A Study Guide to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

T.A. Шустилова 

A Study Guide
to
Alice’s Adventures 
in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll

Учебное пособие по 
аналитическому чтению

Москва
Издательство «ФЛИНТА»
2019

УДК 811.111(075.3/8)
ББК  81.432.1я72/73
         Ш97

         Шустилова Т.А.
Ш97      A Study Guide to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis

Carroll 
 
[Электронный 
ресурс] 
: 
учеб. 
пособие 
по 
аналитическому чтению / Т.А. Шустилова. — М. : ФЛИНТА, 
2019. — 116 с. : ил.

ISBN 978-5-9765-3965-5

Пособие содержит комплекс заданий, которые призваны помочь учащимся ознакомиться с шедевром мировой литературы, 
преодолеть трудности, связанныe с чтением неадаптированного 
произведения на языке оригинала, и раскрыть смыслы, неочевидные даже для многих носителей английского языка, благодаря 
привлечению сведений из области лингвистики, истории и литературы. Каждый из пятнадцати уроков включает задания, направленные на развитие у учащихся навыков чтения, говорения, анализа 
художественного текста, формирование культурной компетенции 
и расширение словарного запаса.
Пособие адресовано учащимся школ, колледжей и вузов, владеющим английским языком на уровне не ниже порогового (В1). 
Обилие заданий разной степени сложности в каждом уроке позволит 
учителю адаптировать материал к работе с группами школьников 
и студентов с учетом их уровня, возраста, специализации и круга 
интересов.
УДК 811.111(075.3/8)
ББК 81.432.1я72/73

ISBN 978-5-9765-3965-5
© Шустилова Т.А., 2019
© Издательство «ФЛИНТА», 2019

Contents

Study guide..........................................................................5

Lesson 1. Introduction: reading books ...............................6

Lesson 2. The Life and Work of Lewis Carroll .....................9

Lesson 3. “All in the Golden Afternoon” ...........................15

Lesson 4. Chapter I.........................................................21

Lesson 5. Chapter II........................................................26

Lesson 6. Chapter III.......................................................33

Lesson 7. Chapter IV.......................................................41

Lesson 8. Chapter V........................................................47

Lesson 9. Chapter VI.......................................................54

Lesson 10. Chapter VII....................................................63

Lesson 11. Chapters VIII and IX......................................68

Lesson 12. Chapters IX and X .........................................74

Lesson 13. Chapters XI and XII .......................................81

Lesson 14. End of Chapter XII and “An Easter Greeting to 
Every Child Who Loves Alice” ..........................................89

Lesson 15. Conference ....................................................93

Reading materials ..............................................................95

Lewis Carroll and the Alice books ....................................96

“All in the Golden Afternoon” by Lewis Carroll ............... 101

“Against Idleness and Mischief” by Isaac Watts.............. 102

“The Old Man’s Comforts, and How He Gained Them” by 
Robert Southey............................................................. 103

“Speak Gently” by David Bates ...................................... 104

Nursery rhyme.............................................................. 105

“An Easter Greeting to Every Child Who Loves Alice” by 
Lewis Carroll ................................................................ 106

Scripts . ............................................................................. 108 

Chapter V. Alice’s conversation with the Caterpillar ....... 109 

Chapter VI. Alice’s Conversation with the Cheshire Cat . 110

Chapter IX. Alice’s Conversation with the Duchess ........ 112 

Bibliography .................................................................. 114 

Study guide 

Lesson 1. Introduction: reading books

1
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Why do people read books?

1) What is your favourite book? What do you like about it?
2) Most of the books we read are about things and people 

that are not real. So, do you think reading books is a 
waste of time1? Why (not)?

2
CHECK YOUR KNOWLEDGE What do you know about the Alice 
books and their author?

1) the author
2) the plot
3) famous characters, jokes, phrases
4) the story behind the creation of the book
5) the historical period when the books were written
6) the reasons why they have been so popular ever since 

they were written

3
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Reading books in the original.

1) What are the main difficulties one may face when reading 

an English book in the original→2? 

2) Think of a few ways to cope with3 these difficulties.

4
SETTING GOALS Course objectives and your personal goals.

1) Look at the objectives4
listed below. Choose three 

objectives that you find particularly→5
important to 

achieve. Explain your choice. 

Objectives

✓
to improve my reading/writing/speaking/listening 
skills

✓
to enlarge my vocabulary

✓
to learn to analyse6 a work of literature

✓
to find out more about the culture of Englishspeaking countries

✓
to become acquainted7 with a famous author and 
his/her major8 work(s)

2) What do you have to do in order to meet these objectives?

What kind of activities can help you?

3) Think of one or two more skills that you expect to learn 

or develop.

5
VOCABULARY Fill in the second column of the chart with 
Russian equivalents9 of the words in bold. Practise 
translating the words from Russian into English.

English word/phrase
definition and/or Russian 
equivalent

1
(to be) a waste of time/ 
money

2
origin (n.) /ˈɒrɪdʒɪn/
1) the place or situation in 
which something begins to 
exist; 2) the country, race or 
type of family that someone 
comes from 

original (adj.)
existing at the beginning of a 
period or process before any 
changes have been made

(to read a book/watch a 
film) in the original

3
to cope with sth (a 
problem/difficulty)

to deal successfully with a 
difficult situation

4
an objective
to achieve/meet an 
objective

= goal (something you are 
trying hard to achieve) 

5
particular (adj.)
/pəˈtɪkjələ/

1) = certain, specific (this 
and not any other) 

2) special or great

→ particularly (adv.) 
/pəˈtɪkjələli/ 

= especially /ɪˈspeʃəli/ (very 
or very much) 

6 to analyse (BrE), to 
analyze (AmE) 
/ˈænəlaɪz/ 
→ (an) analysis 
/əˈnælɪsɪs/ 

7 to get/become 
acquainted with sb/sth 
/əˈkweɪntɪd/ 

to start to know about 
something 

→ an acquaintance  
/əˈkweɪntəns/ 

someone you know, but who 
is not a close friend 

8 major /ˈmeɪdʒə/ 
more important or serious 
than other things of the same 
kind 

vs minor /ˈmaɪnə/ 

9 an equivalent (of sth) 
/ɪˈkwɪvələnt/ 

Lesson 2. The Life and Work of Lewis Carroll

READING

See Reading materials

1) Lewis Carroll and the Alice books
2) “All in the Golden Afternoon” by Lewis Carroll (the 

poetic introduction to “Alice’s Adventures in 
Wonderland”)

1
READING COMPREHENSION Read the article about Lewis 
Carroll and the Alice books and give detailed answers to
the following questions.

1) What kind of person was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson? 
2) Use 4-6 adjectives to describe his personality. Provide 

evidence1 from the article to support your answer.

3) Did Ch. L. Dodgson have a happy childhood? Provide 

information about his background2, family and school.

4) What was Ch. L. Dodgson’s main occupation3? What 

hobbies did he have? 

5) How did Dodgson’s writing talent develop?
6) What kind of books did children normally read during the 

reign4 of Queen Victoria (in the Victorian era)? How were 
the Alice books different?

2
READING COMPREHENSION Read the poem “All in the Golden 
Afternoon”. Translate the unknown words. Then answer 
the question:

How is the story behind the creation of Alice’s Adventures 
in Wonderland reflected5 in the poetic introduction to the 
novel? 

3
PROJECT AND PRESENTATION Prepare a presentation about 
the Victorian era. Include answers to the following 
questions:

1) Who was Queen Victoria? When did she rule England?
2) How big was the British Empire at the end of her reign? 

What territories did it include (give a few examples).

3) What important historical events happened in England 

during her reign? Tell the class about a few major 
developments in some of the following spheres: industry, 
politics, technology, culture, science and engineering.

4) What moral values were promoted during her reign? What 

qualities did people value the most?

4
VOCABULARY Fill in the second column of the chart with 
Russian equivalents of the words in bold. Practise 
translating the words in grey rows from Russian into 
English, and the words in white rows – from English into 
Russian.a

English word/phrase
definition and/or Russian 
equivalent

1
evidence 
facts of signs that show clearly 
that something is true

2
background
the type of family, social 
position, or culture that 
someone comes from

3
occupation
/ˌɒkjəˈpeɪʃən/

a job or profession

4
reign /reɪn/
→ to reign

a period when someone is king, 
queen or emperor

5
to reflect sth
1) if a mirror/water r. 
something, you can see an 
image of the thing on the 
surface; 2) to show or be a sign 
of something

Vocabulary from “Lewis Carroll and the Alice books”

1
moralistic 
/ˌmɒrəˈlɪstɪk/

a The instructions will be the same for all tasks of this type (marked 
VOCABULARY) further on in this book.

2
odd (adj.)
= unusual (especially in an 
interesting way)

3
to raise (a child)
= to bring up (to look after 
your children and help them 
grow)

4
humour (BrE),
humor (AmE)
/ˈhjuːmə/

a sense of humour

→ humorous (adj.) 
/ˈhjuːmərəs/

→ humorist

5
to contribute to 
sth /kənˈtrɪbjuːt/

to be one of the things that 
help to make something 
happen

6
to stammer 
/ˈstæmə/
stammer

to speak with a lot of pauses 
and repeated sounds because 
of speech problems or 
nervousness

7
to amuse sb
/əˈmjuːz/

1) to make someone laugh or 
smile; 

2) = to entertain (to make time 
pass in an enjoyable way for 
someone)

8
bizarre (adj) 
/bəˈzɑː/

= (very) unusual/strange

9
to entertain sb
/ˌentəˈteɪn/

→ entertainment
(n.)

10
apart from (prep.)
= in addition to someone or 
something

11
a puppet /ˈpʌpɪt/
puppet 
theatre/show/ play

a small model of a person or 
animal that you can move by 
pulling strings, or by putting 
your hand inside it

12
a script
the written words of a play/film 
etc

13
a scholar 
/ˈskɒlə(r)ʃɪp/

someone who studies a 
particular subject, such as 
history, literature, law etc and 
knows a lot about it 
(≠ a scientist)

(a) scholarship 
/ˈskɒlə(r)ʃɪp/

1) (U) serious formal study 

2) (C) an amount of money that 
an organization gives to 
someone so that they can 
study at a particular school or 
university

14
to master sth
/ˈmɑːstə/

to learn a skill or a language so 
well that you have no difficulty 
with it

15
sensitive (adj.)
/ˈsensətɪv/

1) able to understand other 
people’s feelings or problems; 
2) easily upset or hurt

16
to bully sb
/ˈbʊli/
→ bullying (n.)

to frighten or hurt someone 
who is smaller or weaker than 
you