Charles Dodgson aka “Lewis Carroll”
Lewis Carroll Born Charles Dodgson Jan, 27th 1832 Author of Alice in Wonderland Died 1898
Early Years Born in Daresbury, Chesire, England Third of 11 siblings At 20, was given a scholarship to teach at Christ Church Additionally, he was a famous photographer
Background Information Stood at 6’ and walked with a limp Hurt his knee as a child Deaf in one ear from a fever At 17, contracted “Whooping Cough” Had “The Hesitation”
How did Alice in Wonderland begin? Carroll suffered from a terrible stutter Was only able to talk to children On a boating trip with the Dean of CC, Carroll met Alice Liddell Entertained her with stories These stories were then collected into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Officially published in 1865 Sequel published in 1871 Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There
Most Popular Book by 1932
Genre: Literary Nonsense Balance of elements that make sense with elements that do not in the attempt to fool logical reasoning Humor comes from nonsense Nonsense comes from excessive meaning Combination of Oral Tradition, Folk Stories and Logical Absurdities
Genre: Literary Nonsense (cont.) Distinction Gibberish but not excessive Light Verse has a joke and meaning Riddles 2. Audience Began with Children Literature Expanded to Adult Literature Today, crosses over into Fantasy Genre
Last Years Continued teaching at Oxford till 1881 Died January 14th 1898 Pneumonia followed by Influenza Video Clip Video Clip 2