AINW
AINW
2022-2023
SUBJECT: ENGLISH LITERATURE GRADE – VI DIV- A/B/C DATE: 10 Feb, 2023
Alice
Alice is reasonable, well-trained, and polite. From the start, she is a miniature,
middle-class Victorian "lady." Considered in this way, she is the perfect foil,
counterpoint, or contrast, for all the unsocial, bad-mannered eccentrics whom she
meets in Wonderland. Alice's constant resource and strength is her courage. Time
and again, her dignity, her directness, her conscientiousness, and her art of
conversation all fail her. But when the chips are down, Alice reveals something to the
Queen of Hearts — that is: spunk! Indeed, Alice has all the Victorian virtues,
including a quaint capacity for rationalization; yet it is Alice's common sense that
makes the quarrelsome Wonderland creatures seem perverse in spite of what they
consider to be their "adult" identities.
Certainly, Alice fits no conventional stereotype; she is neither angel nor a brat. She
simply has an overwhelming curiosity, but it is matched by restraint and moderation.
She is balanced in other ways, too. To control her growth and shrinking, she only
"samples" the cake labeled "EAT ME." And never is there a hint that she would seek
to use her size advantage to control her fate and set dictatorial rules of behavior for
Wonderland. The Caterpillar takes offense when she complains of being three inches
tall. And the Duchess is unreasonable, coarse, and brutal. But in each case, their
veneer of "civility" is either irrational or transparent.
The Caterpillar finds mirth in teasing Alice with his pointed, formal, verb games, and
the rude Duchess mellows into a corrupt "set of silly rules." Yet, behind their
playfulness, Alice senses resentment and rage. It is not so much that Alice is kept
"simple" so as to throw into relief the monstrous aspects of Wonderland characters.
Rather, it is that Alice, as she conceives of her personality in a dream, sees herself
as simple, sweet, innocent, and confused.
Some critics feel that Alice's personality and her waking life are reflected in
Wonderland; that may be the case. But the story itself is independent of Alice's "real
world." Her personality, as it were, stands alone in the story, and it must be
considered in terms of the Alice character in Wonderland.
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A strong moral consciousness operates in all of Alice's responses to Wonderland,
yet on the other hand, she exhibits a child's insensitivity in discussing her cat Dinah
with the frightened Mouse in the pool of tears. Generally speaking, Alice's simplicity
owes a great deal to Victorian feminine passivity and repressive domestication.
Slowly, in stages, Alice's reasonableness, her sense of responsibility, and her other
good qualities will emerge in her journey through Wonderland and, especially, in the
trial scene. Her list of virtues is long: curiosity, courage, kindness, intelligence,
courtesy, humor, dignity, and a sense of justice. She is even "maternal" with the
pig/baby. But her constant and universal human characteristic is simple wonder —
something which all children (and the child that still lives in most adults) can easily
identify with.
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Alice
An adventurous, spunky, and levelheaded seven-year-old who jumps into a dream world, Alice
finds herself constantly confronted by characters who say things that make no sense and do
things she knows are impossible. Alice does her best to stay grounded and polite with each new
encounter—a hard task, considering she changes size so often that she's not always sure she's
the same person. Although she sometimes gives way to emotion, she becomes braver and more
assertive as her adventure continues. She learns to stand up for herself, and at the story's end,
she stands up for a character who's being treated unfairly. She even defies a queen before
returning to her own world.
White Rabbit
At the beginning of the book, the White Rabbit races past Alice on his hind legs, checking his
pocket watch and muttering anxiously. Alice chases him down a rabbit hole and finds herself in
Wonderland. Readers never learn much about the White Rabbit, but because he's the first
Wonderland creature readers meet, and because he reappears occasionally, he's an important
character.
Queen of Hearts
An animated playing card, the Queen of Hearts is Alice's main antagonist. In fact, the Queen is
nasty to everyone she meets. She's like a walking volcano, always erupting with fury, and her
favorite command is "Off with his head!" (or "her head," in Alice's case). Sensible characters like
the Gryphon realize that the Queen never actually succeeds at getting her opponents beheaded,
though she terrifies many of her subjects. The Queen's mood never changes; it's always pitched
at the same level of rage. But Alice realizes that the Queen has no power over her. When Alice
defies the Queen at the trial of the Knave of Hearts, Alice's own trial in Wonderland immediately
comes to an end.
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Duchess
The Duchess is a milder version of the Queen. When Alice meets her, the Duchess is alternately
cradling and shaking a howling baby. Suddenly, she casually tosses the baby to Alice and
leaves. A few minutes later, the baby turns into a pig and walks away. Alice next meets the
Duchess at the royal croquet game, where the Duchess is more friendly. As she and Alice chat,
the Duchess finds a moral in every topic and practically every sentence. None of the morals
make any sense, but the Duchess is proud of them.
Hatter
With the March Hare and the Dormouse, the Hatter presides over a long tea table set with
dozens of empty chairs. He's rather uncivil to Alice, informing her that she needs a haircut and
asking her to solve a riddle that doesn't have an answer. He bafflingly explains that the previous
March, he "murdered the time" (sang off the beat) and that time punished him by stopping the
clock at six o'clock in the evening, so that it's always teatime.
The Mad Hatter is an eccentric host, a lover of riddles and wordplay and gives Alice a
challenging time at his tea party, scolding and berating her. Time has frozen at six o’clock for the
Hatter, so he lives in perpetual tea-time.
Caterpillar
When Alice meets the Caterpillar, he's sitting on top of a mushroom and smoking a hookah. He
contradicts everything Alice says, but he does make her think. He also tells her that eating from
one side of the mushroom will make her grow taller and eating from the other side will shrink her.
After that, Alice is better able to control her size.
Cheshire Cat
The Cheshire Cat is one of the few characters who's moderately pleasant with Alice. He appears
and disappears without warning, but when he's around, he listens to her sympathetically.
However, he's disconcertingly sure that he, Alice, and everyone else in Wonderland are insane.
Another disconcerting feature of the Cheshire Cat is that he can disappear gradually, leaving only
his smile floating in the air.
Bill
Bill is a bedraggled lizard who first shows up when the White Rabbit asks him to see who's
plugging up his house; later, as a juror, he writes on his slate with his finger.
Cook
The Cook, a temperamental woman, rules the kitchen in the Duchess’s household. She is seen
cooking with huge amounts of pepper in the Duchess’s kitchen and makes everybody sneeze.
She has an awful temper and flies into a rage for no reason.
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Dodo
The Dodo climbs out of the pool of tears and shows Alice and the other wet swimmers how to get
warm and dry by running around haphazardly (the Dodo calls this a Caucus-race). He is solemn
and loves a ceremony, as we see when he nominates Alice to donate the prizes for the race
winners and bows low to her in gratitude when presenting a prize to her.
Dormouse
The Dormouse is one of the three characters Alice meets at the tea party; it can barely keep itself
awake and sometimes drifts off mid-sentence. He is the sleepy friend of the mad Hatter and
Hare. He lives on the tea table and is a renowned storyteller, though his stories are often quite
nonsensical and quick, since he has to hurry to finish them before he falls asleep again.
Duchess’s Baby
The Baby may not actually be the Duchess's child; all Alice knows for sure is that it turns into a
pig and wanders away.
Gardeners
The three Gardeners work for the Queen of Hearts, who orders them beheaded when she
catches them painting white roses red. Alice rescues them by hiding them in a flower pot.
Gryphon
Half eagle and half lion, the Gryphon is a mythical creature, is brisk, and cheerful who introduces
Alice to the Mock Turtle. Reminiscing about his school days by the sea and the Lobster Quadrille
makes him very excited and he loves showing off his expertise about Whitings and rhymes.
King of Hearts
The King of Hearts is mild-mannered, timid, and terrified of his wife. The King of Hearts is the
slightly calmer companion of the Queen of Hearts, reigning over Wonderland, but is a servant to
the Queen’s violent whims. He ineffectually takes on the role of Judge in the palace court.
Knave of Hearts
A member of the royal family, the Knave of Hearts is put on trial for stealing tarts. He has been
accused by the Queen of Hearts of stealing her tarts. A trial is held, but he is not given much of a
chance to defend himself between the nonsensical testimonies of the Hatter, the Cook and Alice.
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March Hare
The March Hare is one of the three characters at the tea party. A hare that has been mad since
March, when the Hatter sang out-of-time at the Queen’s concert. He enjoys frustrating Alice , for
example offering her wine when there isn’t any.
Mock Turtle
The Mock Turtle is a sad tortoise with a calf’s head who sobs all the time.
Mouse
Alice meets the Mouse when both of them are swimming in a pool of tears; the Mouse is painfully
insulted when Alice mentions her cat. A weary creature that Alice meets and befriends him but
her mentions of Dinah, the expert mouse-catcher, greatly offends him. He eventually agrees to
tell her his story, which is about a judge-like cat named Fury.
Pigeon
The Pigeon meets Alice in the woods and is absolutely convinced Alice is a serpent out to steal
her eggs.
The terrified subjects of the Queen of Hearts’ palace. They are gardeners, courtiers, soldiers and
other royal guests, who live in fear of beheadings ordered by the Queen, even though they are
made of cardboard. She appears at the very beginning and very end of Alice’s adventure. She is
reading at the bank when Alice drifts into her dream and when Alice wakes up, she kindly listens
to her long adventure story, and daydreams more knowingly about Wonderland herself,
contemplating how Alice will soon grow up.
Alice’s Sister
She appears at the very beginning and very end of Alice’s adventure. She is reading at the bank
when Alice drifts into her dream and when Alice wakes up, she kindly listens to her long
adventure story, and daydreams more knowingly about Wonderland herself, contemplating how
Alice will soon grow up.
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The Playing Cards
The terrified subjects of the Queen of Hearts’ palace. They are gardeners, courtiers, soldiers and
other royal guests, who live in fear of beheadings ordered by the Queen, even though they are
made of cardboard.
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Alice’s sense of how life should be, how she, as a child, has been taught about life,
can be seen in the stories she tells, which are full of goodness, love and affection.
Whenever she meets a character that challenges her or appears rude, she recites
the lessons and proverbial phrases that she has overheard in the classroom and
from her parents. “`You should learn not to make personal remarks,'” says Alice to
the Hatter. In this way, Alice’s Wonderland allows her to be both child and adult at
the same time – she tests out her authority and expertise in just the way her parents
and teachers must tell her what to do, but at the same time she is forced to confront
the fact that people, adults, do make personal remarks (along with other things she
has been taught are bad.)
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The adults in Alice in Wonderland order Alice around and give her advice and act
like they are wise, but their orders are ridiculous and often cruel (like the Queen
shouting at Alice about her impertinence when Alice is only being logical, their
lectures are dry and boring, and sometimes their stories are both tragic and
completely irrational, such as that of the Mock-Turtle). The “adults” of Wonderland
show themselves to be less trustworthy, less good, than adults should be from the
point of view of an innocent child. Further, the adults can be violent. In the Duchess’
house, Alice hears the Duchess say “Off with her head” and thinks nothing of it, amid
the absurd cooking rituals of the cook and the howling of the pig-baby. But as the
dream goes on, this threat of beheading, of killing, becomes more real as it is
spouted and over and over within the context of the ridiculous trial of the Queen of
Hearts. The contradictions and inconsistencies of the adult world with how adults
have told Alice she should behave is hereby revealed to not just be something that’s
funny and ridiculous (though it is that), it is also frightening and dangerous. The
context of Wonderland allows Carrol to explore these ideas in a safe space of a
“dream,” but by creating such a space it allows him to explore those ideas more fully
than he could in a realistic novel.
egs—1- Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much
larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and looked along the passage into the loveliest
garden you ever saw. How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about
among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains, but she could not even
get her head though the doorway.
2- “It was much pleasanter at home,' thought poor Alice, 'when one wasn't always
growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and rabbits. I almost
wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit-hole--and yet--and yet--it's rather curious, you
know, this sort of life!”
3- 'But who is to give the prizes?' quite a chorus of voices asked. 'Why, SHE, of
course,' said the Dodo, pointing to Alice with one finger; and the whole party at once
crowded round her, calling out in a confused way, 'Prizes! Prizes!'
4- 'But if I'm not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, THAT'S
the great puzzle!' And she began thinking over all the children she knew that were of
the same age as herself, to see if she could have been changed for any of them.
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Dreams and Reality
Alice in Wonderland is a dream world, full of curiousness, confusion and talking
animals. Everything is a little off. This can be delightful and fund, but it can also
create a menacing atmosphere that threatens to turn the story from a child’s story of
adventure and nonsense to something more like a nightmare, though it never quite
does tip into true nightmare.
What is perhaps even more interesting, though, is the way that the ridiculous dream
world of Wonderland comments or parodies the real world. Wonderland is full of
misunderstanding, of meaninglessness, of pointless races, pompous characters,
maudlin stories or reminiscences without purpose, and is further full of commands
from leaders that make absolutely no sense and are based on pure vanity and
cluelessness. Its residents mainly just want to get by and survive and maybe have a
good time. Its justice is often laughably faulty. In other words, as a child growing up
might realize as the curtains on the adult and "real" world fall away, Wonderland isn't
actually so different from that real world. The real world may be less exaggerated in
its arbitrary rules and adult nonsense, crookedness, cowardice, and venality, but it
has such traits in equal measure, and in many ways the cruelty of the real world is
greater. Wonderland, then, because it is a ridiculous dream, becomes a lace where
Alice can begin to navigate the real world without, yet, having to actually face that
real world.
Egs—1- Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much
larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and looked along the passage into the loveliest
garden you ever saw. How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about
among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains, but she could not even
get her head though the doorway.
This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly,
'I--I hardly know, sir, just at present-- at least I know who I WAS when I got up this
morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.'
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3- She stretched herself up on tiptoe, and peeped over the edge of the mushroom,
and her eyes immediately met those of a large caterpillar, that was sitting on the top
with its arms folded, quietly smoking a long hookah, and taking not the smallest
notice of her or of anything else.
4- “It was much pleasanter at home,' thought poor Alice, 'when one wasn't always
growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and rabbits. I almost
wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit-hole--and yet--and yet--it's rather curious, you
know, this sort of life!”
When the Mouse in the Caucus-race scene misunderstands Alice and leaves her,
offended, Alice is left alone and disoriented – this happens a lot with the characters
in Wonderland. Alice’s journey is fraught with misunderstandings and offences due to
language. Her inability to recite rhymes that she used to know by heart warn her that
adulthood might be a less musical, comfortable place—or that she has ceased to be
herself, as she no longer knows what she once did. And so words and meaning
becomes tied up with the idea of the self, of who a person is.
The entire narrative has a verse-like quality because it is so packed with rhymes and
recognizable phrases that should be set to tunes. But while in a traditional children’s
song or rhyme, the moral or message is clear, in Wonderland, nonsense rules and it
is difficult to attach meaning, consequence, or moral to almost anything. The Mad
Hatter is especially affected by this condition of meaninglessness and he is also one
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of the most wordy of the characters, constantly assessing his own and others’
grammar and syntax to challenge the received meanings of language.
egs– 1- 'I HAVE tasted eggs, certainly,' said Alice, who was a very truthful child; 'but little
'I don't believe it,' said the Pigeon; 'but if they do, why then they're a kind of serpent,
2- 'If everybody minded their own business,' the Duchess said in a hoarse growl, 'the
3- 'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad. ''How
'You must be,' said the Cat, 'or you wouldn't have come here.'
4- 'Your hair wants cutting,' said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time
'You should learn not to make personal remarks,' Alice said with some severity; 'it's very
rude.'
5- 'If you knew Time as well as I do,' said the Hatter, 'you wouldn't talk about wasting IT.
It's HIM.'
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as being Mabel or Ada. She then puzzles over the meaning of ‘I’. Such a
fundamental question of existence and identity is huge for a child to ponder, and it
casts quite an uneasy shadow over Alice’s movements through Wonderland. Her
identity changes with each new scene and collection of characters, each questioning
her and her authority, just as she herself does. The first thing the Caterpillar says to
Alice is “Who are YOU?” and she is trying to find a consistent answer to this question
the whole way through the story. Just as in life, the prospect of growing up and
becoming someone different is threatening her sense of self and her vision of
everything around her.
Questioning the nature of being also inevitably brings up the question of not being. In
Wonderland, though absurdity and confusion abound, death still looms in a real way.
Just as in Alice’s life as a well-off rather sheltered child, the idea of death is both ever
present, but shadowy and distant at the same time – a constant terrifying threat that
never quite materializes… yet.
egs–1- 'What a curious feeling!' said Alice; 'I must be shutting up like a telescope .'
2- 'But if I'm not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, THAT'S the
great puzzle!' And she began thinking over all the children she knew that were of the
same age as herself, to see if she could have been changed for any of them.
3- 'Who are YOU?' said the Caterpillar. This was not an encouraging opening for a
conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, 'I--I hardly know, sir, just at present-- at least I
know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed
4- 'I HAVE tasted eggs, certainly,' said Alice, who was a very truthful child; 'but little girls
eat eggs quite as much as serpents do, you know.' 'I don't believe it,' said the Pigeon;
'but if they do, why then they're a kind of serpent, that's all I can say.'
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5- The players all played at once without waiting for turns, quarrelling all the while, and
fighting for the hedgehogs; and in a very short time the Queen was in a furious passion,
and went stamping about, and shouting 'Off with his head!' or 'Off with her head!' about
once in a minute.
6- 'Oh, I've had such a curious dream!' said Alice, and she told her sister, as well as she
could remember them, all these strange Adventures of hers that you have just been
reading about; and when she had finished, her sister kissed her, and said, 'It WAS a
curious dream, dear, certainly: but now run in to your tea; it's getting late.'
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PLOT
A young girl named Alice sits bored by a riverbank, where she suddenly spots a White
Rabbit with a pocket watch and waistcoat lamenting that he is late. The surprised
Alice follows him down a rabbit hole, which sends her down a lengthy plummet but
to a safe landing. Inside a room with a table, she finds a key to a tiny door, beyond
which is a beautiful garden. As she ponders how to fit through the door, she
discovers a bottle reading "Drink me". Alice hesitantly drinks a portion of the bottle's
contents, and to her astonishment, she shrinks small enough to enter the door.
However, she had left the key upon the table and is unable to reach it. Alice then
discovers and eats a cake, which causes her to grow to a tremendous size. As the
unhappy Alice bursts into tears, the passing White Rabbit flees in a panic, dropping a
fan and pair of gloves. Alice uses the fan for herself, which causes her to shrink once
more and leaves her swimming in a pool of her own tears. Within the pool, Alice
meets a variety of animals and birds, who convene on a bank and engage in a
"Caucus Race" to dry themselves. Following the end of the race, Alice inadvertently
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The White Rabbit appears in search of the gloves and fan. Mistaking Alice for his
maidservant, the White Rabbit orders Alice to go into his house and retrieve them.
Alice finds another bottle and drinks from it, which causes her to grow to such an
extent that she gets stuck within the house. The White Rabbit and his neighbors
attempt several methods to extract her, eventually taking to hurling pebbles that turn
into small cakes. Alice eats one and shrinks herself, allowing her to flee into the
Amidst the Caterpillar's questioning, Alice begins to admit to her current identity
crisis, compounded by her inability to remember a poem. Before crawling away, the
Caterpillar tells her that a bite of one side of the mushroom will make her larger,
while a bite from the other side will make her smaller. During a period of trial and
error, Alice's neck extends between the treetops, frightening a pigeon who mistakes
her for a serpent. After shrinking to an appropriate height, Alice arrives at the home
of a Duchess, who owns a perpetually grinning Cheshire Cat. The Duchess's baby,
whom she hands to Alice, transforms into a piglet, which Alice releases into the
woods. The Cheshire Cat appears to Alice and directs her toward the Hatter and
March Hare before disappearing, leaving his grin behind. Alice finds the Hatter,
March Hare, and a sleepy Dormouse in the midst of an absurd tea party. The Hatter
explains that it is always 6 pm (tea time), claiming that time is standing still as
punishment for the Hatter trying to "kill it". A strange conversation ensues around the
table, and the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" is brought forward.
Eventually, Alice impatiently decides to leave, dismissing the affair as "the stupidest
Noticing a door on one of the trees, Alice passes through and finds herself back in
the room from the beginning of her journey. She is able to take the key and use it to
open the door to the garden, which turns out to be the croquet court of the Queen of
Hearts, whose guard consists of living playing cards. Alice participates in a croquet
game, in which hedgehogs are used as balls, flamingos are used as mallets, and
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soldiers act as gates. The Queen proves to be short-tempered, and she constantly
orders beheadings. When the Cheshire Cat appears as only a head, the Queen orders
his beheading, only to be told that such an act is impossible. Because the cat
belongs to the Duchess, Alice prompts the Queen to release the Duchess from prison
to resolve the matter. When the Duchess ruminates on finding morals in everything
Alice then meets a Gryphon and a weeping Mock Turtle, who dance to the Lobster
Quadrille while Alice recites (rather incorrectly) "'Tis the Voice of the Lobster". The
Mock Turtle sings them "Beautiful Soup" during which the Gryphon drags Alice away
for an impending trial, in which the Knave of Hearts stands accused of stealing the
Queen's tarts. The trial is ridiculously conducted by the King of Hearts, and the jury is
composed of various animals that Alice had previously met. Alice gradually grows in
irrationality of the proceedings. The Queen finally commands Alice's beheading, but
Alice scoffs that the Queen's guard is only a pack of cards. Although Alice holds her
own for a time, the card guards soon gang up and start to swarm all over her. Alice's
sister wakes her up from a dream, brushing what turns out to be some leaves from
Alice's face. Alice leaves her sister on the bank to imagine all the curious happenings
for herself.
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