BSTM 3.

1 B

Prefinal Practical Examination

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Question 1. What is the main idea of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?

The theme that can be found in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is the theme of growing up. Lewis
Carroll adored the unprejudiced and innocent way young children approach the world. Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland represents the child's struggle to survive in the confusing world of adults. To
understand our adult world, Alice has to overcome the open-mindedness that is characteristic for
children. Apparently, adults need rules to live by.

Question 2. What can we learn from Alice in Wonderland?

When precocious Alice enters her kingdom, the Queen gets guillotines and rolling heads in her eyes, just
like bullies the world over. But one of the most important lessons for any young person to learn is not to
let bullies get you down and always stand up for yourself.

Question 3. What is the problem in Alice in Wonderland?

The main conflict occurs during Alice’s dinner-party, when strange things start to happen, and the guest
are metamorphosing into other beings. Resolution comes when poor frustrated Alice seizes the
tablecloth and crashes everything onto the floor. She then picks up the Red Queen and starts shaking
her.

Authors and Background

Lewis Caroll

The story was originally told by Carroll to Lorina, Alice, and Edith Liddell (the daughters of Henry George
Liddell, dean of Christ Church, Oxford, where the author had studied and held a fellowship) on a picnic in
July 1862. Alice asked Carroll to write out the stories for her, and in response he produced a hand-
lettered collection entitled Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. A visitor to the Liddell home saw the
storybook and thought it should be published, so Carroll revised and expanded it. Appearing at a time
when children’s literature generally was intended to teach moral lessons, the book at first baffled critics,
who failed to appreciate the nonsense that so captivated its young readers. But Carroll understood how
children’s minds worked, and the way he turned logic on its head appealed to their sense of the
ridiculous. In the riddles and the poems—such as “How doth the little crocodile” and “You are old,
Father William” (both parodies of well-known didactic poems)—he reached even more absurd heights.
The work attracted a following and led to a sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found
There (dated 1872 but published in December 1871). By the end of the 19th century, Alice (taking the
two volumes together) had become the most popular children’s book in England, and within two more
decades it was among the most popular storybooks in the world. It inspired numerous films, theatrical
performances, and ballets as well as countless works of scholarly analysis.

Plot and Flow of the Story

Novel Movie

The story centres on Alice, a young girl who falls
asleep in a meadow and dreams that she follows
the White Rabbit down a rabbit hole. She has
many wondrous, often bizarre adventures with
thoroughly illogical and very strange creatures,
often changing size unexpectedly (she grows as tall
as a house and shrinks to 3 inches. She encounters
the hookah-smoking Caterpillar, the Duchess (with
a baby that becomes a pig), and the Cheshire Cat,
and she attends a strange endless tea party with
the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. She plays a
game of croquet with an unmanageable flamingo
for a croquet mallet and uncooperative hedgehogs
for croquet balls while the Queen calls for the
execution of almost everyone present. Later, at the
Queen’s behest, the Gryphon takes Alice to meet
the sobbing Mock Turtle, who describes his
education in such subjects as Ambition,
Distraction, Uglification, and Derision. Alice is then
called as a witness in the trial of the Knave of
Hearts, who is accused of having stolen the
Queen’s tarts. However, when the Queen
demands that Alice be beheaded, Alice realizes
that the characters are only a pack of cards, and
she then awakens from her dream.
The film centres on the adventures of young
Alice, a dreamy, distractable girl who
nevertheless proves very practical when
necessary. One day, finding herself bored by her
older sister’s history lesson, she sneaks away and
while walking to the riverside Alice sees an
unusual White Rabbit, who was holding large
golden pocket watch and running off in a hurry
exclaiming that he is "late for a very important
date". Curious to know where the Rabbit is
going, Alice decides to follow him down the
rabbit hole, where her adventures begin in
Wonderland, a bizarre, nonsensical world filled
with strange characters. She changes sizes from
big to small, meets bizarre people, like the Mad
Hatter, March Hare, Cheshire Cat, Tweedledum
and Tweedledee, Queen of Hearts and the
Caterpillar, among many other strange
characters. The Queen orders Alice's execution.
Alice flees, and the Queen, King, card guards and
other characters give chase, she reaches the
small door where she began her adventures and
finds herself outside asleep. She yells at herself
to wake up; she does thanks to her sister, and
they return home for tea.

Settings

The setting is Wonderland, a strange and seemingly crazy world that is entered by dropping into a rabbit
hole. Animals act as normal people. Physical size as well as time are relative.
The story also partly takes place in our ‘real’ world, where Alice starts in by sitting next to her sister, and
wakes up in. In the story, Wonderland is a dream world.
Thematically, however, Wonderland is not really another world. It is in fact our own world, only seen
through the eyes of a child.
Characters
 Book
In the book, Alice eats little cakes in the White
Rabbit's house to become smaller.
In the book, the White Rabbit declares that they
must burn down his house with the large Alice in
it. (The Dodo doesn't appear in this scene).
In the book, the Caterpillar crawls away from
Alice.
In the book Alice was sassy to the royals.
In the book the soldiers were just hearts.
The caterpillar is not as mean in the book as he is
portrayed in the film.
Movie
In the movie, Alice eats carrots from The White
Rabbit’s Garden to become smaller.
In the movie, the Dodo suggests burning down
the White Rabbit's house with Alice in it
In the movie, the Caterpillar turns into a
butterfly.
In the movie she called the queen a "fat,
pompous, bad tempered old tyrant"
In the movie they were a full deck.
The caterpillar is very mean in the movie.

The King was mean to Alice in the book. The King was nice to Alice in the movie.

The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn

Question 1. What is the lesson of Huckleberry Finn?

Huck learns a variety of life lessons on the river that contribute to the growth of his character. He learns
how to live away from society's demands and rules, but also learns the value of friendship, and values
used to make decisions on what his heart tells him to do.

Question 2. What are some themes in Huckleberry Finn?

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Themes are:

 Conflict between Natural and Cultured Life. A conflictual relationship between natural and
cultured lifestyle is the major theme of the novel.
 Honor
 Absurdity of Religion
 Slavery
 Wealth
 Guilt and Shame
 Superstition
 Freedom

Question 3. What is Huck's moral dilemma?

Huck knows that helping Jim escape is breaking the law, but Jim is also his friend. Thus, Huck is trapped
in a difficult moral dilemma. After a great deal of reasoning, Huck realizes he would feel possibly even
worse if he turned Jim into the authorities and decides it would be best to let him escape.

Authors and Background

Mark Twain

Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) fi rst introduced Huck Finn as the best friend of
Tom Sawyer, hero of his tremendously successful novel  The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer (1876). Though Twain saw Huck’s story as a kind of sequel to his earlier book, the
new novel was far more serious, focusing on the insti tuti on of slavery and other aspects of
life in the antebellum South.

Plot and Flow of the Story

Significant differences are seen in “The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” movie of 1974 when compared
with the original text. It is important to note that the movie is starred by two characters Huckleberry
Finn (Jeff East) and Jim (Paul Winfield) who is a slave (Burg). While adapting the book for the movie Tom
Sawyer character is completely eliminated, since he appears in only the beginning and the ending of the
book, both of which the movie leaves out. The edition shifts some of the Toms relevant roles to Huck.
Twain indicates that, “After a seeming eternity of pointless preparation, during which the boys ransack
the Phelps’s house and make Aunt Sally miserable, they put the plan into action. Jim is freed, but a
pursuer shoots Tom in the leg.” This is an indication of a shift in role as Huck is shot at the last parts of
the movie (Twain).

There are several parts in the movie that are left unclear. The book indicates that, “before Huck leaves
town he’s able to “withdraw” some of his money being held in trust by the judge (Twain).” However,
this part does not appear like this in the movie. The two escapees, Huck, and Jim were hoping to buy
passage on a boat that would have ferried them to their desired destination. The movie does not explain
how they were to meet this expenditure (Burg).

Huck helps Jim to escape when they were in the island that was at the middle of the river. Twain
indicates that, “Hunk trends to town to gather some news about what has been in the offing, but not in
pursuit of food.” On the other hand, the move just shows Huck trending to town to snip some food; he
clads like a girl and dialogues with a lady at her home (Burg). While in search of food Huck gathers that
their hide out has been identified.

Additionally, some difference arises on the manner in which Hunk got the information about their hide
out in the island. As per the movie, “a woman quizzes Huck, but not much as she does in the book. Her
spouse arrives home and expresses to them that he has seen smoke on the island and is going to look
for the lost slave.” Huck rushes after it, but her wife grasps him back, reproving him of behaving like a
boy; he gets away shamefully. In the book, however, the man barely comes home, and the lady sees the
smolder on the island. Pretending he is an escapee apprentice, she proposes to assist him and lets him
get away (Twain).
In additionally, there is significant condensation of some additional scenes. The sections at the floating
household and the sinking river boat are combined in the movie while the scenes are different and well
detailed in the book. The movie shows that, “Jim discovers Pap’s remains on the craft while Huck notices
the two killers (Burg).” The craft breakdowns and sinks, frisking Huck’s later struggle, in the book, to
direct a ferry back to the craft to rescue the two kinsmen (Twain). Furthermore, some scenes that are in
the book are eliminated. The move fails to show how Huck and Jim steal girls’ clothes, which Huck wears
when he goes to town to gather information.

Furthermore, the differences are seen in the manner which the movie ends. The movie the indication
how Jim was a freeman, and he recognizes Hunk as a true friend. However, this was not the case in the
book. The book indicates the Tom had planned the entire escape idea, and he took it as a game after
which he intended to pay Jim for all the troubles, he had caused him. Twain states that, “Tom’s Aunt
Polly then shows up, identifying “Tom” and “Sid” as Huck and Tom. Jim tells Huck, who fears for his
future—particularly that his father might reappear—that the body they found on the floating house off
Jackson’s Island had been Pap’s. Aunt Sally then steps in and offers to adopt Huck, but Huck, who has
had enough “sivilizing,” announces his plan to set out for the West.” Which shows mixing names in the
book which was not capture in the movie.

The film and the book have similarities. The similarities occur from the theme, scenery, and plot of the
story. The story line in the book and the movie all concerning the escapee teen boy and a fugitive slave,
trending down the Mississippi River, and it still civilizes servants (Burg). The basic characters are
maintained in the movies as they are relevant in the development of the plot. Moreover, it is indicated
that, “Pap has not changed from his old, drunken self in the film, and on the other hand, Duke together
with the King are continuing with their bad deeds (Twain).” The mature and immature sides of Huck are
still eminent in both cases.

Settings

The real-life town of St. Petersburg, Missouri, is the setting for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It
mostly takes place along the Mississippi River, which is where Huck and Jim were most of the time.
Because the Civil War had not yet occurred, the story is most likely set in the early-to-mid 1800s.
Because slavery was obviously practiced at the time, the setting contributes to the plot of the story. And
it was happening in the south. The author's description of how they talked and acted added a lot to the
setting and plot because it made you feel as if you were there, hearing them talk.

Because Huckleberry Finn is constantly moving and exploring, the setting of this story changes
throughout. In the beginning, he is in St. Petersburg, Missouri, which is located next to the Mississippi
River. Which is across the river from Illinois. He is currently living with a widow named Miss. Watson.
Who is the owner of a slave named Jim? The house is two stories tall, with a shed in front of his
bedroom window. Then there's Miss Watson's Garden and some woods behind that.

Characters

Book Movie
Huck befriends Buck Grangerford.
The Grangerford and Shepardson feud has been
going on for 20 years.
Tom gets shot in the leg.
Jim gets money from Tom Sawyer in order to buy
back his family.
The con men are able to escape but are
eventually captured and tarred and feathered.
 Tom Sawyer is in the story.
His friend is Billy Grangerford.
In the movie it is 30 years.
Huck gets shot.
He gets the money from the Wilks brothers.
But in the movie, they don't escape and are
tarred and feathered right away.
He is not there.