Alice as a Victorian Child

"'Oh, you foolish Alice!' she answered herself. 'How an you learn lessons in here? Why there's hardly room for you, and no room at all for any lesson-books'" (Carroll 42).


A Victorian child did not grow up in a loving environment, like how many families are today. Despite the supportive, kind parents there are today, Victorian parents raised their children to be disciplined and proper. Victorian children worked hard to please their parents, because if they didn't they knew they would be punished. The relationship between Victorian parents and children would be more formal, rather than friendly.
Childhood today is very different, because a parent and child relationship is informal, along with many parents being more understanding than Victorian parents. Also, present day children are focused more on school, sports, and other extracurricular activities rather than always worrying to satisfy their parents. Today's children are given more freedom to have a childhood filled with imagination and fun.
Similar to a Victorian child, Alice is illustrated as a disciplined child, as well as being kept away from being given any love from her parents. She is portrayed as a Victorian child through this quote, which expresses an answer from her parents when she talks of her curiosity and her strange thoughts and ideas. Instead of going on and continue imagining different things, she stops herself and thinks of her "lesson-books". Her statement of her calling herself foolish shows that her parents wouldn't except "foolish" behavior from her. Also, her lack of control over her imagination of living in Wonderland and writing a story about it would be punished for. Alice often yells at herself to stop thinking of outrageous ideas, because she knows that her parents wouldn't approve.




Ashley M.

College Apps: Enjoying the Experience

As October first approaches, many Seniors are beginning to feel the pressure of college applications (not forgetting the essay). Attending school for six hours a day, five days a week plus homework, allows little time to focus on this application process. Every so often I hear a classmate say that they have completed a college application and I feel as if I am falling behind, but I have finally realized that this entire process is not supposed to make one feel as if they are losing a race. It is a time for us to be prepared and eager for a new phase in our life.

Life isn't just about the destination but the journey. We can't expect to get into every college we apply to but enjoy the experience as we recollect on past achievements in essays where the focus is finally on our self. Mrs. Elliott made a statement to the class last week that really stuck with me. She said that acceptance into college does not determine or value as a human being; we determine it for our self. Recognizing this truth has helped me realize that I am valuable whether I am accepted into my first choice college or not. There is a reason for everything and I will end up where I am supposed to be.

I have decided that I am going to enjoy this college application process. No more worrying about acceptance or denial because it is the journey that makes it all worthwhile. For I AM a valuable individual!

-Lauren B.

The Growth and Development of Alice

"She generally gave herself good advice, though she very seldom followed it...I know all sorts of things, and she, oh, she knows very little." - Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

It is easy to forget just how young Alice is when reading the novel. While at times, Alice can come across as being mature, eloquent, and a tad bit precocious, she IS still a very young girl. "Soon she find finds things becoming curiouser and curiouser," and  her reckless and spontaneous actions later lead her to regret her decisions. Many of the events in the story have a direct correlation to how one grows and progresses from childhood to adolescence. The confusion, curiosity, perplexity, angst, and joy that are bubbling inside of Alice are apparent. She is frequently daunted by all of the
responsibility she must deal with, yet she absolutely despises being contradicted by the animals, or being talked to condescendingly. And even though she takes on an independent, adult role in Wonderland, we must not forget that children require gentle guidance. When Alice falls into a "sea" of her own tears, we see that lacks the emotional, physical, moral, and intellectual support that she needs for proper development. 

The recurrent growing and shrinking incidents can indirectly embody the "ups and downs" of adolescence.

Heather H.

How do teams operate? (Alireza Behbahani)

Dissecting A Team  

    Good morning class, it is time to split you up into your groups. I know who your friends are because of where you are sitting right now, so I am going to put you with people who you don't really know. Sally, Bobby, Kim, Suzy, Randy, and Robert you guys are team number five. Sally thinks to herself, “Wow do I really have to work with Randy?” and Robert thinks to himself, “Wow Suzy is just a hater, she has never liked me, and I hate the teacher for even making me look at Kim”.

       As a great man named Mansa once said, “In life, people always make evaluations, they always judge people by their covers. If one would like to be successful and understanding, one would need to make observations not evaluations.” A team is defined as “a cooperative unit”. People are born into teams, or more commonly known as families. Just like the teacher's process of randomly placing students within groups, we as humans are randomly born into parties of people we cannot choose. As time goes by, these peoples’ habits, ideas, and actions become imprinted onto us. Our personalities are defined by the groups and teams we spend our time with. Being selective in our groups limit our brain functionality to only one dimension. By being placed within a group of people with conflicting ideas and vantage points on life, one’s own opinions may come into question and eventually alter to become more well rounded. If some of us had the opportunity to choose our family members rather than be “assigned” to them, we would take it. This choosing of our family members, co-workers, friends, class mates, and daily interactions would become more harmful then anything to us. As evolution and adaptation has taught us, when an animal’s instinct is not needed anymore it gets lost through time in order to make room for its new talents. The skills lost would include making new friends, becoming understanding, and the idea of cooperation between two parties.

       The connections between people are closely represented as a line. It is arrogant to say that it is impossible to work together with someone and realize a common understanding. If there is one thing I learned in Geometry, it is that there is always a midpoint associated with a line. There should always be a common ground in which two or more people can agree on. And if there isn’t? You have already given up on your ability to communicate.

There are four types of people within a group:

The group leader: People, can multiple within a group, who are not shy to talk to the other members of the group and initiate ideas and conversations.

The group anchor: The people who purposely slow down efficiency because they want to be different than the other people in the group and are not used to working with people that have opposing views on life.

The group pacifist: The people who always agree to what the group leader suggests. Never speak their minds, never propose ideas contradictory to those already stated, and never want to be in a middle of an argument.

The group mediator: The people who always facilitate discussion within the group. When two opposing sides are proposed, the mediator is almost always the “swing vote”. They don’t usually propose the ideas, but tweak them to create a best fit for the entire group.

All groups have people who fit each category, but to a different extent. A team could not be categorized as a body without conflicting parts. A hand would be less efficient without a thumb, but the hand would be useless without the fingers. The people within a group create its identity. Whether there are conflicting ideas within peoples’ agendas, time mends these differences with the cooperation of all the members in the group. If one would be willing to spend time and energy to accept others today, it will be easier to do so in the future when it would really matter. Building up trust and acceptance for one another is one of the two most important skills one needs to master in order to become a well rounded individual. Conflicts within teams are common, but teamwork, trust, and acceptance are just as natural.

       “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. (Andrew Carnegie)"