Death Of An Englishman

Read the text “The Author and do assignment 1. Then read the summary and do assignment 2 (activities a-f)

The Author

The man known as Lewis Carroll was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson on January 27, 1832, in Daresbury, in England's Cheshire county. His parents were from good North Country families, and his father was a clergyman. He was the third of eleven children, and the eldest son. Duringhis childhood, Lewis Carroll entertained his brothers and sisters with games he invented and with stories and verses from family magazines that he edited, illustrated, and largely wrote.


At the age of 12, Carroll went off to school. It seems that he was a hardworking student but he did not enjoy life at boarding school. He was quite shy and reclusive, in part due to a stammer. Hedistinguished himself in mathematics, and went on to study at Oxford's Christ Church at the age of 19. Oxford in Carroll's time was the site of heated debates over such issues as church reform and Charles Darwin's Origin of Species. Carroll himself tended to be orthodox and conservative in his beliefs.


After taking his degree, he became a teacher of mathematics at Christ Church, where he lived untilalmost the end of his life. At Oxford, Carroll made a name for himself as a freelance humorist, parodist, and versifier. His pseudonym first appeared in 1856. (The name Lewis Carroll was derived from a Latinized version of Charles Lutwidge-Carolus Ludovic.)


He was not well suited for the teaching profession. He disliked lecturing both undergraduates and boarding school boys. In the classroom, hehad a very difficult time keeping order. He hated disorder and tried to keep his own life in meticulous order; for example, he kept a detailed log of every letter he wrote and received during his adult life. Carroll's bad experiences at teaching may have contributed in part for his distaste of boys. He once wrote, "I am fond of little children (except boys)."


Some of the little children heknew and loved best at Oxford were the daughters of Henry Liddell, the dean of Christ Church. One of these daughters, Alice Liddell, was the first in a long line of what Carroll called his "child-friends." In an age in which young girls were sentimentalized as emblems of purity and beauty, Carroll regarded little girls with great adoration.


On a boating trip with a teaching colleague and threeof the Liddell children, Carroll told a story so entertaining that Alice asked him to write it down for her. He agreed, and he later expanded it to create Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which was illustrated by John Tenniel and published in 1865.


Carroll wrote other books, as well as books and pamphlets on mathematical theory which are almost forgotten today. He is best known for Aliceand its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. These two books broke from traditional children's literature, which was expected to be realistic, educational, and, above all, moral. Carroll encouraged imagination and was quite determined that Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland would not have a moral purpose.


In addition to his professions of author and mathematician,Carroll was a talented amateur photographer and an ordained deacon of the Church of England. He was a celebrated author in his lifetime, but as he grew older he avoided attention. He died on January 14, 1898 in Guildford, England.



Assignment 1

Choose five pieces of information about Lewis Carroll’s life that you consider significant. Write them down.

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5.Alice in Wonderland

Summary & Activities

Alice is sitting with her sister outdoors when she sees a White Rabbit with a pocket watch. Fascinated, she follows the rabbit down the hole. She falls for a long time, and finds herself in a place full of doors. There is also a key on the table, which unlocks a tiny door; through this door, she can see a beautiful garden. She would love to enter it,...