly unusual though. Study it and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out. Try to do it without any coaching!

Any guesses?

I write this on the front board for my classes. I like to post riddles and puzzles for early finishers and this is a puzzle that really gets students thinking. The answer is that there is no letter "e" used in the paragraph. The letter e is the most commonly used letter in the English language. That is why this paragraph is so unusual. There is actually a name for this type of constrained writing. It is called a Lipogram. A lipogram is a longer peice of writing in which the author has avoided using a specific letter or a group of letters in the alphabet. It is a difficult task, especially when you are trying to avoid commonly used letters such as "e" "a" or "s".

Interesting fact...a writer named Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a novel called Gadsby with over 50000 words without using the letter "e" (Curiosity.com, 2017).

(https://s3.amazonaws.com/plugpolo/poloup/up/5/5fd/5fddb00b4f5b4589b0503172d6b56d9f/img1.jpg, 2017)

If you want to turn it into a creative writing activity, have students try to create their own lipogram. See what they can come up with!