Daily Archives: 19 Oct ’14

by

Falling deeper into the rabbit hole

As mentioned a lot in class, there is a lot to talk about when it comes to Alice in Wonderland.  Through a child’s eye we see the world differently and think of this story as nothing more but a fun journey full of vibrant and odd characters that will capture anyone’s attention, but is this really meant for children or was Lewis Carroll’s attention something more that he only wanted adults to understand?

Many Disney movies for instance, as we brought up in class are based of a more Grimm tale that is more of a tragedy rather then something we would expose a child too, I wonder if  this was  intentional so that we grow up to uncover the real truth ourselves and learn life lessons into our adulthood.  I also agree with other peers and the professor, that movies and the books are two totally different things that portray the story in their own version of it. Books are usually more detailed, where as the movies are more sweet and not as violent because they tend to cut off a lot of scenes we read in a book to make for a movie.

I’m sure that all over the world, people continue to seek an explanation for the stories, a deeper understanding or higher level of meaning, but I believe this is to be a pointless exercise. In the end, Alice was created for children, and it requires no great intellect to fully understand and enjoy her adventures. Even though, the story consists of violence like the animals being kicked around in a game, or Alice wondering off and almost drowning, and drugs even it still captures a child’s attention because they have yet to understand the truth. Despite the bizarre imagery and dreamy tone, I think that’s what makes this story so interesting through a child’s perspective because it makes them feel as if they are almost on an adventures themselves as they watch it unfold.

There’s a lot to think about when it comes to Alice like her curiosity, but that’s how children are they are curious too and a lot of the time just trying to make sense of their surroundings, because that’s how a child learns. The argument of uncovering the truth behind the authors attentions of Alice in Wonderland has been something we been trying to figure out for years, Personally I just think as we get older we just notice things more and view it differently but that doesn’t necessarily mean it shouldn’t be meant for a child too. No matter how people judge it, I grew up watching it myself and it remains one of my favorites.

 

 

 

 

by

Alice in Wonderland a Children’s tale?

When we had discussed the reading assignment of Alice and Wonderland, I could not help but think of the Disney version of the story. It always came to my mind that this story had been such a well put together children’s story. It was filled with imagination and fun, two aspects that I young child would love to enjoy and watch over and over. After a few class discussion I was able to see understand that the text version and the visual version can be viewed differently.
When asked whether this text is or should be considered a children’s book, my thoughts immediately pointed toward the answer yes, but after a few points had been made about the text I realized that it just might be a little too much for a child to comprehend. As pointed out in class, the idea of using the flamingos head to whack the hedgehog, when thought about, in fact seems very brutal for an animal to experience. Although the child is blinded by the idea of it being just a “game” being played, as an adult we are able to see the wrong doings of this act. I was able to agree with Professor Curseen’s arguments where she stated that there is a great difference in the film versus the text when it comes to the portrayal of animation, song and dance to realm and fantasy. I also think that because the child’s mind is also left as curious as Alice’s, they are able to use their imagination in the text and create a barrier between fantasy and realism. Just as they do with the film, they are able to create their own movie while reading the text themselves.

by

A Few Things

I particularly enjoyed reading The Adventure’s of Tom Sawyer however I found some things to be interesting.

I recall from class how there was somewhat of a consensus about how Alice talking out loud to herself at various moments was, for lack of a better word, strange. I am therefore curious about how the few beginning scenes would be reconciled. Between page four and five Aunt Polly speaks a large paragraph out loud to no one but the reader and herself. To me it appears to be a sort of filler/introduction as to the nature of Tom Sawyer. This also happens after Tom is caught by his Aunt Polly and as he’s running away he speaks about how she always switches the color of the stitching on the collar.

I also think it’s really important to mention the words being used here. The slang used by the characters speaking such as: nuff’, lick you, singed cat, pumped on our heads… and many more examples. These can be compared to the language of the narrator which at times is simple but also contains what appears to me to be extravagant words for children such as: ambuscade, adamantine reposeful, ponderously, daintily… and many more examples. This brings me back to the beginning of the year when we had to read that text about an intended reader for specific works. If the group of people in the authors group had deemed the poem they’d read inappropriate for children since it had contained two made up words, how would parents reconcile this novel? These days the slang would not be well known, personally I had to do a google search to understand some of the things that were being said, and the large words I can only assume not all children would know without asking or looking them up. I also think that this combination of words make an interesting comparison. Through comparing both slang and high profile words we get somewhat of a muddling between understanding these characters and attempting to relate to them while being fed differently worded descriptions [perhaps coming from an elite of people not used to the slang].

Another thing, all the talk about curiosity in Alice also got to me as I was reading about Tom Sawyer and his “adventurous, troublesome ways,” [5]. Is being adventurous or curious ever considered a good quality for children or is it solely bad leading to mischief and connoting of something absolutely negative?

The last thing I really wanted to bring up was the paragraph on pages nineteen and twenty. Not because I really wanted to discuss it more so I thought that it was a really cool statement by Twain and an amazing example of what I believe to be satire. It shows the master of satire doing what he does best.