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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
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Study Guide
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Study Questions
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How would you describe each of the following? |
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Alice |
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Bill |
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The Caterpillar |
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The Cheshire Cat |
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The Duchess |
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The Gryphon |
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The King of Hearts |
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The Mad Hatter |
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The March Hare |
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The Mock Turtle |
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The Pigeon |
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The Queen of Hearts |
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The White Rabbit |
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What people, or types of person, do you find
represented (perhaps satirically) in Wonderland?
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Is Wonderland more than just an amusing story?
If so, what do you believe its purpose to be?
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Do you find plausible the claim that the various characters
in Wonderland represent various aspects of Alice's personality?
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How would you describe the writing style of Wonderland?
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What characteristics of Wonderland distinguish it
from other pieces of children's literature that you know?
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Considering that Wonderland is a work that both
portrays and is written for children, how would you characterize Carroll's
views about children?
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What do you think are Carroll's best puns?
What other examples of word play do you find?
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What are some examples of more serious problems that appear
in Wonderland?
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Carroll's Descriptions, in "Alice on the Stage" (written in 1887), of Three Characters
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Alice.
What wert thou, dream-Alice, in thy foster-father's eyes? How shall he
picture thee? Loving, first, loving and gentle: loving as a dog (forgive
the prosaic simile, but I know no earthly love so pure and perfect), and
gentle as a fawn: then courteous--courteous to all, high or low, grand or
grotesque, King or Caterpillar, even as though she were herself a King's
daughter, and her clothing of wrought gold: then trustful, ready to accept
the wildest impossibilities with all that utter trust that only dreamers
know; and lastly, curious--wildly curious, and with the eager enjoyment
of Life that comes only in the happy hours of childhood, when all is new
and fair, and when Sin and Sorrow are but names--empty words signifying
nothing!
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The White Rabbit.
And the White Rabbit, what of him? Was he framed on the 'Alice' lines, or
meant as a contrast? As a contrast, distinctly. For her 'youth',
'audacity', 'vigour', and `swift directness of purpose', read 'elderly',
'timid', 'feeble', and 'nervously shilly-shallying', and you will get
something of what I meant him to be. I think the White Rabbit should wear
spectacles. I am sure his voice should quaver, and his knees quiver, and
his whole air suggest a total inability to say 'Bo' to a goose!
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The Queen of Hearts.
I pictured to myself the Queen of Hearts as a sort of
embodiment of ungovernable passion--a blind and aimless Fury.
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