Lewis Carroll

Alice in Wonderland (Poetry in Motion) Study Guide A Ballet Presented by State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara Sponsored by the Valley Performing Arts Council Janet M. Kelly [email protected] 1 Table of Contents 3 Letter to Educators 4-6 Biographical Information about Lewis Carroll 7 The “Real” Alice in Wonderland, Alice Liddel 8-10 Summary of the story “Alice in Wonderland” 11-12 State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara Ballet Information 13-14 “Jabberwocky” Poem and Activities 15-16 Characters in Alice in Wonderland Critical thinking about the symbolism of the characters 17-18 Poetry in Motion 19-20 “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane, Woodstock, 1969 A critical thinking exercise for older students 21 Bibliography 2 Dear Educators, State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara’s version of Alice in Wonderland is one of the most student friendly ballets I’ve witnessed. It is appropriate for very young students who will take the story literally. It is also appropriate for older students who may want to delve into the historical context, innuendo, and figurative nature of Alice in Wonderland. The costumes and choreography tell a wordless story so well that students who have never seen ballet will comprehend what the dancers are trying to convey. I’ve titled this Study Guide as “Poetry in Motion” because I found that movement can tell a story, or help interpret a poem, so the meaning of the writing is understandable for even the youngest student. This study guide has background information, and a variety of points-of-view that can appeal to young students as well as adults. Please use you discretion to select what is appropriate for your grade level. Common Core emphasizes critical thinking, and I have tried to imbed information that would lend itself to deep discussions for older students, and more literal interpretations for younger students. For all students, it is important to understand that ballet tells a story through movement and exaggeration of expression. There are no words. Even the music is relatively nondescript. But the choreography, and dancers’ skills, tell the story in a way words can’t. Valley Performing Arts Council hopes your students find joy in viewing Alice in Wonderland. If there is any way I can be of assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Janet Kelly Valley Performing Arts Council [email protected] 3 Lewis Carroll Author of Alice in Wonderland Synopsis Born on January 27, 1832 in Daresbury, Cheshire, England, Charles Dodgson wrote and created games as a child. At age 20 he received a studentship at Christ Church and was appointed a lecturer in mathematics. Dodgson was shy but enjoyed creating stories for children. His books including "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" were published under the pen name Lewis Carroll. Dodgson died in 1898. Early Life Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, best known by his pseudonym, Lewis Carroll, was born in the village of Daresbury, England, on January 27, 1832. The eldest boy in a family of 11 children, Carroll was rather adept at entertaining himself and his siblings. His father, a clergyman, raised them in the rectory. As a boy, Carroll excelled in mathematics and won many academic prizes. At age 20, he was awarded a studentship (called a scholarship in other colleges) to Christ College. Apart from serving as a lecturer in mathematics, he was an avid photographer and wrote essays, political pamphlets and poetry. "The Hunting of the Snark" displays his wonderful ability in the genre of literary nonsense. Alice and Literary Success Carroll suffered from a bad stammer, but he found himself vocally fluent when speaking with children. The relationships he had with young people in his adult years are of great interest, as they undoubtedly inspired his best-known writings and have been a point of disturbed 4 speculation over the years. Carroll loved to entertain children, and it was Alice, the daughter of Henry George Liddell, who can be credited with his pinnacle inspiration. Alice Liddell remembers spending many hours with Carroll, sitting on his couch while he told fantastic tales of dream worlds. During an afternoon picnic with Alice and her two sisters, Carroll told the first iteration of what would later become Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. When Alice arrived home, she exclaimed that he must write the story down for her. He fulfilled the small girl's request, and through a series of coincidences, the story fell into the hands of the novelist Henry Kingsley, who urged Carroll to publish it. The book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was released in 1865. It gained steady popularity, and as a result, Carroll wrote the sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1871). By the time of his death, Alice had become the most popular children's book in England, and by 1932 it was one of the most popular in the world. Photography and Legacy Besides writing, Carroll created a number of fine photographs. His notable portraits include those of the actress Ellen Terry and the poet Alfred Tennyson. He also photographed children in every possible costume and situation, eventually making nude studies of them. Despite conjecture, little real evidence of child abuse can be brought against him. Shortly before his 66th birthday, Lewis Carroll caught a severe case of influenza, which led to pneumonia. He died on January 14, 1898, leaving an enigma behind him. Poetry In addition to the plays that Carroll wrote and the scripts that he composed for his puppet theater, he also wrote poems, stories, and humorous sketches for his own "magazines." In his "Useful and Instructive Poetry" magazine, for example, a volume that was composed for a younger brother and a sister, he satirized a copybook of stern, dogmatic maxims (a typical Victorian children's book), and in this poem, he alluded to his own handicap: Learn well your grammar And never stammer. 5 Eat bread with butter; Once more, don't stutter. Other poems in the volume focus on the theme of fairy tales, an interest which played a large part in the creation of Alice. An early poem of Carroll's, for instance, "My Fairy," suggests the contrariness of the creatures that Alice will meet in Wonderland: I have a fairy by my side Which cried; it said, "You must not weep. "If, full of mirth, I smile and grin, It says, "You must not laugh." When once I wished to drink some gin, It said, "You must not quaff." Similarly, in another early poem, "A Tale of a Tail," there is a drawing of a dog's very long tail, suggestive of the very slender, increasingly smaller mouse's tail in Alice, which coils across a single page in a sort of S-shape. Also, an early poem about someone falling off a wall anticipates Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass, and a "Morals" essay reminds one of the ridiculous conversations between the ugly Duchess and the evil Queen in Alice. It is difficult to ignore the writings of Carroll as a child in any analysis of his works, for in his childhood productions, we find conclusive evidence of early imitations, hints, allusions, suggestions, and actual elements of imaginary creatures, dreams, and visions that will appear in his later works. Have a group of four to six students create a caterpillar with their bodies and try to walk as one. Is it easy? The What would Caterpillar (L), happen if the and Alice and whole class the Cheshire became one Cat (Above). caterpillar? 6 The “Real Alice” that inspired Alice in Wonderland The real “Alice” Alice Lidell (L) in a photograph taken by Lewis Carroll. Alice with her sisters in the above photograph On July 4, 1862, a young mathematician by the name of Charles Dodgson, better-known as Lewis Carroll, boarded a boat with a small group, setting out from Oxford to the nearby town of Godstow, where the group was to have tea on the river bank. The party consisted of Carroll, his friend Reverend Robinson Duckworth, and the three little sisters of Carroll's good friend Harry Liddell—Edith (age 8), Alice (age 10), and Lorina (age 13). Entrusted with entertaining the young ladies, Dodgson fancied a story about a whimsical world full of fantastical characters, and named his protagonist Alice. So taken was Alice Liddell with the story that she asked Dodgson to write it down for her, which he did when he soon sent her a manuscript under the title of Alice's Adventures Under Ground. This manuscript would become the well-loved story, Alice in Wonderland. A long procession of charming little girls skipped through Carroll’s life, but none ever took the place of Alice Liddel. He wrote to her after her marriage, “I have had scores of child-friends since your time, but they have been quite a different thing. Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) was a photographer, and took several charming photographs of Alice. 7 Summary of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Alice sits on a riverbank on a warm summer day, drowsily reading over her sister’s shoulder, when she catches sight of a White Rabbit in a waistcoat running by her. The White Rabbit pulls out a pocket watch, exclaims that he is late, and pops down a rabbit hole. Alice follows the White Rabbit down the hole and comes upon a great hallway lined with doors. She finds a small door that she opens using a key she discovers on a nearby table. Through the door, she sees a beautiful garden, and Alice begins to cry when she realizes she cannot fit through the door.

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