Fascinating twists and fanciful turns shape the imaginative world of C.L. Dodgson, author of Symbolic Logic and The Game of Logic, and better known as Lewis Carroll (1832-1898). Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass demonstrate Carroll's love for parody, paradox, and puzzle; his work has prompted literary, mathematical, philosophical, linguistic, historical, theological, and psychoanalytic studies. In this course, we will do close readings of the Alice books and unravel the secrets of "Wonderland" through careful examination of literary elements and through forays into the theories informing Carroll's texts. Coursework will include regular response in both critical and creative formats as well as participation in class discussion and in a variety of activities exploring theories of logic and language. 
 

 
 
Week 1: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

M 6/14

"Speak English," said the eaglet.  "I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and, what's more, I don't believe you do either."
Introductions 
discuss Lewis Carroll biography 
read "From Alice on the Stage" (280-282)
discuss didactic vs. imaginative literature
do Rebus Letter and Doublets puzzles

 

T 6/15

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought  to go from here?"  "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
discuss readings:
  • Intro and "Down the Rabbit-Hole" (3-12) 
  • "The Pool of Tears" (13-20)
  • "A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale" (21-26)
do Alice's Multiplication Tables puzzle
revisit "The Mouse's Tale" (266-269)
write emblematic poems
begin Wonderland Map

optional reading: "C.L. Dodgson, Mathematician" (294-302)

W 6/16

"Contrariwise," said Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be, but as it isn't, it 'aint. That's logic." 
discuss readings:
  • "Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill" (27-34) 
  • "Advice from a Caterpillar" (35-44) 
  • "Pig and Pepper" (45-53)
explore Carroll's advice on learning
discuss logic
explore Symbolic Logic, and argument
do puzzles: Cakes in a Row, Who's Telling the Truth 

optional reading: "Fairy Tales with a Purpose" (321-324) 

R 6/17

"Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it."
discuss readings:
  • "A Mad Tea Party" (55-61)
  • "The Queen's Croquet Ground" (63-69) 
  • "The Mock-Turtle's Story" (70-77)
debate: Who's more mad--the Hatter or the Queen of Hearts?
explore Saussure's "A Course in General Linguistics"

optional reading: "Alice's Recollections of Carrollian Days" (273-278)

F 6/18

"You're nothing but a pack of cards!"
discuss readings:
  • "The Lobster Quadrille" (78-85)
  • "Who Stole the Tarts?" (86-91)
  • "Alice's Evidence" (92-99)
  • "Alice in Quantumland" (handout)
take Test One
watch Searching for Bobby Fischer
 
Week 2: Through the Looking-Glass & What Alice Found There

M 6/21

"'Twas brillig and the slithy toves / did gyre and gimble in the wabe"
discuss readings:
  • "Preface" (103-107)
  • "Looking-Glass House" (107-119) 
  • "Garden of Live Flowers" (120-128) 
  • "Looking-Glass Insects" (129-137)
chess match
sample Beowulf
JabberwockyMania: The Portmanteau Challenge, Alphabet Cipher puzzle

T 6/22

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
discuss readings:
  • "Tweedledum and Tweedledee" (138-148) 
  • "Wool and Water" (149-158)
  • "Humpty Dumpty" (159-168)
debate: Who's smarter--Humpty or the Tweedles?
sample "The Strange Case of Benjamin Button"
do The Number 42 Puzzle
write mirror stories

W 6/23

"You see, the wind is very strong here.  It's as strong as soup."
discuss readings:
  • "Lion and Unicorn" (169-178) 
  • "It's My Own Invention" (179-191) 
  • "The Wasp in a Wig" (211-214)
sample Don Quixote
give presentations 
turn in papers

R 6/24

"Always speak the truth--think before you speak--and write it down afterwards."
discuss readings:
  • "Queen Alice" (192-204)
  • "Shaking" and "Waking" (204-205) 
  • "Which Dreamed It?" (207)
play Wonderland Jeopardy!
watch Alice in Wonderland

optional reading: "Chess and Theology in the Alice Books" (373-380)

F 6/25

"Is that all?" Alice timidly asked.  "That's all," said Humpty Dumpty.  "Good bye."
sample "A New Alice in an Old Wonderland" 
take Test Two 
watch The Avengers

optional reading: "Play, Nonsense, and Games: Comic Diversion" (368-372)


  
Internet Resources
 
Lewis Carroll Society Website Project Gutenberg Alice
Lewis Carroll as Victorian Writer Interactive Alice Text
Lewis Carroll Home Page Lewis Carroll e-texts
Lewis Carroll links Reflections from Wonderland
Carroll Logic Puzzles
Carroll as Logician

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