Alice+in+Wonderland

ALICE IN WONDERLAND By: Lewis Carroll Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Literary Nonsense

__Author Biography __ Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (his pseudonym is Lewis Carroll) was born January 27, 1832, in Daresbury, Cheshire County, England. Besides writing //Alice in Wonderland//, Carroll also wrote //Through the Looking Glass//, other books, numerous essays, and even some poems. However, writing wasn’t his only talent. Charles also was quite good at photography. There are many rumors surrounding his photography because it is said that he took many pictures of young girls, some may even be nude ones of children. However, Charles was a very private man, keeping many secrets before and after his death, so it is hard to know if it is true or not. Despite the rumors, there is not doubt that Charles was a creative and imaginative writer, whose works have inspired many movies, plays, and other works of art. In the January of 1898, Charles died at his sister's home.



__Plot Synopsis__ Alice in Wonderland is a crazy story filled with unique characters and imaginative plot twists. Lewis Carroll begins the book with a young girl, Alice, getting bored of sitting around, while her sister reads a book with "no pictures or conversations in it" (Carroll 1). He then goes to describe how Alice sees a rabbit and decides to follow it down its hole. Then her adventures truly begin. She meets many colorful characters along the way, including: an easy to offend mouse, "a Duck and a Dodo, a Lory and an Eaglet" (Carroll 21), a helpful caterpillar, a smiling Cheshire cat, and the entire royal court - including a hard to please Queen (just to name a few!). Throughout the book, Alice learns many lessons. For example, both the Lory and the caterpillar tell her to control her temper, while the Gryphon teaches her to hold her tongue, and the Dutchess tells Alice, "Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it" (Carroll 97). The entire book is creative and unpredictable, especially the ending! media type="youtube" key="QgbntWU7pG8" height="405" width="500" Clip of Caterpillar talking to Alice, from Disney version of movie

__Criticism, If Possible __ Even though //Alice in Wonderland// is wildly entertaining, there are a few bad things about the book. The surplus of characters makes it hard to follow sometimes. Also, the plot can be confusing because it’s not a very logical story. Overall, though, it is still an outstanding book .

__Symbols ... Or Are They? __ If one were to look, they could probably find many symbols and themes in //Alice in Wonderland//. It is arguable that the book is about finding oneself and knowing who one is, some say it is about drugs, or it could even be about all the crazy adventures and unexplainable things that happen in life. However, I don’t think that’s what the true point of the book is. I think Lewis Carroll wanted to embrace his childhood and use his imagination. I think he dreamed up as many crazy things as possible, and turned them into a timeless book!

__ Outstanding? I Think So __ //Alice in Wonderland// is an outstanding book. It allows people to use their imagination and have some fun reading. It takes the reader on an adventure that they have never dared to take before. It makes one think, not because it uses hard words, but because it is complete nonsense. However, the nonsense is what makes it so wonderful. The nonsense allows one to smile and relax.

[|//List of Adaptations of Alice in Wonderland//]

media type="youtube" key="kkuvgxkcw2c" height="405" width="660" Most recent remake of //Alice in Wonderland//

“Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise” (Carroll 99).