Notes for Chapter 9, "The Mock Turtle's Story"

- The Duchess continually tells Alice that there is always a moral if you look hard enough
  - this is a reflection of moralistic education of the early 19th c.
    - like the Busy Bee poem which tells children to work hard and stay out of trouble
  - the Duchess seems to twist the moral she wants, regardless of the conversation
    - ex: "The more there is of mine, the less there is of yours" regarding a conversation about mustard
- The Queen takes Alice to the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle
  - The Gryphon tells us that the Queen never executes anyone - "it's all her fancy, that"
  - The Mock Turtle's sorrow is also "all his fancy"
  - Carroll is trying to tell us that our world is shaped by the attitude we bring to it
- The Mock Turtle's story is a parody of Victorian education
  - took Reeling & Writhing (reading and writing)
    - words that describe suffering
  - took Mystery (History)
  - Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils (Drawing, sketching, and painting in oils)
  - Laughing and Grief (Latin and Greek)
    - Greeks also taught us about laughing and grief through comedy and tragedy (Greek drama)
    - the Mock Turtle's grief brings the reader laughter through his puns
  - Lessons lessen every day
- Each pun shows an emotion associated with the topic being taught

Assignment:


1. How does the Mock Turtle's use of puns help us understand his attitudes about school?
2. Choose 2 questions you wrote for Chapter 9, "The Mock Turtle's Story," and answer in paragraph form.