Alice in Wonderland Chapter-by-Chapter Worksheets for 11-Year-Olds (English) — Lewis Carroll Reading Activities

Instructions

Read each chapter of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and then complete the worksheet for that chapter. Answer the questions thoughtfully and in complete sentences where required. Have fun exploring the curious world of Wonderland!

Chapter 1: Down the Rabbit-Hole

Vocabulary Match-Up

Match the word from the story to its correct meaning.

1. Waistcoat
2. Antipathies
3. Consulted
4. Earnestly
5. Comfits

• A) A type of sugary candy.
• B) A vest, a sleeveless upper-body garment.
• C) In a serious and sincere way.
• D) Strong feelings of dislike.
• E) To seek information or advice from.

Comprehension Check

Answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. What is so unusual about the rabbit that makes Alice follow it?
2. Name three curious things Alice finds after she falls down the rabbit-hole but before she reaches the bottom.
3. What does the golden key open?

Creative Corner

The label on the bottle says "DRINK ME". If you were Alice, would you drink it? Explain your reasoning.

Chapter 2: The Pool of Tears

Cause and Effect

What causes the "Pool of Tears" to form? What is the effect of this pool on Alice and the other creatures?

• Cause: ___________________________________________________________
• Effect: ___________________________________________________________

Comprehension Check

Answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. Why is Alice worried she might have offended the Mouse?
2. How does Alice's knowledge of French help her in this chapter?
3. What happens to Alice's size in this chapter, and how does it happen?

Thinking Deeper

Alice changes size many times. How do you think this constant changing affects her feelings about herself and her identity?

Chapter 3: A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale

Vocabulary Focus

Define the following word from the chapter and use it in a sentence.

• Solemn:
• Definition: __________________________________________________
• Sentence: ___________________________________________________

Comprehension Check

Answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. What is the purpose of the Caucus-Race?
2. What is strange about the way the Caucus-Race is run?
3. What does the Dodo decide everyone should get as a prize?

Creative Corner

Invent your own "Caucus-Race." Describe how it works and what the prize would be. Your race should be just as nonsensical as the one in the book!

Chapter 4: The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill

Character Analysis

Describe the White Rabbit's personality in this chapter. Use at least two adjectives and provide evidence from the text to support your choices.

Adjective 1: _______________
Evidence: _____________________________________________________________

Adjective 2: _______________
Evidence: _____________________________________________________________

Comprehension Check

Answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. Who does the White Rabbit mistake Alice for?
2. What happens to Alice when she drinks from the bottle she finds in the Rabbit's house?
3. How does Alice eventually escape from the Rabbit's house?

Thinking Deeper

The creatures of Wonderland often seem to get angry or upset with Alice for no clear reason. Why do you think this is?

Chapter 5: Advice from a Caterpillar

Famous Quotes

The Caterpillar asks Alice a very famous question. What is it? What does this question make Alice think about?

• Question: ___________________________________________________
• Alice's Reaction: _____________________________________________

Comprehension Check

Answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. What is the Caterpillar doing when Alice first sees it?
2. What advice does the Caterpillar give Alice about changing her size?
3. Why is Alice confused when the Pigeon calls her a "serpent"?

Creative Corner

Imagine you meet the Caterpillar. What question would you ask it, and what kind of confusing advice do you think it would give you in return?

Chapter 6: Pig and Pepper

Figurative Language: Simile

A simile is a comparison using "like" or "as." The Cheshire Cat's famous grin is described using a simile. Find and write down the simile from this chapter that relates to the cat's grin.

Simile: "grinning like a Cheshire cat." What do you think this expression means?

Comprehension Check

Answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. What is causing all the sneezing in the Duchess's kitchen?
2. What happens to the baby the Duchess gives to Alice?
3. What unique ability does the Cheshire Cat have?

Thinking Deeper

The Cheshire Cat says, "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." Do you agree? Is Alice "mad" too? Explain your answer.

Chapter 7: A Mad Tea-Party

Literary Device: Pun

A pun is a joke that uses the different possible meanings of a word. The Hatter and the March Hare use puns related to "time." Explain the pun they make when they talk about "beating time."

Comprehension Check

Answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. Why is it always six o'clock at the tea-party?
2. What is the riddle the Hatter asks Alice? What is the answer?
3. Why do the Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse keep moving one place over at the table?

Creative Corner

Create your own unanswerable riddle, just like the Mad Hatter's. Write it below.

Chapter 8: The Queen's Croquet-Ground

Vocabulary Unscramble

Unscramble these words from the chapter.

1. QEUORCT (A lawn game) ____________________
2. ORPCSNOIES (A group moving in an orderly fashion) ____________________
3. EEXCIUNOT (The carrying out of a sentence of death) ____________________

Comprehension Check

Answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. Why are the three playing-card gardeners painting the roses red?
2. Describe the Queen of Hearts's personality. What is her favorite phrase?
3. What is unusual about the equipment used in the Queen's croquet game? (Mallets, balls, and arches).

Thinking Deeper

Alice is starting to talk back to the characters in Wonderland, like the Queen. How has Alice changed since the beginning of the story?

Chapter 9: The Mock Turtle's Story

Word Play

The Mock Turtle lists the subjects he learned in his school at the bottom of the sea. They are puns on real school subjects. Match the Mock Turtle's subject to the real-world subject.

1. Reeling and Writhing
2. Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision
3. Mystery

• A) History
• B) Reading and Writing
• C) Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division

Comprehension Check

Answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. Who takes Alice to meet the Mock Turtle?
2. Why is the Mock Turtle so sad?
3. What is a "Mock Turtle Soup" in the real world, and how does this create the joke of the Mock Turtle character? (You may need to look this up!)

Creative Corner

Invent two more "Wonderland" school subjects that are puns on real subjects. For example, "Drawling" for "Drawing."

Chapter 10: The Lobster Quadrille

Sequencing Events

Number the following events from the chapter in the order they happened.

• [   ] The Mock Turtle and the Gryphon demonstrate the first figure of the dance.
• [   ] The Mock Turtle sings a song about Turtle Soup.
• [   ] Alice describes seeing a lobster in a lobster-pot.
• [   ] Alice hears a cry in the distance announcing that the trial is beginning.
• [   ] Alice recites "'Tis the voice of the Sluggard" but the words come out all wrong.

Comprehension Check

Answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. What is a "quadrille"?
2. According to the song, what happens to the whiting's tail? Why?
3. Why does the Gryphon get impatient with the Mock Turtle's singing?

Thinking Deeper

Much of this chapter is filled with songs and poems that are parodies (silly versions) of real poems from Carroll's time. Why do you think the author includes so many strange poems and songs in the book?

Chapter 11: Who Stole the Tarts?

Courtroom Roles

Identify who holds each of the following roles in the courtroom.

• Judge: ____________________________
• Accused Prisoner: ____________________________
• Jurors: ____________________________
• First Witness: ____________________________

Comprehension Check

Answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. What crime is the Knave of Hearts accused of committing?
2. What is the evidence presented against the Knave of Hearts?
3. What happens to Alice as the trial proceeds?

Creative Corner

The jurors are writing down silly things like their names. If you were a juror in this nonsensical trial, what three completely irrelevant things would you write down on your slate?

Chapter 12: Alice's Evidence

Climax of the Story

The climax is the most exciting point of a story. Describe the climax of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" which happens in this chapter.

Comprehension Check

Answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. Why does the King say that the letter is important evidence?
2. Alice declares, "You're nothing but a pack of cards!" What happens immediately after she says this?
3. Where does Alice find herself at the very end of the chapter?

Thinking Deeper: The Whole Story

Looking back at the entire book, what do you think is the main message or theme? What did Alice learn from her dream?

Answer Key

Chapter 1: Down the Rabbit-Hole

• Vocabulary Match-Up: 1-B, 2-D, 3-E, 4-C, 5-A
• Comprehension Check:
  1. The rabbit is unusual because it has a waistcoat with a pocket-watch and it can talk.
  2. Answers may include: a map, pictures, a jar of orange marmalade that is empty.
  3. The golden key opens a tiny door that leads to a beautiful garden.
• Creative Corner: Answers will vary. A good answer will explain the reasoning, such as being too curious not to, or being cautious and deciding against it.

Chapter 2: The Pool of Tears

• Cause and Effect:
  • Cause: When Alice is nine feet tall, she cries, and her large tears create a pool.
  • Effect: When she shrinks again, she ends up swimming in the pool of her own tears along with a Mouse and other creatures.
• Comprehension Check:
  1. She is worried she offended the Mouse by talking about her cat, Dinah, who is good at catching mice.
  2. She tries to speak to the Mouse in French ("Où est ma chatte?"), which is the first line of her French lesson-book.
  3. She shrinks when she fans herself with the White Rabbit's fan.
• Thinking Deeper: Answers will vary but should touch on feelings of confusion, frustration, or losing her sense of self.

Chapter 3: A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale

• Vocabulary Focus:
  • Definition: Formal, dignified, not cheerful or smiling.
  • Sentence: Answers will vary but should use the word correctly. (e.g., The judge had a solemn expression on his face.)
• Comprehension Check:
  1. The purpose of the race is to get everyone dry after swimming in the pool of tears.
  2. It is strange because there is no set course; everyone runs in any direction they like and starts and stops whenever they want.
  3. The Dodo decides everyone has won and so everyone must have a prize.
• Creative Corner: Answers will vary but should be nonsensical and creative.

Chapter 4: The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill

• Character Analysis: Answers will vary. Examples: Anxious/Nervous (Evidence: He is always dropping things and seems startled). Demanding/Bossy (Evidence: He orders "Mary Ann" around).
• Comprehension Check:
  1. The White Rabbit mistakes Alice for his housemaid, Mary Ann.
  2. She grows so large that she fills the entire room and gets stuck.
  3. The animals throw pebbles at her, which turn into little cakes. When she eats one, she shrinks and is able to run out of the house.
• Thinking Deeper: Answers will vary, but may suggest it's part of the nonsensical nature of Wonderland, or that Alice, as an outsider, doesn't understand their rules.

Chapter 5: Advice from a Caterpillar

• Famous Quotes:
  • Question: "Who are YOU?"
  • Alice's Reaction: It makes Alice reflect on how many times she has changed size and that she hardly knows who she is anymore.
• Comprehension Check:
  1. The Caterpillar is sitting on a mushroom, smoking a hookah.
  2. The Caterpillar tells her that one side of the mushroom will make her grow taller, and the other side will make her grow shorter.
  3. Because Alice's neck has grown extremely long, the Pigeon mistakes her for a serpent trying to steal its eggs.
• Creative Corner: Answers will vary.

Chapter 6: Pig and Pepper

• Figurative Language:
  • Simile: The simile is "grinning like a Cheshire cat." The expression means to have a very broad, mischievous grin.
• Comprehension Check:
  1. The Cook is using too much pepper in the soup, which gets into the air.
  2. The baby slowly transforms into a pig.
  3. The Cheshire Cat can appear and disappear gradually, sometimes leaving only its grin behind.
• Thinking Deeper: Answers will vary but should be supported by reasoning. A student might argue Alice is not mad because she questions the logic, or that she is mad because she accepts the strange world around her.

Chapter 7: A Mad Tea-Party

• Literary Device: Pun: The Hatter says he "quarreled with Time" so now Time won't do what he wants (like move past six o'clock). This is a pun on the musical expression "beating time," which means keeping rhythm.
• Comprehension Check:
  1. It is always six o'clock because the Mad Hatter "murdered the time" when he tried to sing for the Queen of Hearts, so Time is stuck at the tea hour.
  2. The riddle is "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?" There is no answer.
  3. They move over so the Dormouse can have a clean cup and place.
• Creative Corner: Answers will vary.

Chapter 8: The Queen's Croquet-Ground

• Vocabulary Unscramble: 1. CROQUET, 2. PROCESSION, 3. EXECUTION
• Comprehension Check:
  1. They are painting them red because they accidentally planted a white rose tree instead of a red one, and they are afraid the Queen will be angry.
  2. The Queen of Hearts is loud, tyrannical, and quick to anger. Her favorite phrase is "Off with their head!"
  3. They use live hedgehogs for balls, live flamingos for mallets, and soldiers bent over for the arches.
• Thinking Deeper: Answers will vary, but should note Alice is becoming more confident, less easily intimidated, and more willing to challenge the nonsense of Wonderland.

Chapter 9: The Mock Turtle's Story

• Word Play: 1-B, 2-C, 3-A
• Comprehension Check:
  1. The Queen asks the Gryphon to take Alice to meet the Mock Turtle.
  2. He is sad because he used to be a real turtle, but now he is just a "mock" turtle.
  3. In the real world, Mock Turtle Soup was a cheaper soup made from calf's head or veal, designed to imitate green turtle soup. The joke is that the character is literally what the soup is made from.
• Creative Corner: Answers will vary. (e.g., "Fainting" for "Painting," "Sea-ography" for "Geography").

Chapter 10: The Lobster Quadrille

• Sequencing Events: 3, 5, 2, 1, 4
• Comprehension Check:
  1. A quadrille is a type of square dance for four couples.
  2. The whiting puts its tail in its mouth because it is in a hurry to get to the shore with the lobster.
  3. The Gryphon thinks the Mock Turtle is taking too long to sing his song.
• Thinking Deeper: Answers will vary, but may suggest it adds to the nonsensical and dream-like quality of the story, showcases the author's love of wordplay, or makes fun of the serious poems children had to learn at the time.

Chapter 11: Who Stole the Tarts?

• Courtroom Roles:
  • Judge: The King of Hearts
  • Accused Prisoner: The Knave of Hearts
  • Jurors: Various creatures, like Bill the Lizard
  • First Witness: The Mad Hatter
• Comprehension Check:
  1. He is accused of stealing the tarts that the Queen of Hearts made.
  2. The evidence is a poem or letter that was found, which seems to describe the crime, but doesn't mention the Knave or the tarts specifically.
  3. Alice begins to grow larger again.
• Creative Corner: Answers will vary but should be nonsensical.

Chapter 12: Alice's Evidence

• Climax of the Story: Answers will vary but should describe the moment Alice grows to her full size, is no longer afraid, calls the Queen and King's justice nonsense, and shouts "You're nothing but a pack of cards!" causing them all to fly up and attack her.
• Comprehension Check:
  1. The King says the letter is important because it is unsigned, which he claims proves the Knave's guilt.
  2. The entire pack of cards flies up into the air and comes flying down on top of her.
  3. She finds herself lying on the bank of the river, with her head in her sister's lap. It was all a dream.
• Thinking Deeper: Answers will vary. Themes include growing up, finding one's identity, the absurdity of adult rules, and the power of imagination. Alice learned to be more confident and to question authority.