Alice in Wonderland Reading Log Essay

The original title of this novel being Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, provides an episodic of short stories of her adventures instead of just one long adventure throughout the novel. This holds up throughout the novel as each chapter is usually a different adventure or â€Å"story†. The title can also foreshadow that the novel will not take place in normal reality and in fact in â€Å"Wonderland† although Alice never does find out the true name of the world she dreamt of. The word â€Å"Wonderland† only appears until the last two pages of the novel when Alice’s sister reflects on Alice’s dream. 2. What are the conflicts in Alice in Wonderland? What types of conflict (physical, moral, intellectual, or emotional)? The most prominent intellectual conflict in Alice in Wonderland is her ability to make sense of the nonsensical world she is in. She often has a struggle interacting with the other characters as shown from the beginning when she is talking to the mouse and the birds. She mistakenly brings up her cat which leads the other animals to run off. Throughout the book Alice faces a moral conflict as she tries to interact with each character in a normal manner instead of embracing the madness and going along with it. Another easy conflict to detect is her physical conflict with The Red Queen as she wants to execute Alice. Alice faces a moral conflict while dealing with The Red Queen when she points out that flamingos are not a fair way to play crotchet. 3. What are some themes in the story? The main theme I found throughout the book was meaning. Alice always has to question meaning. The strange world of Wonderland does not often have meaning so the consequences that follow meaningless actions prevents Alice from understanding the values in Wonderland. The beginning and end show a good example of the contrast as everyone is a winner of the caucus race and no one besides The Red Queen is a winner. This can applied to real life as often times everyone over or under analyse a certain situation which leads to a downfall. In order to be safe, a certain measure of practicality needs to be accounted for. 4. What are some symbols in Alice in Wonderland? Alice growing and shrinking can be a symbol of her age/mental growth as she finds herself in situations in which she needs to be more or less mature such as dealing with the mad hatter she can afford to be less mature and when in the presence of The Red Queen, she needs to be cautious of her actions. The Red Queen can be symbolic of the Queen of England considering Lewis Carroll’s family was predominantly English. Her playing card henchmen can be the British Soldiers. Time is a constant symbol throughout the novel and can be shown through the Rabbit. He comes in and out of the novel and shows just how fast time goes when kept busy. The garden can be a symbolism for desire, as often times desires are the greatest battles for human beings. Alice never does reach the garden but remains a desire for hers that she never does reach. The setting of each chapters changes so frequently, symbolizing the mentality to move on. When life changes, the only way to succeed is to adjust and maintain composure.5. Is Alice consistent in her actions? Is she a fully developed character? How? Why? Alice is not a fully developed character because she is unable to accept life in Wonderland. She cries when things dont go work out, and continues to seek sense in man Wonderland. An example of this can be displayed through her interaction with the caterpillar when she tries to explain to him what is wrong, instead of trying to enjoy herself in Wonderland. She is not consistent in her actions. For example, she quickly listened to the rabbit and tried to help him find his gloves without asking a question. Then right after, she questions everything the caterpillar says. 6. Does Alice change and/or develop as a human being? Alice changes with her confidence. In the beginning she is more concerned with being herself but quickly questions if she is her friends. Since then, she goes back and forth trying to figure out who she is, which can be symbolized by physical growth going up and down. 7. How does Alice relate to other characters in the book? Alice relates to the other characters in the book as to her there are mad, and to them, Alice is the mad one. Throughout the book she becomes angry which relates to the characters inconsistent temper. If Alice had more time in Wonderland, I believe she would quickly learn how to relate. 8. Which character would you like to meet? I would like to meet the Mad Hatter because I would try to come up with ridiculous riddles and sayings to try and confuse him. I would try to out mad him and see what would happen. 9. What is the central/primary purpose of the story? Is the purpose important or meaningful? The purpose of the story from Carrolls eyes was to give Alice Liddell something interesting to read. I would say that is meaningful and important because a child’s imagination is something to encourage and inspire. 10. How does Carroll use poetry in this novel? Why? Carroll uses poetry to satirize common poems of the time. He also uses poetry to emphasize the nonsense going on at the time. Most of the poetry in the novel dont serve a specific purpose to the storyline or events taken place. 11. What is the significance of the garden? The garden can be a symbolism of desire as Alice never reaches the forbidden garden. The garden can also be a symbolism of the Garden of Eden, as no one is pure enough to reach it. Since this novel is meant for a child, Carrol may be saying that even a child is not fully pure. 12. Traditionally, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass are considered stories for children. What do you think? I think these stories are meant for children in that they give a child the fantasy and adventure that they love to hear about, but considering Carroll’s abstract and brilliant mind, I believe he added certain symbolism and allusion that an adult mind can detect. 13. Since their publication, some readers have found material in Carroll’s book unsuitable for children. Are parts of the Alice books unfit for or harmful to children today? I do not believe there is any material that is unsuitable for children. It can argued that The Red Queens request for Alices execution can be startling for children, but because Alice does not die and the characters in charge of her execution are only playing cards, children can remain at ease in the end. To most children, this story is just a description of a girls adventure through Wonderland. 14. Alice Liddell, the model for Carroll’s heroine, was a young child when these stories were first told. Although a child in the story, Alice often exhibits mature characteristics, and the adult characters often exhibit childish behavior. Do you consider this book to be an adult’s view of childhood, or a child’s view of adulthood? I think this story is a childs view on adulthood. Alice often believes she is smarter than she may appear, which is common among children growing up wishing they can have more freedom and more privileges. Also, as a growing child, adult like figures are often confusing, which Alice experiences with everything in Wo nderland. 15. Alice rarely speaks nonsense and rarely enjoys it when it is spoken to her. In fact, her speech and manners are as proper as those of any Jane Austen heroine. How is Alice’s perception of the world changed when confronted with the world and characters of nonsense? Alice does not realize to accept the nonsense that is Wonderland and tries to stay fair, as shown with her crochet game with The Red Queen. Over time she learns to accept things that are not always in her hands. As she wakes up from the dream she notices the similarities between Wonderland and the real world which can be interpreted as her acceptance that things in Wonderland can relate to the real world in which she knows now to not always have to be incontrol. 16. The Cheshire Cat suggests that everything Alice experiences in Wonderland is a dream or the result of madness. Besides the obvious absurdities in imagery, what other aspects of these books mimic a dream state? Alice talking to objects and animals like humans mimic a dream state. The order of life is different in Wonderland as well, in order to stay â€Å"sane†, you must accept that there is no sense. 17. â€Å"Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves.† This play on the proverb â€Å"Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves† is a good example of Carroll’s word play. Often these word plays end up with a nonsensical locution, but at other times, they create a completely different, often subversive, meaning. What effect does this word play have on the story as a whole? This is an example of wordplay that is similar in that the author is explaining how Wonderland works. One must think irrationally to be rational in the Wonderland world. Once this is accomplished, the sounds will begin to make sense. In the metaphor, they are talking about sense and sounds. Sense is being action, and sounds is being how the person s ays it. The literal translation of the metaphor can be used to mean that taking away the smaller amount of money, pounds, or in relation to dollars, will be more valuable. 18. Throughout her adventures, Alice grapples with her identity. What philosophical issues about identity does Alice raise? Throughout her adventures, Alice wasn’t sure who she was. In the beginning she hoped she had not turned into one of her friends because she thought since she could not grasp the reality of Wonderland, she was not smart enough to. She did not want to return to the real world if she was not herself showing that when you’re not able to live life as who you really are, it is not entirely worth it. The rabbit thought she was something else other than a little girl and the pigeon thought that she was snake. These occurrences show how hard it is to have people know exactly who you are, and people often are mistaken and not recognized for who they truly are. The characters in Wonderland were very confused with who she was, because she was new. She struggled to find where she was and who she was. 19. Alice usually exhibits a passivity to the incomprehensible events around her. However, at critical times, she learns to assume control of her circumstances. What message does that send to the reader? This message teaches the reader to be patient and practical. When things don’t go a certain way, it is easy to succum to emotion and feel as if there is no way to come back. Alice learning to control herself shows that everyone is in control of themselves and do not have to feel overwhelmed. 20. Give an example of Alice being passive and example of Alice in which she is in control. Alice is passive when the chef is throwing kitchenware at her because she doesn’t know how to defend herself and has to change the subject to stop him from harming her and the baby. Alice was in control when she realizes that she can control Wonderland by waking up, it is merely a dream. 21. What is the significance of the mushroom that Alice eats during her adventures? One side of the mushroom allows Alice to grow or shrink, however she does not know which side is which. Once Alice gets some pieces of the mushroom she is able to control her size. As a result of her gaining some control, which she also gains in confidence and is more able to assert herself against the all the difficulties she encounters throughout her adventure. 22. Let’s assume that in Lewis Carroll’s original telling of these stories, he viewed himself as a teacher/mentor to Alice Liddell. How do the ways in which the fictional Alice adapts to her shifting and unusual circumstances translate into meaningful lessons for a child of Alice Liddell’s age? Alices adventures translate lessons that whenever a child faces challenges, they can never give up. She teaches patience and to not get overwhelmed. These meaningful lessons children can learn for life and adapt to their own life through their own challenges. 23. Does the story end the way you expected? How? Why? The story does not end how I expected because I imagined Alice finding a physical way out of Wonderland, such as another hole in the landscape. Considering how shifty the rest of the book had been, it made sense that Alice would wake up so abruptly. 24. What is the significance of the Queen of Hearts? She is in control of Wonderland even though she is only the queen and her husband the king of hearts should be the true ruler of wonderland. However, he is scared of the queen. The queen represents Alice’s mom because the queen is always telling everyone what to do, such as mother character. The queen is a caricature of Queen Victoria, both strong and tough rulers who everyone feared. metaphor can be used to mean that taking away the smaller amount of money, pounds, or in relation to dollars, will be more valuable.