English 104 - Introduction to Narrative
October 05, 2003 - October 11, 2003
The Presence of an Omniscient Narrator
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Meredeth Lammert
The narrator in Alice In Wonderland intrigues us with Alice’s story through the use of dialogue, Alice’s inner thoughts, critiques of her actions and comments, and presentation of rhetorical questions. Thus, I would characterize the narrator as omniscient. The passage I would like to closely examine is on page...
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Posted by mlammert on October 07, 2003 at 09:53 AM
O mouse! Why can't you understand me?
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Jeb Bobseine
Alice is frustrated in her attempts first at speaking to the mouse, and then at convincing the mouse to tell her its life story. Initially, Alice hails the mouse with “ ‘O mouse, do you know the way out of this pool?’ (18)” The mouse seems not to understand. Carroll...
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Posted by jbobsein on October 07, 2003 at 09:43 AM
Alice can't get past her own problems....
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Drew Fulton
Alice’s lack of ability to understand the drastic changes in her height completely blocks her logic and her ability to communicate with the creatures around her. Alice’s encounter with the hookah smoking caterpillar is a prime example of Alice’s lack of ability to communicate clearly with the animals as well...
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Posted by afulton on October 07, 2003 at 09:42 AM
Alice and Social Conventions
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Jennifer Bernstein
The narrator in Alice in Wonderland seems to know Alice even better than she might know herself, and in such a curious world, where we, just like Alice, hardly know what to make of these strange happenings, we look to the narrator to understand and interpret these events for us....
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Posted by jbernste on October 07, 2003 at 09:37 AM
The Witty Narrator
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Jeff Nolin
The narrator in Alice in Wonderland seems to enjoy mocking Alice. Alice talks as though she is from the upper class, but and tried to show off how educated she is many times during the book, but she often is confused with what she says and the narrator often adds...
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Posted by jnolin on October 07, 2003 at 09:36 AM
Alice's Characterization by the Narrator
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland
It seems that the main way Alice is chracterized is by the commentary she speaks to herself as she travels through the strange dreamscape of Wonderland. Alice uses curious rhetorical commentary to assure herself of her sanity as she wanders through Wonderland. For example, when Alice grows to be...
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Posted by ebutton on October 07, 2003 at 09:27 AM
Cfuosnnig Srutcrues
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Torri Parker
Throughout chapter 5 the caterpillar and Alice are constantly frustrated by the lack of understanding gained by their conversation. Alice replies to who she is with, "I hardly know sir, just at present at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I...
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Posted by cparker on October 07, 2003 at 09:14 AM
Anonymous...
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Kendall Brown
Alice In Wonderland is an interesting narration because the reader has no background on the narrator. As Alice plunges down the rabbit hole, the narrator keeps the reader informed about Alice’s state of mind while also being sympathetic to her constantly changing state if mind. As a seven-year-old girl...
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Posted by kbrown2 on October 07, 2003 at 09:08 AM
ADD in Wonderland
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Ryan Helminiak
The communication barrier between the animals and Alice arises mainly as the result of the short attention span of the characters during dialog. Passing ideas take prominence over their present condition and they attempt to relate their surroundings to the passing idea. Communication in Alice in Wonderland is especially frustrated...
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Posted by rhelmini on October 07, 2003 at 08:14 AM
Communication Breakdown
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Mike Stratton
The communication in Alice in Wonderland is a muddled by each character not quite knowing or being able to understand what the others characters are saying. Alice when talking to herself seems to be confused and lost, by her own thought process. “I wonder if I’ve changed in the night?...
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Posted by mstratto on October 07, 2003 at 08:02 AM
What it means to be a kid
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Dro Joseney
Most parents don’t know what their kids want even when they are grown up. But in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, an older narrator tries to dictate the story of a little girl who had nothing to do one day. Through the first six chapters, the book is filled with...
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Posted by cjoseney on October 07, 2003 at 07:30 AM
Insight from Above
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Dan Herzberg
The omniscient narrator in Alice in Wonderland is a lively, emotional and conversational storyteller. He is not afraid to go off on small tangents or to add in his own emotional slants to his story telling. On page 12, we find Alice shortly after she has drunk from the bottle...
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Posted by dherzber on October 07, 2003 at 07:25 AM
Communication Troubles
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Jannelle Richardson
The main difficulty the characters encounter when they communicating with each other is language. Language becomes the cause of several misunderstandings between Alice and the mouse. The first occurs when the mouse ignores Alice when she asks “O Mouse, do you know the way out of this pool.” It turns...
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Posted by jrichar2 on October 07, 2003 at 04:07 AM
Size affects Communication
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Europa Yang
The scene at White Rabbit’s house demonstrates frustrated communication between Alice and these strange animals. The first misunderstanding occurs when Rabbit “took (Alice) for his housemaid (p27),” causing her to comply with his “angry” demands out of fear. The next problem stems from Alice’s enormous size, which literally blocks Rabbit...
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Posted by eyang on October 07, 2003 at 03:24 AM
Cowboy Up
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Greg Pearson
The “wet, cross and uncomfortable” (21) creatures assembled at the beginning of chapter three are simply trying to decide how best to get dry, but a series of miscommunications arising from creative wordplay turns the situation into a nonsensical fiasco. The Mouse begins by interpreting “dry” as “boring” and so...
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Posted by gpearson on October 07, 2003 at 02:31 AM
The "communication" between two types of narration
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Alex Smith
Carroll’s narration of Alice in Wonderland is meant to confuse the reader as it gives both an objective description of the communications between characters, as well as a more subjective understanding of what is going on in Alice’s head. When Alice is stuck in the white rabbit’s house and is...
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Posted by asmith9 on October 07, 2003 at 02:00 AM
Who are you?
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Aki Makino
The communication between Alice and the caterpillar is one of the frustrating scenes in the book. They are two characters, one not knowing what is going on and the other being haughty, arguing back and forth about nothing. Alice, who “can’t explain myself (herself),” (35) attempts to answer the...
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Posted by amakino on October 07, 2003 at 01:56 AM
Really Big Shoes
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Julie Calareso
Communication is severely frustrating during the chapter IV scene, in which Alice has entered the Rabbit’s house, drank the enlarging potion and gotten stuck in the small abode. The communication is frustrating on two levels: it is frustrating between characters and reader, and it is frustrating between the actual characters...
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Posted by jcalares on October 07, 2003 at 01:48 AM
Searching for Answers
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Ryan Hurd
Obviously the most frustrating encounter for Alice and the reader is when she meets the caterpillar for the very first time. He stares at Alice for awhile and then begins their conversation with, “who are you?” (pg.35) The narrator himself explains how, “This was not an encouraging opening for a...
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Posted by rhurd on October 07, 2003 at 01:25 AM
Race to Knowhere (or, The Caucus Race)
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Jim Light
Alice’s journey through Wonderland is certainly a curious one, but it is Carroll’s manipulation of language and conversation that is, “curiouser and curiouser.” Assuredly, much of the narrative is a commentary on the absurdity of the English language and the ease in which communication is distorted. One such episode occurred...
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Posted by jlight on October 07, 2003 at 01:16 AM
"Which was very likely true..."
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Jade Dunn
An obvious 3rd person narration work from the beginning, Alice in Wonderland, provides the reader with a narrative style that is both omniscient (having access and understanding of only the character Alice) and almost mocking. While at first appearing to share her private thoughts and convey her actions in a...
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Posted by jdunn2 on October 07, 2003 at 01:16 AM
Peculiarity in Context
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Frank Chi
The sequence of events in Alice in Wonderland relies on its absurdity and unorthodox plot development. Lewis Carroll’s blend of animal and human characters initially provokes the thoughts of a children’s tale. But when reflected upon, Alice’s contact with animal speakers displays intense frustration and peculiarity. Alice’s first conversation...
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Posted by fchi on October 07, 2003 at 01:15 AM
Frustrated Communication
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Monica Ruzicka
“A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale” (Chapter Three) frustrates communication in such a way that both the initial misinterpretation of words and the consequential misunderstanding of their implications are inevitable. Ambiguous dialogue welcomes a play on words in which homonyms and homophones are the primary cause of this blocked...
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Posted by mruzicka on October 07, 2003 at 01:09 AM
Narration of Alice
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Alex Krippner
The narrator of Alice in Wonderland helps the reader to understand not only the events concerning Alice, but her thoughts and opinions regarding these events as well. This third person narration explores the novel and shapes the views of the reader, specifically from Alice’s point of view. In this way,...
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Posted by kkrippne on October 07, 2003 at 12:39 AM
The Trouble with Homophones
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Katie Mitterling
Stuck in a strange fantasy world, Alice struggles to regain her bearings and communicate with any being that could help her. However, her attempts fail due to her inability to understand the Mouse, confusing simple words with their phonetic twin. "'It is a long tail, certainly…but why do you...
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Posted by kmitterl on October 07, 2003 at 12:22 AM
Alice's Skewed Narration
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Kelsey Hughes
In Alice in Wonderland there is a third person narration which involves the thoughts of Alice, but no thoughts of anyone else. This means that everything told is told through what Alice sees, what Alice experiences, and what she perceives things as. This, like the other two stories we have...
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Posted by khughes2 on October 06, 2003 at 11:51 PM
self-righteous Alice
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Erica Michel
The narrator for Alice in Wonderland is an omniscient narrator who knows the entire story and every thought of Alice. The narrator often interjects comments which give insight into Alice’s character and how she views the world. An excellent example of this is when Alice has grown very large...
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Posted by emichel on October 06, 2003 at 11:50 PM
Alice's childish nature
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Alix Roy
The style of narration in Alice and Wonderland emphasizes Alice’s childish, ignorant nature. Since the text is written using a third person narrator, we are let into the mind of Alice and are able to use her thoughts to aid us in forming our opinion of her. In addition to...
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Posted by aroy on October 06, 2003 at 11:49 PM
Explaining Alice
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Merrie Railsback
The narrator of Alice in Wonderland is a third person narrator, yet not an omniscient one. The only person’s thoughts we are privy to are Alice’s. It makes one think: what is the purpose of this third person narrator? If the only person’s thoughts we get are Alice’s, why doesn’t...
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Posted by mrailsba on October 06, 2003 at 11:48 PM
Got Narration?
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Kira Chappelle
Communication between Alice and the hookah-smoking Caterpillar is slow, repetitive, and broken. This frustrated communication is reinforced by the narrator who simply recounts the dialogue, rather than attempt to clarify the dialogue. The Caterpillar begins the conversation by asking Alice, “Who are you?” to which Alice answers, “I—I hardly...
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Posted by kchappel on October 06, 2003 at 11:47 PM
"Who in the world am I?"
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Matthew Roy
In Lewis Carroll’s classic novel, Alice in Wonderland, we are immediately introduced to our young narrator named Alice. We are presented with this story though her first person point of view. This view shows honest and first hand accounts of Alice’s thoughts and emotions. Ironically, as the reader amerces themselves...
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Posted by mroy on October 06, 2003 at 10:36 PM
More than One Communication Blocker
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Eric Davich
Both Alice and the Caterpillar make it difficult to communicate with each other when they first meet. In this scene, Alice is disoriented and tries to explain to the Caterpillar that for her, “being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing” (35). The Caterpillar, although he does...
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Posted by edavich on October 06, 2003 at 09:04 PM
The narrator shows that Alice is truly in wonder in "wonderland"
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Emily Hubbard
The narrator in Alice in Wonderland has a double role, acting as an omniscient narrator and a mere spectator who takes joy in commenting on the character’s actions, particularly the actions of Alice. The narrator makes it clear that Alice enjoys the sound of her own voice. When Alice...
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Posted by ehubbard on October 06, 2003 at 08:53 PM
Illuminating Thought Processes
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Nicole Colucci
While the third person narrator of Alice in Wonderland does not make deliberate, opinionated statements, his/her judgments and societal criticisms can be inferred through the portrayal of Alice. Alice’s dialogue generally reveals the most about her character, but the narration is illuminating as well because it encompasses Alice’s behavior...
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Posted by ncolucci on October 06, 2003 at 08:48 PM
in her head
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Jin-Sun Kim
Alice in Wonderland is in the third person narrative. The narrator knows everything that’s going on and can tell us about all the characters. However, he is more focused on the perspective of Alice. Her feelings sometimes come out in the narration. The reader knows how she feels and the...
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Posted by jkim3 on October 06, 2003 at 08:34 PM
Inability to See Eye to Eye
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Sophie Wiss
As Alice embarks on her journey through Wonderland, she repeatedly finds herself becoming frustrated by her inability to communicate with Wonderland’s inhabitants. Though she is able to adapt to the strange occurrences she finds there, she is unable to become accustomed to such frustrated communication. The narrator notes that “she...
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Posted by swiss on October 06, 2003 at 08:12 PM
the Confusing Caterpillar
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Dan Yingst
When Alice comes in contact with “a large blue catepillar…smoking a long hookah” (34), she finds herself involved in a very odd and strained conversation. The Caterpillar does not facilitate the conversation at all; instead he opens up with a brusque “Who are you?” (35). The confusion that Alice is...
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Posted by dyingst on October 06, 2003 at 08:01 PM
Alice’s Wonderland of Discourtesy
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Molly McCarter
Alice’s most bewildering habit is her insistence on being polite and kind. It seems odd that Alice would choose to retain her good manners in this Wonderland of rude and illogical characters. Her manners seem out of place to us, but they are entirely incomprehensible to the characters she meets...
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Posted by mmccarte on October 06, 2003 at 07:27 PM
Third Person Narrator
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Tasha Graff
The narrator of the "Alice in Wonderland" is a third-person narrator who is not all knowing, but has access to all Alice’s thoughts and emotions. The story is developed through the young, naïve Alice’s dialogue with other characters, and her thoughts as presented by the third-person narrator. “This curious child...
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Posted by tgraff on October 06, 2003 at 05:53 PM
Annoyance At Its Best
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Niki Alvarez
The scene in which Alice is speaking to the Chesire cat is an especially frustrating one. The frustration is aided by both characters, and is predominantly started by Alice. She entices the Cheshire Cat to tell her “then it doesn’t matter which way you go”(64)* in response to her remark...
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Posted by nalvarez on October 06, 2003 at 05:26 PM
A Frustrating Struggle
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Britta Bene
Throughout the story Alice in Wonderland there are many scenes with difficult communication. However, one of the most frustrating scenes is the one with the famous caterpillar. He asks Alice: “Who are you?” (35) and Alice answers shyly: “I – I hardly know, Sir” (35). The protagonist is a lost...
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Posted by bbene on October 06, 2003 at 05:20 PM
Narrator Portrays Alice as Naive
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Eli Maitland
As was the case in Wuthering Heights, it seems that in "Alice in Wonderland" we are getting a somewhat biased version of the story. Through the first six chapters of the book, there is very little character development of our main character, Alice. As a result, the only real characterization...
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Posted by emaitlan on October 06, 2003 at 03:54 PM
Untangling a Tale of a Tail
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Chris Johnson
Chapter three contains a scene in which total confusion erupts from Alice’s misunderstanding of Mouse’s use of the word “tale.” This confusion, however, is not shared by the reader, because the narrator makes it quite obvious how each character is using the word. From the beginning of the dialogue, it...
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Posted by cjohnso2 on October 06, 2003 at 03:39 PM
Insight into Alice
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Jason Lewis
From the onset of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland it is evident that the means of narration is accomplished via a third-person, limited omniscient chronicler. The narrator has unlimited access to the thoughts and feelings of only one character, Alice. The reader is provided with plentiful information regarding the feelings...
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Posted by jlewis2 on October 06, 2003 at 03:11 PM
A Simple Question Deserves A Simple Answer
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Alex Paul
After narrowly escaping from a playful puppy many times her own size, Alice finds herself face to face with a Caterpillar, sitting on a mushroom and smoking a hookah. In this scene, communication is particularly frustrated on account of Alice’s inability to answer the Caterpillar’s simple question, “Who are you”...
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Posted by apaul on October 06, 2003 at 11:17 AM
Alice, the Caterpillar and change
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Meghan Gillis
The conversation between Alice and Caterpillar was one of particular confusion and begins in an extremely roundabout matter as the Caterpillar demands of Alice “Who are you?”(p35), only to have Alice disappointingly reply “I-I hardly know….I ca’n’t explain myself” (p35) as Alice is so discouraged about her constant changing in...
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Posted by mgillis on October 06, 2003 at 10:23 AM
The mysterious caterpillar hinders the reader's understanding
Category: Emily Sheffield
Communication is repeatedly haulted in chapter 5 in Alice in Wonderland, when Alice is first acquainted with the caterpiller. The caterpillar (understandably) has a great deal of difficulty comprehending Alice's predicament when, after asking her name, she replies that she "hardly know[s]". (Carroll, p.35) However, the caterpillar fails to...
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Posted by esheffie on October 05, 2003 at 10:03 PM
Alice's World
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Ged Wieschhoff
It is clear, right from the beginning of the novel, that the narrator is a first person observer. The narrator is removed from the story she relays but has the ability to show the reader Alice’s thoughts and emotions. There are many characters that Alice encounters through out the...
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Posted by gwieschh on October 05, 2003 at 07:16 PM
The All-Seeing-All-Knowing-One
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Taneisha Wilson
The narrator in Alice in Wonderland is an omniscient narrator. In a story such as Alice in Wonderland this is an important device because a lot of the passages are seemingly nonsensical and without the aid of an outside party. The omniscient narrator uses a parenthetical device to add insight...
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Posted by twilson on October 05, 2003 at 07:01 PM
Alice's Identity Crisis
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Andrew Morrison
Of all the ridiculous incidences that Alice encounters in Wonderland, the most troublesome is her inability to communicate with other characters. For every time she changes size there is an encounter with another character that is hindered by some sort of communication block. A prime example of this is her...
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Posted by amorriso on October 05, 2003 at 03:38 PM