Miss Susie Had a Steamboat: A Critical Analysis of a Schoolyard Rhyme.
In my essay, I have discussed how the metrical structure of the rhyme allows the person reciting to sneak up on a taboo word and delight in "almost" swearing. I then discussed how although meter has remained true, the successive endings have picked up more imagery and a narrower type of taboo, namely that newer rhymes mirror children's curiosity about sex. Lastly, I want to focus on the fact that the rhymes are usually recited by women, and because of this gender divison, they have served as a unifying entity for young women.
(via leuschke.org)
