Alice in Wonderland Summary Alice is sitting with her sister outdoors when she spies a White Rabbit with

a pocket watch. Fascinated by the sight, she follows the rabbit down the hole. She falls for a long time, and finds herself in a long hallway full of doors. There is also a key on the table, which unlocks a tiny door; through this door, she spies a beautiful garden. She longs to get there, but the door is too small. Soon, she finds a drink with a note that asks her to drink it. There is later a cake with a note that tells her to eat; Alice uses both, but she cannot seem to get a handle on things, and is always either too large to get through the door or too small to reach the key. While she is tiny, she slips and falls into a pool of water. She realizes that this little sea is made of tears she cried while a giant. She swims to shore with a number of animals, most notably a sensitive mouse, but manages to offend everyone by talking about her cat's ability to catch birds and mice. Left alone, she goes on through the wood and runs into the White Rabbit. He mistakes her for his maid and sends her to fetch some things from his house. While in the White Rabbit's home, she drinks another potion and becomes too huge to get out through the door. She eventually finds a little cake which, when eaten, makes her small again. In the wood again, she comes across a Caterpillar sitting on a mushroom. He gives her some valuable advice, as well as a valuable tool: the two sides of the mushroom, which can make Alice grow larger and smaller as she wishes. The first time she uses them, she stretches her body out tremendously. While stretched out, she pokes her head into the branches of a tree and meets a Pigeon. The Pigeon is convinced that Alice is a serpent, and though Alice tries to reason with her the Pigeon tells her to be off. Alice gets herself down to normal proportions and continues her trek through the woods. In a clearing she comes across a little house and shrinks herself down enough to get inside. It is the house of the Duchess; the Duchess and the Cook are battling fiercely, and they seem unconcerned about the safety of the baby that the Duchess is nursing. Alice takes the baby with her, but the child turns into a pig and trots off into the woods. Alice next meets the Cheshire cat (who was sitting in the Duchess's house, but said nothing). The Cheshire cat helps her to find her way through the woods, but he warns her that everyone she meets will be mad. Alice goes to the March Hare's house, where she is treated to a Mad Tea Party. Present are the March Hare, the Hatter, and the Dormouse. Ever since Time stopped working for the Hatter, it has always been six o'clock; it is therefore always teatime. The creatures of the Mad Tea Party are some of the must argumentative in all of Wonderland. Alice leaves them and finds a tree with a door in it: when she looks through the door, she spies the door-lined hallway from the beginning of her adventures. This time, she is prepared, and she manages to get to the lovely garden that she saw earlier. She walks on through, and finds herself in the garden of the Queen of Hearts. There, three gardeners (with bodies shaped like playing cards) are painting the roses red. If the Queen finds out that they planted white roses, she'll have them beheaded. The Queen herself soon arrives, and she does order their execution; Alice helps to hide them in a large flowerpot. The Queen invites Alice to play croquet, which is a very difficult game in Wonderland, as the balls and mallets are live animals. The game is interrupted by the appearance of the Cheshire cat, whom the King of Hearts immediately dislikes. The Queen takes Alice to the Gryphon, who in turn takes Alice to the Mock Turtle. The Gryphon and the Mock Turtle tell Alice bizarre stories about their school under the sea.The Mock Turtles sings a melancholy song about turtle soup, and soon afterward the Gryphon drags Alice off to see the trial of the Knave of Hearts. The Knave of Hearts has been accused of stealing the tarts of the Queen of Hearts, but the evidence against him is very bad. Alice is appalled by the ridiculous proceedings. She also begins to grow larger. She is soon called to the witness stand; by this time she has grown to giant size. She refuses to be intimidated by the bad logic of the court and the bluster of the King and Queen of Hearts. Suddenly, the cards all rise up and attack her, at which point she wakes up. Her adventures in Wonderland have all been a fantastic dream. Character Alice - The seven-year-old protagonist of the story. Alice believes that the world is orderly and stable, and she has an insatiable curiosity about her surroundings. Wonderland challenges and frustrates her perceptions of the world. The White Rabbit - The frantic, harried Wonderland creature that originally leads Alice to Wonderland. The White Rabbit is figure of some importance, but he is manic, timid, and occasionally aggressive.

The Queen of Hearts - The ruler of Wonderland. The Queen is severe and domineering, continually screaming for her subjects to be beheaded. Read an in-depth analysis of The Queen of Hearts. The King of Hearts - The coruler of Wonderland. The King is ineffectual and generally unlikeable, but lacks the Queens ruthlessness and undoes her orders of execution. The Cheshire Cat - A perpetually grinning cat who appears and disappears at will. The Cheshire Cat displays a detached, clearheaded logic and explains Wonderlands madness to Alice. The Duchess - The Queens uncommonly ugly cousin. The Duchess behaves rudely to Alice at first, but later treats her so affectionately that her advances feel threatening. The Caterpillar - A Wonderland creature. The Caterpillar sits on a mushroom, smokes a hookah, and treats Alice with contempt. He directs Alice to the magic mushroom that allows her to shrink and grow. The Gryphon - A servant to the Queen who befriends Alice. The Gryphon escorts Alice to see the Mock Turtle. The Mock Turtle - A turtle with the head of a calf. The Mock Turtle is friendly to Alice but is exceedingly sentimental and self-absorbed. Alices sister - The only character whom Alice interacts with outside of Wonderland. Alices sister daydreams about Alices adventures as the story closes. The Knave of Hearts - An attendant to the King and Queen. The Knave has been accused of stealing the Queens tarts. The Mouse - The first Wonderland creature that Alice encounters. The Mouse is initially frightened of Alice and her talk about her pet cat, and eventually tells the story of Fury and the Mouse that foreshadows the Knave of Hearts trial. He proposes that the animals participate in a Caucus race. The Cook - The Duchesss cook, who causes everyone to sneeze with the amount of pepper she uses in her cooking. The Cook is ill-tempered, throwing objects at the Duchess and refusing to give evidence at the trial. The Pigeon - A Wonderland creature who believes Alice is a serpent. The pigeon is sulky and angry and thinks Alice is after her eggs. Two, Five, and Seven - The playing-card gardeners. Two, Five, and Seven are fearful and fumbling, especially in the presence of the Queen. Bill - A lizard who first appears as a servant of the White Rabbit and later as a juror at the trial. Bill is stupid and ineffectual. The Frog-Footman - The Duchesss footman. The Frog-footman is stupid and accustomed to the fact that nothing makes sense in Wonderland.

Setting Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Wonderland, as the word suggests, is a fantastic land where srange things are possible and where everything is illogical. The use of food in Wonderland is not illogical, but it is different from ours because in our world we can only grow larger while there you can even grow smaller. Time is also different in Wonderland: real time moves constantly forward, "time" there can stop or accelerate. Another difference is that time in Wonderland is personified. The concept of space is sometimes quiet strange in Wonderland too. Objects and places seem not to have a precise position in space: objects appear and disappear, and even places change thei aspect and position. Alice meets many characters in Wonderland, and many of them are quiet strange.It is possible to distinguish four categories of characters: Human beings; Animals; Fantastic animals; Living playing-cards. All categories of characters are not normal:only the characters of the first category might exist in the real world, but their behaviour is very unusual. We can say that Wonderland is the typical product of a mind of a child.

1. tired

depleted of strength or energy

2.

label

assign a label to; designate with a label

3.

latitude

an imaginary line around the Earth parallel to the equator

4.

fancy

imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind

5.

passage

a way through or along which someone or something may pass

6.

telescope

a magnifier of images of distant objects

7.

marked

having or as if having an identifying mark or a mark as specified; often used in combination

8.

pretend

represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like

9.

curious

beyond or deviating from the usual or expected

10.

surprise

cause to be surprised

11.

manage

carry on or function

12.

shrink

reduce in size; reduce physically

13.

pardon

the act of excusing a mistake or offense

14.

tone

the quality of something (an act or a piece of writing) that reveals the attitudes and presuppositions of the author

15.

offend

cause to feel resentment or indignation

16.

commotion

a disorderly outburst or tumult

17.

consultation

a conference between two or more people to consider a particular question

18.

insolence

the trait of being rude and impertinent; inclined to take liberties

19.

melancholy

characterized by or causing or expressing sadness

20.

adjourn

break from a meeting or gathering

21.

titter

laugh nervously

22.

crowd

fill or occupy to the point of overflowing

23.

confused

lacking orderly continuity

24.

denial

the act of refusing to comply (as with a request)

25.

pretext

an artful or simulated semblance

26.

exact

marked by strict and particular and complete accordance with fact

27.

opportunity

a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances