Teachers & Students

Tatiana Ianovskaia: Down the Rabbit Hole

Students

If you are seeking assistance with a homework assignment about Lewis Carroll, please consult our Lewis Carroll links and FAQs. You will find a host of information and resources there to point you in a helpful direction for your studies.  We are aware that there are now web sites selling pre-written papers on virtually all topics, including the works of Lewis Carroll.  We are confident that Lewis Carroll, as a lifelong scholar and teacher, would always have insisted that you think and write for yourself, and never ask someone else to think for you.  There's no fun in that, and no learning.  We congratulate you for following his wise advice!  We hope our web site helps inspire your own writing.  If you are particularly proud of a Carroll-related essay you've written, we encourage you to email us a copy.  We'd love to read it.

Teachers

Alice-Themed Projects

Turkish Writing Competition
An interesting collection of stories, poems and pictures created by students at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, for a school writing competition themed around Alice in Wonderland.  The winning entries present a range of student responses to the story, from humorous essays on what kind of presents could be given to the strange residents of Wonderland; to a dark re-imagining of Wonderland as disturbing place called Murderland; to a melancholy poem exploring Alice’s reflections on the end of childhood.

Teaching Aids and Courses

Web Scavenger Hunt
A brief scavenger hunt that encourages students to track down answers to five questions about Carroll’s personal life and background, such as where he lived, how many siblings he had, etc., by following the links provided.

Down the Rabbit Hole: Library of Congress lesson plan
This site presents a detailed lesson plan with a unique theme, using Alice in Wonderland as a tool to build students’ understanding of the immigrant experience in America. It is aimed at students in grades 6-8, and is planned as a two week unit which relates to American History, Language Arts, and English as a Second Language.

Comparison of Pinkwater’s Borgel to Alice
An interesting essay comparing thematic elements in Alice with those in Daniel Pinkwater’s modern children’s science-fiction/fantasy novel Borgel. This would be a useful resource for elementary school teachers interested in planning a Language Arts unit comparing/contrasting the two books.

Hidden Links to Alice Liddell in the Alice Books
This webpage presents a brief guide to some of the many allusions to Alice Liddell (the real-life inspiration for Alice), and her sisters Lorina and Edith, which Carroll hid throughout both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. This collection of trivia will be best enjoyed by readers already familiar with the books.

Discovery Channel
This site presents a detailed lesson plan outline for using Alice in Wonderland in the classroom, for grades 9 to 12. Discussion questions, vocabulary words and definitions, assignment suggestions, adaptations, and extensions are provided. The lesson plan relates Carroll’s use of absurdity to the work of Surrealist painters of the 20s and 30s; there is also a simpler adaptation for less advanced students, which uses the art of caricature as a comparison point rather than Surrealist paintings. The site is very useful for practicing interpretation and understanding of both literature and artwork

GradeSaver Study Guide
A well-written study guide for Alice in Wonderland, this site presents useful materials for students, including a brief summary; background information on the book, Lewis Carroll, and the Victorian era; a list of the major characters; a discussion of central themes; and a chapter-by-chapter analysis.

Article on Lewis Carroll from TeacherVision
This informative article discusses the history of the Alice books, their critical reception at the time of publication, as well as the response of other well-known writers to Carroll’s work, including Virginia Woolf. It also offers insights on Lewis Carroll’s personal life and background, and how his books were shaped by his own life experiences. The article is followed by a list of eleven discussion questions relating to Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

Slides on Election System
This set of 26 slides presents a theorem regarding outcomes of elections which Carroll devised, and examines the accuracy of Carroll’s ideas. Colorful and entertaining, this slideshow will be useful for educators looking for imaginative supplemental materials for a college-level mathematics class. Note, however, that the slides are not accompanied by lecture notes; teachers will have to flesh out the slides with their own lecture.

Sparknotes Study Guide
This site presents a summary, chapter-by-chapter analysis, comprehensive list of characters, background information to help readers put the book in context with Carroll’s life and times, and more. The “Analysis of Major Characters” section, which discusses the characters of Alice, the Cheshire Cat, and the Queen of Hearts in detail, is especially interesting, as is the “Themes, Motifs, and Symbols” section.

Victorian Web Study Site
A far-reaching collection of links and study suggestions touching on Carroll’s life, world, and works.

Helpful Tools

Search Carroll Texts
A convenient reference tool, this site collects many of Carroll’s literary works and makes them fully searchable. The full texts of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are available, along with some of Carroll’s other works such as Sylvie and Bruno and The Hunting of the Snark, as well as his poetry. It also includes a detailed biography.

Other Inspirations

Interactive Wonderland
A fun interactive site with lots of fascinating puzzles, activities, and games (most require a Java-enabled browser). Kids can click and drag on a picture of Alice to make her change sizes and shapes, write a silly fill-in-the-blanks story, draw pictures, solve word puzzles, and much more.

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