Picture Alice

I have created a Prezi slide show that shows several different illustrators interpretations of Alice.

The pictures are grouped by chapter and include a quote from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. There are many different interpretations included. There are blonde, brunette, and red-headed Alices, different styles of cards, and even a gryphon that looks like a gecko. The illustrators include Lewis Carroll, Sir John Tenniel, Mabel Lucie Attwell, Bessie Pease Gutmann,  Gwynedd M. Hudson,  A.E. Jackson,and Maria L. Kirk. I hope you enjoy this compilation of these illustrators visions of Alice in Wonderland.

An Essay on Nonsense

We recently did an in-class essay over the meaning of Alice. I chose to write an essay on nonsense. This post will include my introduction paragraph and the major points of the essay.

In Chapter 9 of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the Duchess insists that “everything’s got a moral if only you can find it”, but the morals she tells Alice are nonsensical, especially her last one, “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.” (pg 93) This long, convoluted, nonsense moral fits the meaning of Alice’s entire journey through Wonderland quite well, for her journey is an amusing one, full of nonsense without an easily discernible moral.

In my first paragraph I discuss:

• Alice’s frustration with the lack of logic in Wonderland
• Her inability to remember her own lessons
• Her silly discussions with herself.

In my second paragraph I discuss how Alice is nothing more than a children’s story and has no deeper meaning. I used the quote, “‘Nonsense!”…and the Queen was silent. The King laid his hand upon her arm, and timidly said, ‘Consider, my dear: she is only a child!” (pg 82), to suggest that Carroll is saying that children only hear or read this story as nonsense. I then use this conversation between Alice and the Footman, “‘How am I to get in?’ asked Alice… ‘Are you to get in at all?’ said the Footman. ‘That’s the first question,you know,” (pg 59) to suggest we stop asking ourselves ‘where is the moral?’, but rather ‘is there a moral?’ I agree with Alice when she says, “Perhaps it hasn’t one.” (pg 91)

In my conclusion paragraph I say that anyone searching for meaning in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland will find encounter as much confusion as Alice found when she attempted to understand the Duchess’s complicated morals, and therefore the Duchess’ long moral represents very well the lack of any deeper meaning in Alice’s adventures beyond the nonsense of a children’s story.

Looking back I realize that I should have put more analysis into my first paragraph. I also think that I should have clarified myself more in the conclusion paragraph. However, I feel that it is still a very good essay that is well supported by quotes and shows my view on the meaning of Alice.

Do you agree with my essay on nonsense?

What Do You Think?

Alice’s Adventure through Wonderland is a book full of potential. Its entertains people of all age groups. But was there a specific age group Carroll intended to entertain when he published his work?

Most people who read the book know that Carroll wrote this book for Alice a little girl. But why put so much symbolism in a book for a little child when the child won’t even understand the symbolism? Maybe the book was written both for Alice’s entertainment and Carroll’s diary to express his feelings about the world around him through Wonderland. Do you believe that when Carroll published this book he thought it would become so huge? Carroll’s primary objective to make Alice smile, but did he have other intention in mind?

This book is loaded with so much symbolism, hidden meanings, and other content that no child would be able to comprehend. Was this Carroll’s way of giving a news flash to all those around who read the book? What is your belief about Carroll’s intentions for publishing the story? Do you think that it was for adults or for children? I personally believe it was for adults because of its content. I believe kids love it because of what Disney did to it and its something bizarre and different than all the other children stories out there.

What made this story so special to the point it sold millions? I believe it was such a successful story because it was both historical and the kids loved it. Do you believe that Carroll’s views of his society were effectively spread throughout his readers mind’s? I believe so because even though it takes a while to decipher the meanings it sticks to the readers mind once he or she reveals what the scene represented in real life.

What is your take on this blog? Do you agree or disagree with my theories?

Cover Alice

In “Cover Alice”, team 13, talks about the original Alice’s adventure in Wonderland compares it to what our current society has done with the story in recent movies.

Note: scroll down to the bottom of the post to see the link to the CoverItLive blog chat.

There have been many different versions of movies made about Alice. In this blog, we talk about how two version alters the original story Carroll wrote. We talk about the new Alice movie, which comes out in 2010, and Syfy’s Alice miniseries. We believe they will be big hits for both adults and teens. Adults will watch this because they will want to compare the darkened version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with the somewhat innocent version they read as a kid. Teens will watch the Disney version because of the widely acclaimed actor who plays the role of the Mad Hatter, Johnny Depp, and the director, Tim Burton. In this blog we talk about what how we believe the movie will be different from the original book. We are aware that Alice is in her late teens in the movie and is going back to Wonderland to rediscover everything. Also, in the blog we talk about how the age of Alice affects the story and much more.

We hope you enjoy our conversation over the topic of the new video versions of Alice’s Adventures through Wonderland and gain some knowledge from it!

http://www.coveritlive.com/index.php?option=com_altcaster&task=siteviewaltcast&altcast_code=b75d11fe77

The whole package

Overview:

A little over 6 weeks ago we were told that a HUGE project is coming up. My number one emotion toward this was WOOOW.

I knew this project was so much more than a classroom project. We were told many people from the outside world would be tracking our progress. I was definitely scared and still a little bit scared but very excited. This is my first project like this which makes it very unique.

Progress review:

As week by week passed I was having a hard time thinking up blogs. I had no problems with comments but I knew I need a minimum of 12 blogs. I decided to get all my comments out of the way. Then I started on Blogs.

Like many other people my first blog was talking about Lewis and his background. It was an easy blog despite the research. As I continued doing my blogs I was running out of historical blogs therefore I was being forced to do analytical blogs. I started off with a rough patch but once I got the hang of it, it was smooth sailing. Thanksgiving break started and I had either one or two blogs in. I was at a panic but then I developed a system. I told myself I would to at least two blogs a day.

As Thanksgiving break progressed I kinda kept my promise. Anyways by the end of Thanksgiving break I wrote about 10 blogs. When Thanksgiving break was over there were only 3 days left before the project was due. I was at a stable position and I didn’t have to panic which was a good thing. The second and third last days I spent commenting on each team’s blogs to make sure I had at least comments per team.

And on the last day I pulled an all nighter to think up as many possible ideas I could turn into Blogs. In 8 and half hours I was able to complete 7 blogs that I have a lot of confidence in.

And now I wait till later today to unite with my team to fine tune our voice thread and cover it live blogs. By 5 pm central time I should have at least 19 blogs and will have written over 25 comments.

Evaluation:

I really liked this project.

Like I said earlier this project is not like any other project I have ever done.

One thing that really stands out about this project is that we the students have to think for ourselves. This project gave me a taste of the real world in the sense of deadlines, quality, and what one’s customers look for. In this case the deadline was very reasonable. I didn’t feel like I was pressured by time because I spaced all my work out. The only reason I’m still up at 5:00 am is because I want to make as many beneficial modification as I can before the due time is up.

Another good thing about this project is the grade’s communication. We as a class discover things. We alter each other’s perspectives in a friendly environment. I really like the idea of switching editors every week because it gave everyone a chance to step up and take control of their team. In a way I liked the fact that people from around the world will be seeing this but that also means that we have to push ourselves to a limit we have never been to. The fact that people around the world are going to be reading, watching, and hearing about our work really puts pressure on us as student but it also puts in a very high level of motivation. Especially since one third of are grade is decided by y’all.

The grading system for this project is also kinda intimidating to me because it challenges our group to work together, which will give us our group grade, our individual grade, and what the outside world thinks of our work, which will be our third grade. A huge thing that scares me is the amount this project’s grade is worth. Of course we have vocabulary quizzes, one essay and a LOTF project but this is 3 major grades. Therefore this project is at least half of our quarter grade.

Feigning Fairytales

“I’m late! I’m late! For a very important date! No time to say hello, goodbye, I’m late I’m late I’m late!” -the White Rabbit, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

“Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down!”

Little Red Riding Hood

What do these all have in common? They are all seemingly innocent means of entertainment for young children, be it a chant, song, book, nursery rhyme, or anything else for that matter, that have extremely dark connotations. I remember as a little girl, I would always use the Rabbit’s “I’m late!” phrase whenever I was running late or in a hurry. It’s very catchy, no? I thought I was just being cute saying something a cute little rabbit said on TV. Little did I know, however, that the Rabbit was only obsessively repeating the phrase because he was late for a truly important date, for which he may be executed. (and, of course, there’s the pun that if he is late he will literally be the late, as in dead, rabbit. Get it?) I wonder, if young kids knew the darker side of their favorite catchphrases or songs, would they continue to gleefully sing them?

Take “Ring Around the Rosie” as another example. Children love to dance around in merry circles singing this little nursery rhyme, and playfully fall down at the end. Even many adults chant the song without taking a minute to consider the lyrics. What they’re missing is the dark, terrible history of it.

In 1961, James Leasor made the connection between the lyrics of the rhyme and a disease that terrorized the world 700 years ago.

Children in the Middle Ages were, supposedly, taught the nursery rhyme during the epidemic of the Black Death. The bubonic plague spread all over Europe and eventually all over the world, killing a majority of populations in the process. Now, the words to the rhyme as we know them are different than the original English version. That version, the true version that best represents the Black Death, goes as follows, “Ring-a-ring o’Rosies, a Pocket full of Posies, A-tishoo! A-tishoo! We all fall down!” The “ring-a-ring o’rosies” part of the nursery rhyme refers to the rosy-colored rashes in the shape of rings that would appear on the skin of victims of the bubonic plague. The next part, the “pocket full of posies,” refers to the uninfected people who would quite literally walk around with flowers, like posies, in their pockets in order to avoid the stench of the multitude of dead bodies of people who had succumbed to the frightening disease that were laying before them. “A-tishoo! A-tishoo” is supposed to represent the sound of a violent sneeze. Due to the fact that intense sneezing was one of the symptoms of the bubonic plague, this is also another legitimate connection between the seemingly joyous rhyme and the anything-but-joyful disease. Finally, “we all fall down” has been interpreted to refer to the majority of people literally falling in death from the disease. (http://www.rhymes.org.uk/ring_around_the_rosy.htm) Now, after all of that, who wants to gather round in a circle and sing?

Lastly, let’s look at the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Do you think someone just decided to make up a story about a young girl who goes into the woods and encounters a wolf that plans to eat her and her grandmother? I doubt it. As all fairytales, this story has probably been told for centuries, in various different ways. If it was based on folklore centuries ago, then it may be interpreted as more of a warning to young girls than a fairytale. The main point? Don’t go into the woods! Don’t talk to strangers! Beware of what is lurking behind you! People are not always what they seem! These messages are practically being screamed at the children listening to the story. Do this and die, that’s the point that’s trying to be made.

So, why does it seem as if children’s stories are some of the darkest and scariest around? Basically, children need to be warned, and the best way to get them to listen and pay attention is hide a serious message in a fun, playful story, so that they may just learn from the mistakes of their favorite characters. Maybe all of the dark aspects of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that we have been discussing over the past 6 weeks are an attempt by Carroll to get a message across to Alice Liddell. Watch where you’re going, don’t go into strange places that you’re unfamiliar with, don’t drink/eat something unless you know what it is, be respectful towards authority, etc.

What is your opinion? Was he trying to get a message across to Alice Liddell, or children in general, or was he just telling a story?

Normality is a State of Mind

“You see a dog growls when it’s angry, and wags its tail when it’s pleased. Now I growl when I’m pleased, and wag my tail when I’m angry. Therefore I’m mad.” -The Cheshire Cat

In this quote, the Cheshire Cat is telling Alice that it is crazy because it is unlike dogs. This, in a way, reminds me of certain issues in our own society, such as peer pressure, stereotyping, and conformity. Many people truly do believe that if they are different than people around them, then something is wrong with them, and they must change. Most people within the groups of “normal” people agree with these outsiders, and brush them off as weirdos or outcasts unless they conform to be just like everyone else. How can a society function if people are too afraid of being cast off as crazy to dare to be different? How will advancements come to pass if nobody is willing to think in new ways? Of course, society is advancing, and there are individualists in the world working on new ideas, but if more people were willing to take a risk and be different, would advancement be faster? Better? No different?

This reminds me of one of the Duchess’ morals, “Birds of a feather flock together”. It is true; people with similar interests and personalities do seem to stick together and follow one another. High school is generically all about the cliques-there are the preps, jocks, nerds, emo kids, music kids, etc. Granted, not every school will have the exact same set of cliques, but cliques are always there. Now, what would happen if all of these groups intermingled with each other? Would it be absolute chaos, or would it be beneficial and rewarding for everyone to befriend people with different perspectives and different attributes than they themselves have? My personal opinion is that it would be the latter, but it seems as if most people are too afraid of being judged or mocked to try to meet new people and try new things.

Even in Wonderland, similar characters group together. The two “maddest” characters of them all, the March Hare and the Mad Hatter, have a never-ending tea party together at the Hare’s home. As for the cards, all of the clubs were soldiers, the diamonds were the courtiers, the spades were the gardeners, and the hearts were the royal family. So, not only do all of the cards “flock together” at the Queen’s castle, but cards of each specific suit divide up as well. Not to mention the fact that, as per the Cheshire Cat, the maddest of the mad live in Wonderland, so all of the characters of Wonderland are a cohesive group of madmen. What if someone normal came into Wonderland? Would they be considered mad due to the fact that they are so different from the madness that is the norm in Wonderland? Does Alice fall into this category?

The point is, the rule is that similar people become friends and group up, while those who are willing to be in a group of people much different then themselves are the exceptions. Members of most groups are less welcoming to people who don’t share the same qualities that the rest of the group members share. Individuals stuck in a world of people who are different than they are are deemed mad, and they eventually can come to believe that themselves under enough pressure. Why? What defines madness? Craziness or insanity? Who are we to deem someone insane? For all we know, they could be thinking quite clearly, and it is we who are thinking senselessly. So, is insanity subjective, meaning in different societies the word has different implications and different definitions? If so, then a mad American could go to Asia, for example, and be welcomed and considered perfectly normal, relative to the majority of their population. The entire globe is divided into groups, sects, and regions all based on different beliefs, appearances, occupations, ethnicities, religions, etc. So, which of them are mad? My opinion is either everybody or nobody. That proves the Cheshire Cat’s assertion that everyone in Wonderland is mad; everyone in the entire world is mad according to someone. Or, theoretically, the madness of everyone could cancel out, and therefore nobody is mad. Either way you approach it, nobody is more mad than anybody else. So the point is, why can’t we all just get along?

Analyzing the “Alice Project”

After six weeks of reading and analyzing (or analyzing why we shouldn’t analyze) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the “Alice Project” is finally coming to a close. In approximately 15 hours, we will leave Alice to cope with her dream for herself, without the aid of our blogs. So, I’d like to take some time to reflect on the entirety of the project we have devoted ourselves to for the past six weeks.

I came into this project without any knowledge of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. I’ve never seen the Disney movie in its entirety, and the parts that I have seen I remember only vaguely, and so I really did not have much of a clue what to expect when reading the book. Even before we began the project, Mr. Long would make some references to Alice, most often about the Cheshire Cat or the White Rabbit, but I always felt somewhat out of the loop. I actually looked forward to the project if only so that I would be able to understand the various references to the story that are now ever so apparent all over the place!

At the beginning of the story, I remember wondering what the “porpoise” of the countless annotations in the margins of our annotated version of the story was. I kept wondering:

• Why is all of this background information on the author necessary?
• Why do I need to know of all of these other analyses and references to the story?
• Who cares about a dodo?

However, as the project progressed and we delved deeper and deeper into the quirks of Wonderland, I started realizing that that information could actually be very beneficial when writing blogs. Whether it served as an inspiration for a blog, or merely helped support a point I was trying to make, some of the annotations were actually very useful (although I will admit that I still fail to see the purpose of some of them).

One thing I liked about the story was that it was possible to make something out of just about anything, but it was also possible to dispute the actual, if any, meaning of pretty much everything. It was interesting searching the story for possible symbolism or deep meanings, while having the power to argue that there is none should I come up empty-handed. That helped not only with blogging, but with comments as well.

I enjoyed commenting on my classmates’ blogs. Everyone created very high quality material, and it was cool to be able to see the story from everyone else’s perspective. I found great inspiration for blogs of my own in the ideas of those of my peers. I also enjoyed receiving comments, because it is always rewarding to get feedback on my writing and see new perspectives on the rabbits I chased and ideas I touched upon.

As for coming up with ideas for my own blogs, it was probably as painless as it could have possibly been. If I absolutely could not come up with anything to write, I always had the option of reading my classmates’ blogs and trying to find inspiration there. If that didn’t work, there was the option of searching the internet for interesting images, videos, or anything else Alice related that I could respond to.

All in all, I think the “Alice Project” was an imaginative project that challenged everyone in some way and forced us all to be team players. The most challenging aspect of the project was most likely different for everyone, but for me it was probably the extensive amount of time it demanded. We have never done anything like this, so getting accustomed to it took about as much time as actually working on it in the beginning. I was also worried that the project would interfere with my other project or other classes, which it may have to some extent.

That said, I thought the project was a very cool idea with very large possibilities, and I look forward to seeing how far it goes in the future.

1862 Alice’s adventures in Wonderland vs. 2010 Alice’s adventures in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland was written in 1864 by Lewis Carroll. In 1682 the story was first told to 3 young girls, one of which was Alice herself, on a on a rowing trip on July 4^th. Alice loved the story so much that she asked Carroll write it down. Therefore two years later Carroll presented the first written form of the story to Alice. Back then it was called Alice’s adventures underground. The title was revised, along with much of its content, and published 1865.

Unfortunately I did not get the chance to see a replica of the original copy but it would be so cool if I could compare the original with the revised one. I wonder what Carroll added and took out.  There have been many websites, books, and other sources that comment on the context of the book. There are many assumptions on what certain scenes represent, certain characters represent and certain objects represent but the truth is only Carroll himself truly knew what everything really represented if they even represented something. This information was restructured from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_was_Alice_in_Wonderland_written&alreadyAsked=1&rtitle=When_was_alice_in_wonderland_witten

As most people know there is a new movie of this story coming out. The crew consist of Tim Burton as director, Jonny Depp as the Hatter,  Mia Wasikowska as Alice, and so on. In this new movie that will come out in 2010 Alice is a 19 year old girl who goes back to Wonderland to rediscover the magical place. Just by knowing there is an age difference between the Alices what do you think might be different in the plot? What age group do you think will go see this movie the most? Why? To find out more about the crew visit this website. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014759/synopsis

Sleep… What a wonderful feeling!

As I sit in this comfortable seat starring at a computer for 6 and a half hours straight with a pile of empty coffee cups lying in the trashcan, all I can think about is sleep. The great sensation of the soft pillow against your head, absolutely nothing going through your mind, and the ability to know your subconscious is about to take over.

To think this whole story wouldn’t have happened if Alice did not fall asleep.

How much would you be missing out on if you couldn’t dream? Have you ever had a dream about something and then wake up and ask yourself what just happened in that dream? Or have u ever had a dream and then wake up the next day to ask yourself was that real? Say if it was a realistic dream that had a moral or some type of lesson that would help you grow in life and you woke up and you thought it was real, would use that experience you gained from you subconscious to prosper in life or would you put it in the “that happened in a dream, there’s now way it can happen in real life” category and ignore the life lesson?

Knowing what you know about Alice, if this really happened, do you think that Alice would take lessons that she learned while traveling through Wonderland and use them to prosper in her life? What life lessons do you think she gained from exploring Wonderland? How would these lessons help her thrive better in real world?