1. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Theme Exploration
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

2. Remember the requirements?
A generalization about life/society
Specific dates, locations, characters, etc. are unnecessary
a central and unifying concept of a story
It must account for all major details in the literature and not be contradicted by any details in the literature
A theme should be expressed as a statement
A subject and predicate is needed
There is no one way to state a theme: variety is the spice of theme
The stated theme should not be larger than what is justified by the terms of the story
Avoid statements that reduce the theme to familiar sayings or clichés (“money is the root of all evil” or “bad news travels fast”)

3. Step One General Ideas Share with a partner Share with the class
Brainstorm a list of “big ideas” that are relevant to the novel
Share with a partner
Share with the class

4. Step Two Expand the general idea Ask “what about it?” “So what?”
Expand your general idea into a complete statement that follows the rules of a theme

5. Step Three
Find at least 3 examples from the novel that support your theme
When you have found three – submit your theme statement via Socrative
Once all groups have submitted via socrative – go through each one and have the groups share out the support they found in the text

6. Theme Exploration
Day Two

7. Looking at Chapter Titles
As we have discussed before, the chapter titles can be analyzed as independent stories
For example:
Down the Rabbit-Hole
What is the symbolic nature of Alice falling down the rabbit hole?
What meanings can be extracted from this chapter?
Rabbit hole symbolizes the process of growing up – she spends her time falling thinking of what she will do when she lands, how she will be different, how other people will think of her, etc.
When she gets to the bottom, she lands safely (the cushion of childhood) but her journey is far from over.
Wonderland is not what she anticipated it to be (much like adulthood).
She encounters closed doors (obstacles) until finding the golden key that unlocks the door to the garden – she wishes she could go to the garden but she unable to fit through the door (another obstacle) – she finds the potion, drinks it and shrinks to a small enough size to allow her entrance into the garden but she has forgotten the key (frustration sets in). She can’t reach the table but finds the cake – surprisingly, nothing happens when she eats the cake – at least not right away.
Possible ideas: growing up, plans that go awry, overcoming obstacles, etc.

8. Down the Rabbit Hole Let’s work with “Growing up” What about it?
How can we support our idea?
Lead the class to an idea about growing up – then have them find the examples/quotes to prove their ideas

9. Homework Choose another chapter from the novel.
Complete the theme analysis process for your chosen chapter and, in your RJ, compose an extended paragraph answering the following question:
How does Carroll use elements such as setting, narrative pace, and characterization to convey a central theme or message?
Due tomorrow
Class will meet in the computer lab tomorrow
Thursday – Ollenburg’s classes in Library Lab
Parker’s classes in Graphics Lab