The Word for World Is Forest by the Vietnam War, but was living in London when she wrote the novel, cut off from the anti-war movement she had been a part of in Oregon. Written in these circumstances, "The Word for World is Forest" became what Le Guin called a "preachment". She stated that writing the book was like "taking dictation from a boss with ulcers". She said that she had wanted to write about forests and dreaming, but that the "boss" had made her write instead about ecological destruction. Charlotte Spivack stated that the book was an "angry work", that ended on a note of
The Bart Wants What It Wants episode, Jean stated that the scene was written at a time when celebrity look-alikes were making "excellent livings". At one point in the episode, Bart and Greta are seen playing Scrabble, a word game manufactured by Hasbro. The music cue that plays before and after Skinner's comedy routine is based on the intro music from the American television sitcom "Seinfeld". The episode title is a reference to the common phrase "the heart wants what it wants". In its original American broadcast, "The Bart Wants What It Wants" received a 6.1 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, translating to approximately 6.4