Monday, June 18, 2012

Alice in Wonderland Starring as the Question Where


See Wendy. See Wendy’s brain. See Wendy’s brain play.
For the past few Mondays I’ve been playing with well-known stories from childhood, matching them up with a W question. Today Alice is Where…

Alice follows a rabbit down a rabbit hole. She finds a small key, and a bottle labeled “Drink Me”. Upon doing so she shrinks. Then she eats from a cake labeled “Eat Me” and grows until her head hits the ceiling.
Where is the queen of confusion. Without direction, Where is willing to dabble in all kinds of temptations.

Alice cries so hard and so much she swims through her own tears.
Where has a way of producing direction from within.

A crowd of animals gets caught up in the tear river with Alice. Dodo convinces them all the best way to dry off would be to run in circles. Alice frightens the animals away by talking about her cat.
Where can only tolerate running in circles for so long. She craves a firm destination. Sometimes Where has to talk her way through things.

The White Rabbit shows up frantic, looking for the Duchess’s gloves. He calls her Mary Ann and orders her inside where she grows again. Alice eats pebbles she mistakes as cakes and shrinks back again.
Where is influenced by what she intakes, all she allows herself to ingest.

Alice asks the Caterpillar who she is.
Where loses a sense of herself readily.

The Cheshire Cat appears directing Alice to the March Hare’s house. When the Cat disappears, his grin stays floating mid-air.
Where’s been known to seek out guidance from unusual and unexplainable creatures.

Alice is a guest at the Mad Tea-Party. Tired of riddles, she leaves the party.
Where likes to party. But Where also tires easily of shallow, pointless prattle.

Alice stumbles upon the Queen of Hearts who claims to hate white roses. She’s invited to play croquet with the queen—an encounter that amounts to nothing but chaos. The Queen goes around saying “Off with their head.”

Where isn’t always certain she’ll end up in a peaceful, non-combative place. Where is familiar with chaos.
Alice meets the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon.

Where has a tendency to wind around new bends and bump into all sorts of characters.
The Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing the Queen’s tarts. Alice grows larger during the hearing.

Where unpredictably gains confidence and grows into something unexpected.
Alice is called up as a witness. The Queen orders her gone b/c she’s too tall. She refuses to leave. The Queen yells “Off with her head!”

Where knows when to stand her ground.
Alice is unafraid to call them what they are—a pack of cards.

With miles of navigated terrain behind her, Where begins to learn to see things for what they are. She becomes fearless.
Alice’s sister wakes her up for tea. Alice leaves her sister on the bank.

Where knows when it’s time to move on.

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” Psalm 139:7-10

Why do you think I chose Alice to star as Where?

*photo by stock.XCHNG

11 comments:

  1. Alice is constantly searching for a way home - wondering where in the world she is. I'm wondering if her sister was so tired of her, did she drug the poor girl? It would explain some things!

    I love: "Where can only tolerate running in circles for so long. She craves a firm destination. Sometimes Where has to talk her way through things." I've been where Where's been - wherever that is... :)

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  2. I think Alice shows character growth and learns a lot of lessons in where she went even if it was in her imagination.

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  3. Can I just say, Alice in Wonderland freaked me out as a kid? Too much randomness and chaos, I think. Where has to fight through a lot of that in the world to find security: home.

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    1. Same here.
      I can't stand this story.
      Because I need order and security.

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  4. This is so incredibly cool and creative, Wendy. I think Alice is the perfect Where because of all the crazy wheres she winds up. There are so many lessons along her journey...

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  5. Because her journey is so crazy and like Melissa said, there were tons of lessons to be learned.

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  6. This was my favorite movie as a child. It did inspire some very freaky dreams though, where my imagination knew no bounds. ;)

    Hope to see you in September, Wendy!

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  7. Wowsers, I think all of Alice's wheres would lead me to a bottle of gin. j/k ;)

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  8. I can relate to Alice. She feels like she needs to be somewhere else and sometimes doesn't appreciate where she is. Usually, it's When that torments me, though.

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  9. Thanks for swinging by and offering your thoughts today. So much fun--this brain play.

    Horseback riding lessons for my girl, now dinner.
    Would you believe my kids are still in school thanks to snowtober?
    And she's off...
    ~ Wendy

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  10. Where knows when to stand her ground-- I like that. Wow, your kids are still in school! Crazy. :) Hope you can enjoy summer soon.

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