Alice in Acrostic
Students will:
• View representations of chess in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland
• Learn about the life and times of Alice Liddell Hargreaves, the real-life inspiration for the
character of Alice
• Be introduced to acrostic poetry by reading Carroll’s “A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky,” which
appears in Through the Looking-Glass
• Assessment: Compose their own acrostic poems using their names
• Combine their individual works to create a book of class poetry
Time Requirement:
60-90 minutes
Supplies:
Copy of Lewis Carroll’s “A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky” (one per student, included)
Teacher Fact Sheet (included)
Guided Discussion:
1. Have students ever read or seen Alice in Wonderland?
2. For those who have, what are their impressions? Do they find it funny? Scary?
3. The book’s author, Lewis Carroll, also wrote a sequel to Alice in Wonderland, called Through the
Looking-Glass. In it, Alice goes on another adventure, this time becoming a pawn in a real-life
chess game. See the question What is the plot of Through the Looking-Glass? on the Teacher
Fact Sheet for in-depth information.
4. The character of Alice was actually based on a real-life girl that Lewis Carroll knew. Give basic
background information on Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell using the Teacher Fact Sheet.
5. At the end of Through the Looking-Glass, Carroll actually used Alice Liddell’s name in an acrostic
poem, called “A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky.” An acrostic poem is one in which the first letter of
each line spells out a word or phrase. In “A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky,” the first letter of each
line spells out Liddell’s full name: Alice Pleasance Liddell.
6. Have students read the poem aloud, with particular focus on the last line, “Life, what is it but a
dream?” Remind students that at the end of the story, where the poem appears, Alice had just
woken up from her adventures through the mirror/looking-glass. She wonders if she is just a
character in someone else’s dream, like the characters that she “met” were just a part of her
dream.
7. As students about any strange or funny dreams they’ve had. What kinds of people did they
encounter? What sorts of things happened to them? Have students ever had a dream that
seemed real, even after they woke up?
8. Have students write their name on a piece of paper (can be first, first and last, or first, middle,
and last, depending on the degree of difficulty), with one letter on each line. Then compose an
acrostic poem similar to “A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky,” with each letter of the name beginning a
line of the poem.
Extension Activity:
• In a future class period, encourage students to share their poems. For a larger project, have
students create a version of their poem, either on the computer or by hand. Make copies of
each poem, and bind them together to create books that can be sold to parents and friends as a
fundraiser.
Missouri Grade Level Expectations (GLEs):
Communication Arts - Reading
1. Develop and apply skills and strategies to the reading process
2. Develop and apply skills and strategies to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate fiction, poetry and
drama from a variety of cultures and times.
Communication Arts - Writing
1. Apply a writing process in composing text
2. Compose well-developed text
3. Write effectively in various forms and types of writing
Communication Arts – Listening and Speaking
1. Develop and apply effective listening skills and strategies
“A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky”
From Through the Looking-Glass
A boat beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July-Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear-Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die.
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream-Lingering in the golden gleam-Life, what is it but a dream?
Teacher Fact Sheet
Who was Lewis Carroll? Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Dodgson, who was born in Cheshire,
England in 1832. He studied and taught mathematics at Oxford University, but his passion lay in writing
and other artistic activities, writing poems and short stories from a young age. He met formed a
friendship with the large Liddell family in 1856, and soon began creating stories to entertain three of the
family’s young daughters, Lorina, Alice, and Edith. Eventually, these stories formed would become
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, published in 1865, followed by the sequel Through the Looking-Glass
in 1871. A shy and private man, Dodgeson was often uncomfortable with the fame that resulted from its
publication. Though he taught mathematics at Oxford for nearly 30 years and continued to write, these
efforts never matched the success of the Alice books. He passed away in January 1898 at the age of 66.
Who was Alice Liddell Hargreaves? Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Carroll’s character, was born in
London in May 1852, the fourth of what would eventually be ten children. When Alice was 4, her father
was appointed Dean of Christ Church College at Oxford University, where Charles Dodgson taught
mathematics. Dodgson and the Liddells became friends, and the stories Dodgson created for Alice and
her two sisters later became Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Besides sharing a name, there is
evidence that the character Alice was based on Alice Liddell: the two characters share a birthday, and
Liddell’s full name (Alice Pleasance Liddell) is the basis for the acrostic poem “A Boat Beneath a Summer
Sky,” which appears at the end of Through the Looking-Glass (see below). Liddell married Reginald
Hargreaves in 1880, and the couple had three sons. She passed away in 1934, at the age of 82.
What is the plot of Through the Looking-Glass? The sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through
the Looking-Glass takes place exactly six months after the first book ends. At home, Alice wonders what
the world is like on the other side of the looking-glass (mirror) that hangs above her family’s fireplace.
Upon closer inspection, she discovers that she is, in fact, able to step through the mirror into the
reflection of her living room. Outside her “reflected” home, she finds flowers that can talk and becomes
a pawn in a chess game where the pieces have come to life. Alice’s journey from one end of the
chessboard to the other, where she will be promoted from a pawn to a queen, becomes the main plot of
the story. In the process, she meets a number of memorable characters: the twins Tweedledee and
Tweedledum, the antagonistic Red Queen, the flighty White Queen, Humpty Dumpty, and the Red and
White Knights. Soon after Alice successfully reaches the other end of the board to become a queen, she
wakes up in in her family’s living room, safely returned home. She wonders if—just like the characters
she just experienced—her own life is just a dream or figment of someone’s imagination.
What is significant about the poem “A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky”? The poem, which appears at the end
of Through the Looking-Glass, is an acrostic. An acrostic poem is one in which the first letters of each
line form significant words or phrases. In this case, the first letters of each line spell out Liddell’s full
name, Alice Pleasance Liddell. After Alice wakes up following her time through the looking-glass, this
poem suggests that all life is a dream.