Foreshadowing and Tone in Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” Essay (Book Review)
Updated: Dec 31st, 2020
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
This novel is selected because it represents how young children view the world. The novel is a perfect example of tales that most people heard as they grew up. My prior experience with the story of “Alice in Wonderland” was about the adventures of a little girl in a fairy tale land. This experience is seen from the various Disney movies and plays about Alice, who wanders off into an imaginary land.
The story creates images of what happens to the child as they get carried away in their make-believe worlds and what they have to do to overcome challenges. I look forward to reading the details of the approach the author used to tell his story of how Lewis made use of the aspect of growing and shrinking Alice in the story. Additionally, of interest are the basic ideas of the story that are not represented by movies and play with the same title.
Foreshadowing Chart
| Example of foreshadowing: (Include a quotation of narration or dialogue.) | Page number: | Based on this quotation, what can you predict: | Has your prediction come true yet? Explain your answer. |
| “’What is the use of a book,’ thought Alice, ‘Without pictures or conversations?’” (Thomas, 2010) | Chapter 1, pg.1 | That Alice is tired of the book and will soon stop listening to her sister read it as she longs for one that has pictures and conversations she can follow. | Yes- Alice did stop listening to her sister and was contemplating falling asleep. Though she did not find another more interesting, she found an adventure she would never forget. |
| “oh my ears and whiskers, how late it’s getting!” (Thomas, 2010) | Chapter 1, pg.3 | This was an unexpected remark from a rabbit. Therefore it is expected that Alice would think twice before she followed the rabbit. | No-Alice did not re-think what the rabbit said but rather followed it blindly down the well. In the end, this late rabbit leads the reader down an endless well into a wondrous land similar to it. |
| “’I can’t explain myself, I’m afraid, sir,’ said Alice, ‘because I’m not myself you see.’” (Thomas, 2010) | Chapter 5, pg.8 | I expected that if she could not explain herself, then she would realize she was in wonderland and get up. | No- Alice continued to try and comprehend things with the caterpillar in a conversation that led them back to the beginning. The poem she was taught too sounded wrong to them, but Alice continued in wonderland. |
| “‘Perhaps it hasn’t one,’” Alice ventured to remark. “‘Tut, tut, child!’ said the duchess. ‘Everything’s got a moral if only you can find it.’” (Thomas, 2010) | Chapter 9, pg.59 | The duchess would show Alice how everything in wonderland had a moral to teach. | Yes- the duchess did show Alice that everything had a moral, even the simplest and meaningless things. For example, the moral of “mind their own business” is “Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves” (59). |
Graphic Organizer for Tone & Themes
| Example of Tone | The quotation which displays the tone | The page number of the quotation |
| Humor or mocking | “Well!” thought Alice to herself, “after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling downstairs! How brave they’ll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn’t say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!” (Thomas, 2010) | Chapter 1, pg.7. |
| Pity | “Poor Alice! It was as much as she could do, lying down on one side, to look through into the garden with one eye; but to get through was more hopeless than ever: she sat down and began to cry again” (Thomas, 2010) | Chapter 2, pg.5 |
| Example of Theme | The quotation which displays the theme | The page number of the quotation |
| Identity- as Alice tries to explain herself and everything around her. | “’I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is ‘Who in the world am I?’Ah, that’s the great puzzle!’” (Thomas, 2010). | Chapter 2, pg.8 |
| Symbolism |
|
Chapter 1, pg.6 |
| Knowledge-as Alice repeats what she learned at school. | “for, you see, Alice had learned several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a verygood opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over” (Thomas, 2010). | Chapter 1, pg.4 |
| Logic- as Alice tries to keep up with the logic of wonderland. | “Alice was rather doubtful whether she ought not to lie down on her face…but she could not remember ever having heard of such a rule at processions; ‘and besides, what would be the use of a procession,’ thought she, ‘if people had all to lie down upon their faces so that they couldn’t see it?’ So she stood still where she was and waited (Thomas, 2010). | Chapter 9, 63 |
| Independence- As Alice grows, she asserts herself and her beliefs. For example, her independence is seen as she defies the queen. | “Stuff and nonsense!’ said Alice loudly. ‘The idea of having the sentence first!’… ‘Who cares for you?’ said Alice, (she had grown to her full size by this time.) ‘You’re nothing but a pack of cards!’’” (Thomas, 2010). | Chapter 12, pg.97 |
Reference
Thomas, S. (2010). Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Illustrated by Sir John Tenniel. E-book, Adelaide University. Web.
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