Abstract This paper compares Flannery O'Connor's short story,"Good Country People" with Alice Walker's story, "Everyday Use" in terms of character, family and relationships.
From the Paper "In Flannery O'Connor's Good Country People and Alice Walker's Everyday Use there are some striking similarities to be observed with regard to such elements of literature as relationships, specifically with family place ..."
Tags: Flannery O'Connor, Alice Walker, short stories
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of the basic plot and thematic elements in Alice Walker's "Meridian". A basic overview of the text is provided and also the context within which it was written. The primary focus of the report will be to situate Meridian Hill, the text's protagonist, within the context of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, in which the character fictitiously participates. Some of the structural considerations of the text are also discussed.
From the Paper "The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of the basic plot and thematic elements in Alice Walker's Meridian. To that end, I will provide a basic overview of the text and the context within which it was written. The primary focus of the report will be to situate Meridian Hill, the text's protagonist, within the context of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, in which the character fictitiously participates. I will talk somewhat about some of the structural considerations of the text, but will focus mostly on Meridian's role within the civil rights movement. In this regard, we should be able to see some of the attitudes that the author possessed regarding the Civil Rights movement and the importance of personal action as opposed to political action. Meridian is set in the American South during the 1960s.."
Abstract This paper relates that Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" is the quintessential portmanteau allegory with themes ranging from evolution, growing up in an adult world, class structure in Victorian society, meaning and manners and human sexuality; however, the glue that holds these themes together is the plasticity of reality and the subjectivity of meaning. The author points out that in "Alice in Wonderland", the device of the rabbit hole, which establishes the entire underground setting of the book, replicates the cave in the "Allegory of the Cave" from Plato's "Republic" because control, enlightenment and freedom are all prominent in both allegories. The paper explains that many of the bizarre images in Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" are actually literal--or actually figurative since they involve figures--expressions of figurative expressions, which are actually literal because they involve letters and words. Long quotations.
Table of Contents
Alice in PlatoLand: The Allegory of Wonder
The Cave
Properties of the Forms
Forms in "Alice in Wonderland"
Factor of the Mathematical Pun on 'Remain'
From the Paper "An allegory employs a literal story to convey a figurative meaning. Through allegory, a more complex subject or idea is described in terms of that of a lower which is made out to resemble it in properties and circumstances, the principal subject remains obscure leaving the reader to make the connection between the secondary and the primary subjects. The subject of both Plato and Carroll's allegories is appearance and reality---or the good or the true."
Abstract In Lewis Carroll's novel, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", Carroll creates a satirical impression of human authority. This paper explains how he portrays seemingly powerful characters such as the King and Queen of Hearts as shallow, idiotic, and farcical, while characters such as Alice and the Cheshire-Cat are depicted as knowledgeable, witty characters who possess the real authority in Wonderland. Carroll, through exaggeration, displays the King and Queen of Hearts as somewhat of a parallel to the top of the hierarchy of authority in the real world. The paper looks at how these characters are presented to the reader as abusing power they don?t really possess. It explains how, in the end, Alice, with the help of the Cheshire-Cat, develops as the true figure of authority in Wonderland and symbolizes young children everywhere, showing them that they too can make a difference in the world.
From the Paper "Lewis Carroll develops Alice as a prominent authority figure throughout her tenure in Wonderland. Alice's authority increases in her own mind as she realizes how farcical and illogical the important figures in Wonderland really are. This is quite evident at the mad tea party when Alice is arriving and the Mad Hatter and March Hare claim there is no room but
Alice indignantly says, ?there's plenty of room!,?(Carroll, 60) and sits down in a large armchair
at the head of the table. Alice, here, is showing the characters of Wonderland that they do not intimidate her and she is trying to enforce her own sense of authority over these idiotic beings. The Hatter and the March Hare try to belittle Alice with their remarks but Alice replies to their snide remarks with polite, intelligent responses. This can be manifested when the Hatter and the Hare are rudely commenting on how Alice could use a hair cut and Alice replies, ?you should learn not to make personal remarks . . . it's very rude.?(Carroll, 60). Although the Hatter and the Hare don?t realize it, Alice is establishing herself as a teacher, or leader, that provides a helpful example to children readers with respect to manners and temperament. The idea of Alice's authority in Wonderland is further developed to the point where she can be recognized as the supreme authority figure in Wonderland near the end of the story at the trial regarding the stolen tarts. Alice, at this point, has grown back to her normal size and has no respect for, or fear of the Queen or King of Hearts any longer."
Abstract The paper discusses how "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" breaks the mold of a hero's quest by virtue of Alice being female and by the fact that she does not bring home a tangible treasure. The paper challenges the assumption that only a male can be a hero and maintains that the values Alice learned enable her to see the world in a new way and this for her was as a great a treasure as any. The paper also considers how Alice was merely in a dream state but posits that the magic and reality of Wonderland stayed with her and so her dream is considered as valid as an adventure.
From the Paper "Not only does Lewis Carroll's tale, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland create a whole new genre driven by fantasy and nonsense, but it also deviates from the typical expectations of a hero's quest. On the outside, the story follows the path of a young girl being called to an adventure by a white rabbit. As Alice falls down the rabbit hole, her world is literally turned upside down as she enters Wonderland; however, with Alice's failure to complete the pattern of a quest by not returning home with a prize, her adventures force us, as readers, to question what it really means to be a hero and return home with a prized possession."
Abstract The paper discusses that the reader may discover insights about himself and the world amidst the gobbledygook of ?Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?. The author believes that Carroll uses language, such as puns and linguistic play, as a tool with which he introduced the reader to ideas often times overshadowed by nonsense. The paper explains that nonsensical events such as the Mad Hatter's tea party and the Knave's trial, have a deeper meaning in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland".
From the Paper "Through the character of Alice, Carroll provides readers with knowledge of Victorian people, as well as our personal struggles to mature and find our true identities. Amidst the madness in Wonderland, Alice remains her rational self, concerned with reciting her lessons so that others will appreciate her being well educated. However, what she recites is ?"not quite right . . . [because] some of the words have got altered"? (Carroll 49). Alice's fretting over saying her lessons correctly is Carroll's way of satirizing Victorian education. One critic points out that Alice's swimming in the pool of tears she has wept is ? . . . [Carroll?s] making an astute observation on Victorian education, notably that the acquisition of knowledge and guilt over assumed transgression often accompany each other . . .? ."
Abstract This paper describes Kincaid's more cynical view of "Alice in Wonderland" in which he talks about the subversive and brutal elements of the classic story. The paper also compares Kincaid's reading of "Alice in Wonderland" to more traditional readings of the story.
From the Paper "Yet another traditional reading which Kincaid references is that which says Alice is ?the reader's surrogate on a frightful journey into meaningless night [where] practically all pattern, save the consistency of chaos, is annihilated." (92) Kincaid says that in this reading, Alice learns to reject chaos and the darkness of unlimited imagination and return to the ?sane madness of ordinary existence.? (92) This is the sort of reading which might suggest the story to be not only about children learning to navigate a foreign and nonsensical adult world, but also about the way in which children filter out the nonsense of their own fantasy lives and learn how to grow up and
chooses to reject chaos and also imagination and take part in the "ordinary existence" of adult life. These first two readings can be reconciled by saying that Wonderland represents the fantasy of a very young child's nonsensical imagination transposed over a sort of archetypal structure that is adult life (hence making adults seem absurd) -- and that what Alice is doing is rejecting the fantasy aspects while learning to make sense of the reality-based adult aspects."
Abstract This essay examines Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" series ("Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", "Through the Looking-Glass" and "What Alice Found There") and then compares it to the Walt Disney cartoon adaptation. The paper focuses on the differences between the two, such as the added morals to the Disney story and looks at the genre and medium of the two.
From the Paper "The only characters that seemed to have been made visibly nastier by Disney are the flowers that attack Alice both verbally and physically for being different. First the flowers accept her for thinking she is a strange flower, just like in the book, but when they discover she is not a flower they shoo her away and want nothing to do with her (unlike the book where they do not seem to realise that Alice is really a little girl). Alice is quite indignant about this and it is one of the nastier, or maybe even the nastiest scene in the Disney film."
Abstract The paper relates that Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" lacks the traditional elements of fairy tales, where there is a prince, a "rags to riches" story line and a beautiful, yet silent princess. The paper highlights how in Carroll's fairy tale, a prince is not the ultimate prize, but the attaining of knowledge of a world that has books without pictures as well as of a greater existence. The paper discusses how although Alice does not show the same ideas of good and evil present in human characters, it can still be classified as a fairy tale since the contrast is between the good and evil worlds. The paper believes that Alice represents a more realistic hero and a protagonist that young girls can actually aspire to be like without demeaning themselves.
From the Paper "For many societies, children are taught the way to function successfully through the art of story telling and fairy tales. It is a conscious decision to fill tales with morality and a clear distinction between good and evil and children will begin to see for the first time what it means to be a human. Tales that have survived for so many years still act as a way of socializing children and providing with them means of conformity. In popular fairy tales such as, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, the female characters in particular come as close to death as possible while still having no agency, but because killing the protagonist will leave the child with a sense of hopelessness, a sleep-like death is the only way to keep her silent."
Abstract In this article, the writer discusses that studying the book 'Alice in Wonderland' provides an insight into life in Victorian England. The writer maintains that there is more to this book than a child's fantasy, as one can almost hear author Carroll's voice in the words. The writer notes that this voice seems to hint at deeper meanings. In addition, the writer points out that Alice's life, as a Victorian female child destined to become a rather bored idle Victorian lady and that her adventures in Wonderland are in sharp contrast to the life afforded Victorian ladies. After studying the sources, the writer concludes with the belief that it warrants a bit more research in order to fully understand this very delightful book.
From the Paper "In looking further, we should re-examine the conversations in the book, and even the various things which happen to Alice. Victorian "ladies" were totally preoccupied with appearance, and went to extreme measures to stay very thin. Corsets made their waists even smaller, and tended to make the ladies faint, since they could not breathe. Alice becomes a giant from one bite of a cookie."
"A journal article by Rose Lovell-Smith does a dandy job of explaining the presence of so many animals in Wonderland as parallel symbols for the Victorian class system, and the way these animals talk is not at all innocent or meant for children, but results in sharp criticism of Victorian society."
Abstract This paper considers the meaning of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" in light of William Shakespeare's "The Tempest". The author analyzes the characters of Alice and Miranda .
Abstract This paper will discuss the book "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll and seek to understand a particular scene in the book in relation to dream psychology. By looking into the psychological value of the scene, as Carroll has created, we can understand the how the world of Alice, is quite different from that we ourselves live in, it is in essence, a world of psychology to be studied.
Abstract This paper compares and discusses the danger to the children in C.S. Lewis? "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland". It details the plots of both books and examines them very closely. It concludes that both stories show the dangers of being a child as well as other dangers in life.
From the Paper "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? takes place during World War II in London. Four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, go live in the country to avoid bomb-torn London. They live with the rather eccentric Professor Kirke. One rainy day, the children are playing hide and seek inside, and Lucy hides in the wardrobe. Suddenly, she finds herself in the woods, and snow is falling. She has discovered the land of Narnia, and later brings the other children along to see her discovery."
Tags: lion, witch, wardrobe, children, danger, literature
Abstract This paper explores notions of childhood in Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". The author stresses the use of the fantastical and the bildungsroman genre of each text.
Abstract This paper looks at specific influences in the life of Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) such as split personality disorder, sleep difficulty and Victorian era social problems and examines how they are represented in the story of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". A detailed analysis of the story shows that there are characters, events and symbols that may serve as allegorical representations of the influences in the author's life.
From the Paper "What is the difference between dreaming and pretending? The pretender creates the environment for the action while the dreamer is forced to negotiate an environment that was not consciously created. One of the most celebrated dreams in literature involves a girl named Alice and a place called Wonderland. On a hot July day in 1862, Charles Dodgson began telling a story to three little girls during a boating trip. It was a fantastic tale about a mysterious rabbit hole, talking animals, magic potions and a particularly violent Queen. One of the girls on the trip, Alice Liddell, begged Mr. Dodgson to write down the story for her. The story was written as Alice's Adventures Under Ground, which was later published under the more commonly known name, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Bassett 49). For the causal reader of this fairy tale, it may be hard to imagine how the author created such an outlandish story. The characters are bizarre and often absurd. Nothing in the story seems to be of this world, at least not within the realms of known sciences. However, a detailed analysis of the story shows that there are characters, events and symbols that may serve as allegorical representations of the influences in the author's life. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a story comprised of extra ordinary characters and events that correspond directly to the real life biography of Charles Dodgson."
