  |
 |
|
      |
||
 |
||
    |
||
    |
||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Childhood Through the Looking-GlassIntroductionThis lesson explores the vision of childhood created by Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland. Students begin by looking at Carroll's photographs of the real Alice for whom Carroll imagined his story. They then compare the image of childhood that he captured on film with images of children in our culture. Next, students read Alice in Wonderland with special attention to the illustrations that Carroll had made for his book, and explore the relationship between words and pictures by creating an Alice illustration of their own. For contrast, students compare Carroll's vision of childhood with that presented by the Romantic poet William Blake in his illuminated Songs of Innocence and Experience. Finally, students consider the interplay of image and text in their own favorite children's literature and how the vision of childhood presented there compares to their experiences as children.Guiding Questions
Learning ObjectivesAt the end of this lesson students will be able to:
Background Information for the TeacherCharles Dodgson was born on January 27 1832. He lived his life and eventually died on January 14 1898. "Lewis Carroll" was born on March 1 1856, and is still very much alive. (Karoline Leach, Lewis Carroll: A Myth in the Making, via the EDSITEment-reviewed Victorian Web)Lewis Carroll, of course, is Dodgson's pseudonym, the name associated with the wonderful tales of Alice and her adventures. The teacher of this lesson might review this brief biography of Dodgson at the EDSITEment-reviewed Victorian Web. The biography details some known facts—as well as thoughtful speculation—about Dodgson's upbringing, his employment as a mathematical lecturer at Oxford, and his eventual friendship with a new Dean of Christ Church, Henry Liddell, his wife, and three daughters—including Alice—that led to the now legendary afternoon in which he sketched out the framework for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Though Dodgson had published under the name Lewis Carroll before Alice's Adventures was released in 1865, it was then that the persona of Lewis Carroll was truly born. Dodgson continued to write until his death from pneumonia in 1898, increasing the legend of "Lewis Carroll" and further obscuring Dodgson's true life from fans and biographers. This lesson plan discusses views of Victorian childhood, as detailed by LuAnn Walthe ("The Victorian Invention of Childhood"), at Victorian Web: On the one hand the child was the source of hope, of virtue, or emotion: along with the angelic wife, he was the repository of family values which seemed otherwise to be disappearing from an increasingly secular world.... But at the same time, and of course much less obviously, the child was a hardship, an obstacle to adult pleasure, and a reminder of one's baser self. He might be innocent, untainted by sexual knowledge, uncorrupted by the world of business, free from the agony of religious doubt; yet he was also potentially wicked and needed constant guidance and discipline.Portraying images of childhood, then, tended toward two somewhat contradictory perspectives: First, is the need to emphasize childhood adversity, to portray oneself as not having been spoiled by overindulgence, even, in some cases, to have deserved hardship. Second, and in conflict with this, is the desire to present childhood as an Edenic, blissful state, a time of past blessedness, a world completely different from the grating present.Carroll's Alice stories illustrate this combination of childhood adversity and Edenic bliss. Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience, reviewed in Activity 3, also nicely illustrates a kind of tension between the idyllic lifestyle and those marked by hardship. Notably, however, Blake's vision focuses less often on childish wickedness and more often focuses on societal problems that plague and hamper children's growth. A review of potential differences between the visions of Blake and Carroll is the focus of Activity 3. For more background on the "myth of childhood" in the Victorian era, visit the Victorian Web essays on Beginnings, Myths of Childhood, and Autobiography and Childhood as a Personal Myth in Autobiography. For the final activity on William Blake, the following biography and textual history of the Songs of Innocence and Experience may prove useful:
Preparing to Teach this Lesson
Suggested Activities1. Victorianism and Childhood2. Down the Rabbit Hole3. Songs of Innocence and Experience1. Victorianism and ChildhoodWhether they have read Alice in Wonderland or not, most students will probably have some familiarity with the story. Begin by having them talk about their thoughts, memories, and knowledge of Lewis Carroll's classic story. Do they know when it was written? What do they know about the author? From what they know of her, does Alice seem like a "real" child to them? Do they identify with the character and her experiences? Explain to students that Alice in Wonderland began as an improvised story told to a real little girl named Alice Liddell by a man named Charles Dodgson, which was the real name of Lewis Carroll. Provide a brief introduction to Carroll's life and his relationship with Alice Liddell, drawing on the resources available through the EDSITEment-reviewed Victorian Web website, including:
To sharpen students' awareness of the image of childhood Carroll captured on film, have them compare his photographs to present-day images of children. Ask them to describe advertisements that feature children, such as those familiar from catalogs for children's clothing, and the visions of childhood offered by television and film. Again, consider whether these reflect an adult or a child's point of view. What sort of story do these images tell about being a kid today? As students prepare to read Alice in Wonderland, ask them to keep in mind the following question:
Next, have students read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with its original illustrations by Sir John Tenniel. Explain to students that Carroll closely supervised the illustrations in his book. They are not simply decorations, in other words, but part of his story, an extension of his fiction. As they read Alice in Wonderland, have students make comparisons between the words and the images, using the following questions as a guide. They can use the following PDF or MarcoPolo interactive Venn diagrams to make notes of their comparison.
Have students brainstorm the answers to this question for 5 minutes individually or in groups and then return to share their reactions with the larger class. Students might note, for example, that it is more difficult to visually capture emotions effectively (whereas it is relatively easier for an author to write about feelings); or, students might note that the use of animals in writing and in drawing allows the author or artist to bring certain characteristics to the foreground (this would be a wonderful time to review the concept of personification). 3. Songs of Innocence and Experience To provide a contrast to the Victorian view of childhood behind Carroll's storytelling, have students look at the very different vision offered by the Romantic poet William Blake in his Songs of Innocence and Experience. Be sure to note to students that William Blake published these poems and images in 1789 and 1794 (Innocence and Experience, respectively; via the Blake Archive chronology). Carroll's Alice, on the other hand, was published originally in 1865. An electronic text of Songs of Innocence and Experience, with Blake's illustrations, is available through the EDSITEment-reviewed William Blake Archive. Have students compare, for example, Blake's contrasting visions of childhood in the two poems titled "The Chimney Sweeper," one from the Songs of Innocence (plate 20) and the other from the Songs of Experience (plate 46).
Encourage your students to spend time looking at the different versions, as well as comparing each 'pair' of poems from both Innocence and Experience. Once the class reviews the two chimney sweeper poems together, break students into groups and randomly assign them a Blake poem to examine (concentrate on those directly or indirectly related to children, in keeping with the theme of the lesson plan). Some poems directly relate to children; others come across as child-like in tone or verse (such as "The Lamb" and "The Tyger," both of which share the sound of a nursery rhyme). As students read the poem and compare the images, ask them (as with the first set of poems):
AssessmentHave students compare a pair of illustrated texts from Carroll, Blake, or both (e.g., a selection from a Carroll book, and a single poem from Blake). Ask them to discuss thematic similarities and differences for both the text, the illustration that accompanies it, and conclude with a comparison of the portrayal of childhood in the selected text. Depending on assessment needs and time, the length of the comparison can vary from a simple in-class response paper (or oral presentation) to a lengthier at-home assignment.Extending the LessonExplore a related aspect of the Victorian sensibility by introducing students to the tradition of Fairy Painting that developed during the era, and to Victorian illustrations of fairy tales.Have students look at the illustrations in their own favorite books from childhood—Dr. Seuss books, Charlotte's Web, the Little House on the Prairie series, etc. Discuss the vision of childhood presented by the authors they loved. How does that vision compare to their experiences as children? How would they change these illustrations to reflect those experiences? Selected EDSITEment Websites
Standards Alignment View your state’s standards |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||
 | ||
   |
| |
| EDSITEment contains a variety of links to other websites and references to resources available through government, nonprofit, and commercial entities. These links and references are provided solely for informational purposes and the convenience of the user. Their inclusion does not constitute an endorsement. For more information, please click the Disclaimer icon. | ||
 | ||
| Disclaimer | Conditions of Use | Privacy Policy Search
| Site
Map | Contact
Us | ||
