Synonyms
More meanings
Tip: select a single word for meaning & synonyms.
Select multiple words normally to copy text.
Down the Rabbit Hole: WBCHSE Class 12 English answers, notes
Get summaries, questions, answers, solutions, notes, extras, PDF and guides for Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland: ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’: WBCHSE Class 12 English Literature textbook A Realm of English (B) Selection, which is part of the Semester IV syllabus for students studying under WBBSE (West Bengal Board-Uccha Madhyamik). These solutions, however, should only be treated as references and can be modified/changed.
If you notice any errors in the notes, please mention them in the comments
Summary
Alice was growing tired of sitting by her sister on the bank with nothing to do. She saw a White Rabbit with pink eyes run past her. The Rabbit pulled a watch from its waistcoat pocket and said it was going to be late. Alice had never seen a rabbit with a waistcoat or a watch before. Filled with curiosity, she ran after it and followed it down a large rabbit-hole.
She began to fall down what seemed to be a very deep well. The fall was so slow that she had plenty of time to look at her surroundings. The sides of the well were filled with cupboards and bookshelves. She took a jar labeled “ORANGE MARMALADE” from a shelf, but it was empty. She put it back in another cupboard so it would not fall and hurt someone below. While falling, she thought about how brave everyone would think she was. She wondered if she was falling through the center of the Earth and tried to remember her school lessons about geography. She also missed her cat, Dinah, and wondered if cats in the air could eat bats.
After a long time, she landed gently on a pile of sticks and dry leaves. She was not hurt at all. She saw the White Rabbit hurry away and followed him into a long hall lined with locked doors. In the middle of the hall was a small glass table with a tiny golden key on it. The key was too small for any of the large doors. Alice then discovered a small door, only fifteen inches high, hidden behind a curtain. The golden key fit its lock perfectly. The door opened into a passage that led to a lovely garden, but she was too big to fit through. She wished she could “shut up like a telescope,” which was her way of imagining folding herself up to become small enough to pass through the door.
She returned to the table, hoping to find something else. This time, she found a little bottle with a paper label that said “DRINK ME.” Being a careful girl, she first checked that it was not marked “poison.” Finding it safe, she drank it. The liquid had a wonderful mixed taste of many delicious foods. She immediately began to shrink until she was only ten inches high. Now she was the right size to enter the garden, but she realised she had left the golden key on the tall glass table, far out of her reach.
She felt very sad and began to cry, but she scolded herself for it. Soon, she noticed a little glass box under the table. Inside was a very small cake with the words “EAT ME” marked on it. She decided to eat it. She thought that if it made her grow larger, she could reach the key. If it made her smaller, she could creep under the door. Either way, she would get into the garden. So, she finished the cake and waited to see what would happen.
Textbook solutions
1. What had seemed natural to Alice when she should have wondered about it? (2 marks)
Answer: It had seemed quite natural to Alice to hear the White Rabbit say to itself, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!” It was only when she thought about it afterwards that she realised she ought to have wondered about a talking rabbit.
2. What did Alice notice at the side of the well? (2 marks)
Answer: As Alice was falling down the well, she looked at the sides and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and bookshelves. She also saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs here and there.
3. What happens when Alice jumps down the rabbit hole both in physical and psychological aspect? (6 marks)
Answer: Physically, when Alice follows the rabbit down the hole, she finds herself falling very slowly down what seems to be a very deep well. The fall is so long that she has time to observe her surroundings. She lands unhurt on a heap of sticks and dry leaves. She then finds herself in a long hall with locked doors. Her physical size changes drastically when she drinks from a bottle that makes her shrink to ten inches high.
Psychologically, Alice’s journey is one of wonder, confusion, and adaptation. Initially driven by pure curiosity, she doesn’t consider the consequences of her actions. During the fall, her mind drifts from trying to recall school lessons to thinking about her cat. She feels brave about the fall, but later feels sad and desperate when she is trapped in the hall and cannot reach the key to the tiny door. The constant stream of impossible events leads her to believe that very few things are truly impossible, and she becomes so used to strange happenings that normal events seem “dull and stupid.”
Additional Questions and Answers
1. Why was Alice beginning to get very tired and stupid?
Answer: Alice was beginning to get very tired because she was sitting by her sister on the bank with nothing to do. Additionally, the hot day was making her feel very sleepy and stupid, so she was considering if making a daisy-chain was worth the effort.
2. What was Alice’s opinion on books without pictures or conversations?
Answer: After peeping into her sister’s book and seeing it had no pictures or conversations, Alice wondered what the use of such a book was. She clearly thought that books without pictures or conversations were not very useful or interesting.
3. What was unusual about the white rabbit that ran by Alice?
Answer: The white rabbit that ran by Alice had pink eyes, which was the first thing she noticed. What was truly unusual was that it could talk to itself, and it took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket to check the time before hurrying on.
4. How did Alice react when the Rabbit took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket?
Answer: When the Rabbit took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, Alice started to her feet. It flashed across her mind that she had never seen a rabbit with a waistcoat-pocket or a watch, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it.
5. Why did Alice not find it strange at first to hear the Rabbit talk to itself?
Answer: Alice did not find it very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit talk to itself because, at the time, it all seemed quite natural to her. It was only when she thought about it afterwards that it occurred to her she ought to have wondered.
6. What did Alice find on the shelves as she fell down the well?
Answer: As Alice fell down the well, she looked at the sides and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and bookshelves. Here and there, she also saw maps and pictures that were hung upon pegs.
7. What was labelled on the jar Alice took down? Why was she disappointed?
Answer: The jar that Alice took down from one of the shelves was labelled ORANGE MARMALADE. However, to her great disappointment, she found that the jar was completely empty, which is why she felt disappointed.
8. Why did Alice not drop the empty jar? What did she do with it?
Answer: Alice did not like to drop the jar because she was afraid of killing somebody who might be underneath her. So, as she continued to fall, she managed to put the empty jar into one of the cupboards that she passed.
9. How did Alice try to show off her knowledge while falling?
Answer: While falling, Alice tried to show off her knowledge by recalling lessons from her schoolroom. She stated that she must be near the centre of the earth, which was about four thousand miles down. She also wondered about her Latitude and Longitude, using them because they sounded like nice, grand words.
10. What mistake did Alice make when talking about people on the other side of the Earth?
Answer: When wondering about coming out among the people who walk with their heads downwards, Alice mistakenly called them the Antipathies. She herself suspected this was not the right word, as the story notes it did not sound correct at all.
11. What did Alice miss about her cat, Dinah?
Answer: Alice thought that her cat, Dinah, would miss her very much that night. She hoped that her family would remember to give Dinah her saucer of milk at tea-time. While falling down the rabbit-hole, Alice also expressed a strong wish that Dinah were down there with her.
12. What did Alice wonder about cats and bats?
Answer: While falling, Alice wondered if her cat could catch a bat, as she thought a bat was very much like a mouse. This led her to question if cats eat bats. As she grew sleepy, she kept dreamily asking herself this question, sometimes phrasing it as “Do cats eat bats?” and other times as “Do bats eat cats?”.
13. What did Alice dream about just before she landed?
Answer: Just before her fall ended, Alice was dozing off and had just started to dream. In her dream, she was walking hand in hand with her cat, Dinah. She was very earnestly asking Dinah to tell her the truth about whether she had ever eaten a bat in her life.
14. How did Alice’s fall finally end? Was she hurt?
Answer: Alice’s long fall finally ended when she came down with a thump upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.
No, Alice was not a bit hurt by the fall. She was completely unharmed and immediately jumped up on to her feet in a moment.
15. What did the White Rabbit say as it hurried away down the passage?
Answer: As the White Rabbit hurried away down another long passage, Alice heard it speak just as it turned a corner. The Rabbit exclaimed about its ears and whiskers and expressed its worry about how late it was getting, before disappearing from her sight.
16. Describe the hall Alice found herself in after the rabbit disappeared.
Answer: After the White Rabbit disappeared, Alice found herself in a long, low hall. This hall was lit up by a row of lamps that were hanging from the roof. She noticed that there were doors all around the hall, but after trying every one, she discovered that they were all locked.
17. What did Alice discover behind the low curtain?
Answer: On her second time around the hall, Alice discovered a low curtain that she had not noticed on her first pass. Behind this curtain, she found a very small door that was only about fifteen inches high. The tiny golden key she had found on the table fitted its lock perfectly.
18. What did Alice see through the small door? Why did she long to get out?
Answer: Alice opened the small door and knelt down to look through a passage that was no larger than a rat-hole. At the end of it, she saw the loveliest garden she had ever seen.
She longed to get out of the dark hall because she wanted to wander about among the beds of bright flowers and the cool fountains that she could see in the beautiful garden.
19. What was Alice’s wish when she realised she couldn’t fit through the door?
Answer: When Alice realised she could not even get her head through the doorway, let alone her shoulders, she wished that she could shut up like a telescope. She thought that this might be possible, if only she knew how to begin, since so many out-of-the-way things had been happening.
20. What did Alice find on the table on her second look?
Answer: When Alice went back to the three-legged table, she found a little bottle on it, which she was certain had not been there before. Tied around the neck of this little bottle was a paper label on which the words DRINK ME were beautifully printed in large letters.
21. Why was Alice cautious about drinking from the bottle?
Answer: Alice was cautious about drinking from the bottle because she was a wise girl who remembered reading stories about children who suffered unpleasant fates for forgetting simple rules. She wanted to first check if the bottle was marked with the word poison, as she knew that drinking from such a bottle would almost certainly make one unwell.
22. What wonderful taste did the drink from the bottle have?
Answer: The drink from the bottle had a very nice and wonderful taste which Alice enjoyed so much that she finished it all. It had a sort of mixed flavour that was a combination of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffy, and hot buttered toast, all rolled into one.
23. What happened to Alice after she finished the drink? How tall did she become?
Answer: After she finished the drink, Alice experienced a most curious feeling and found that she was shutting up like a telescope. Her face brightened at this change.
She became only ten inches high, which she realised was the right size for her to go through the little door and into the lovely garden.
24. What did Alice forget that prevented her from entering the garden?
Answer: Alice forgot the little golden key on the table, which prevented her from entering the garden. After shrinking, she went to the door but found she could not open it without the key. When she went back to the table for it, she was too small to reach it.
25. Why did the poor little thing sit down and cry?
Answer: The poor little thing sat down and cried because she felt hopeless and frustrated. After shrinking, she could not reach the golden key on the glass table. She tried her best to climb up one of the table legs, but it was too slippery, and she tired herself out completely with the effort.
26. How did Alice scold herself for crying?
Answer: Alice scolded herself quite sharply for crying, telling herself that there was no use in it and advising herself to leave off that very minute. She often gave herself very good advice, though she seldom followed it, and would sometimes scold herself so severely that it brought tears to her eyes.
27. What did Alice find in the little glass box under the table?
Answer: Alice found a very small cake inside a little glass box that was lying under the table. Her eye fell upon the box, and upon opening it, she discovered the cake within. This was a new discovery, as the box had not been there before.
28. What was written on the cake? How was it written?
Answer: The words written on the very small cake were EAT ME.
These words were beautifully marked on the cake using currants, making them clearly visible and rather tempting for Alice to read and consider.
29. What was Alice’s plan after deciding to eat the cake?
Answer: Alice’s plan after deciding to eat the cake was to find a way into the garden, regardless of the cake’s effect. She reasoned that if it made her grow larger, she could reach the key. If it made her grow smaller, she could creep under the door. Either way, she would get into the garden.
30. Describe the sequence of events that made Alice follow the White Rabbit.
Answer: Initially, when a white rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her, Alice did not find it very remarkable. She also did not think it was very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!” However, the situation changed when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, looked at it, and then hurried on. It flashed across Alice’s mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket or a watch. Burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it and was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.
31. Describe Alice’s thoughts and observations during her long fall down the well.
Answer: As Alice fell very slowly, she had plenty of time to look about her and make observations. First, she tried to look down, but it was too dark to see anything. When she looked at the sides of the well, she noticed that they were filled with cupboards and bookshelves. Here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs. She even took down a jar labelled “ORANGE MARMALADE” from one of the shelves, but finding it empty, managed to put it into another cupboard as she fell past it.
During the fall, she also had many thoughts. She began to wonder what was going to happen next. She thought to herself that after such a fall, she would think nothing of tumbling down stairs at home and that everyone would think her very brave. She wouldn’t even say anything about it if she fell off the top of the house.
32. How did Alice’s schoolroom lessons influence her thoughts and words during her fall?
Answer: Alice’s schoolroom lessons directly influenced her thoughts about her location and distance. She wondered how many miles she had fallen and recalled from her lessons that she must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth, which she thought was four thousand miles down. Although there was no one to listen, she felt it was good practice to say her lessons over.
Her lessons also influenced the words she used. She wondered what Latitude or Longitude she had gotten to. Even though she had not the slightest idea what these words meant, she thought they were nice, grand words to say. Similarly, she tried to recall a word from her lessons to describe people who walk with their heads downwards, mistakenly saying “The Antipathies.”
33. Explain the problem Alice faced with the golden key and the small door.
Answer: Alice’s first problem arose when she found a little three-legged table with a tiny golden key on it. Her first idea was that the key might belong to one of the doors of the hall. However, she discovered that either the locks were too large, or the key was too small, but at any rate, it would not open any of them.
Her problem then evolved when she found a low curtain she had not noticed before. Behind it was a little door about fifteen inches high. To her great delight, the little golden key fitted the lock perfectly. However, this created a new problem: the door led into a passage not much larger than a rat-hole, and she could not even get her head through the doorway.
34. Why did Alice think that very few things were really impossible?
Answer: Alice had begun to think that very few things were really impossible because so many out-of-the-way things had happened to her lately. Her recent experiences, such as following a talking rabbit with a watch and falling down a well lined with furniture, had conditioned her to expect the unexpected. This is why, when she wished she could shut up like a telescope to fit through the tiny door, she also thought that she could probably do it, if only she knew how to begin. The possibility no longer seemed absurd to her.
35. Describe Alice’s cautious nature as shown when she finds the bottle.
Answer: Alice showed a very cautious and wise nature when she found the bottle with the label “DRINK ME.” It was all very well to say “Drink me,” but she was not going to do that in a hurry. She said to herself that she would look first and see whether it was marked ‘poison’ or not. This caution was based on nice little stories she had read about children who had been burnt or eaten by wild beasts because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them, such as that a bottle marked ‘poison’ will almost certainly disagree with you.
36. What were the two opposite effects Alice hoped the cake might have? Why was she happy with either outcome?
Answer: When Alice found the small cake marked “EAT ME,” she considered the two opposite effects it might have on her size. She thought that if eating the cake made her grow larger, she would be able to reach the golden key on the table. On the other hand, if it made her grow smaller, she would be small enough to creep under the door.
She was happy with either outcome because both provided a potential solution to her predicament. She said to herself that either way she would get into the garden, and she did not care which of the two things happened. Both results would allow her to leave the hall and enter the lovely garden she wished to visit.
37. Explain Alice’s conversation with herself about pretending to be two people. What does this reveal?
Answer: Alice had a curious habit of pretending to be two people. She would give herself very good advice, although she very seldom followed it. She would also scold herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes and once even remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself.
This reveals that she was a very imaginative and peculiar child with a strong inner life. However, after shrinking, she felt this pretence was no longer useful. She thought to herself that there was hardly enough of her left to make one respectable person, showing that her strange circumstances were beginning to affect her sense of self.
38. What made life seem “dull and stupid” to Alice after she ate a bit of the cake?
Answer: After Alice ate a little bit of the cake, she held her hand on top of her head to feel which way she was growing. She was quite surprised to find that she remained the same size. Although this is what generally happens when one eats cake, for Alice, this normal outcome was a letdown.
Life seemed “dull and stupid” to her in that moment because she had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen. After all the magical and bizarre events she had just experienced, for something to happen in the common, predictable way felt boring and disappointing.
39. Discuss the ways in which Alice’s character is revealed through her thoughts and actions in the hall of doors.
Answer: Alice’s character is revealed through her systematic yet imaginative approach in the hall of doors. Initially, she is methodical, trying every locked door, and her frustration is evident when she walks sadly down the middle. Upon finding the tiny golden key, she logically tries it on the doors, though unsuccessfully. Her curiosity leads her to discover the small door behind a curtain, revealing a beautiful garden she longs to enter. This longing showcases her desire for beauty and escape from the dark hall.
Her practicality and wisdom are highlighted when she finds the bottle with the words “DRINK ME”. She prudently remembers lessons about safety, considering if the bottle is marked with the word ‘poison’ before tasting it. After shrinking, her initial hope turns to frustration when she realizes she has forgotten the key. Her attempt to climb the slippery table leg and subsequent crying show her to be a child who, despite her rational thoughts, is still susceptible to strong emotions when faced with insurmountable obstacles.
40. How does the chapter introduce the theme of logic versus nonsense? Use examples from Alice’s experiences.
Answer: The chapter introduces the theme of logic versus nonsense by constantly placing Alice’s rational mind in increasingly irrational situations. Alice attempts to apply the logic she has learned from her lessons and life experiences to a world that defies it. For instance, her initial thought about the uselessness of a book without pictures or conversations is a logical, if childish, observation from her world. When falling, she tries to apply her schoolroom knowledge, calculating her fall in miles and pondering her Latitude and Longitude. Similarly, she logically checks the bottle for a ‘poison’ label, remembering the consequences taught to her.
This logic is contrasted with the nonsense she encounters: a talking rabbit with a waistcoat and a watch, a well furnished with cupboards and bookshelves, and a magical bottle that tastes of several foods at once and causes her to shrink. Her mind tries to make sense of the nonsensical, as when she muses on whether cats eat bats, a query that breaks down into a nonsensical loop. The conflict between her logical expectations and the absurd reality she has entered is the chapter’s central theme.
41. Analyse Alice’s feelings of curiosity, frustration, and hope throughout the chapter.
Answer: Alice’s emotional journey in this chapter is a dynamic interplay of curiosity, frustration, and hope. Her initial curiosity is sparked by the White Rabbit with its watch, compelling her to follow it down the rabbit-hole, burning with curiosity and never once considering how she was to get out again. This curiosity sustains her as she falls, observing the strange well and wondering about her destination. Her feelings shift to frustration when she is confronted with obstacles. She walks sadly after finding all the doors locked and later cries in despair when she shrinks but cannot reach the forgotten golden key on the high table.
However, her frustration is consistently punctuated by hope. She hopes the key will work, longs for the loveliest garden, and returns to the table half-hoping to find a solution. Even after shrinking and crying, her hope is renewed when she finds the cake. She eats it with the hopeful expectation that, whether she grows or shrinks, she will find a way into the garden, demonstrating her resilient and optimistic nature amidst bizarre circumstances.
42. Describe Alice’s journey down the rabbit-hole as a passage from a normal world to one of fantasy and impossibility.
Answer: Alice’s journey down the rabbit-hole marks a clear transition from a normal, mundane world to one governed by fantasy and impossibility. The chapter opens with a perfectly ordinary scene: Alice is bored, feeling very sleepy and stupid while sitting with her sister on a bank on a hot day. The first hint of the fantastical is a talking white rabbit, which Alice initially accepts as natural. However, the moment the rabbit pulls a watch from its waistcoat-pocket, the boundary of reality is irrevocably crossed. This impossible sight shatters her sense of normalcy and, driven by curiosity, she follows it.
The descent itself is the passage into fantasy. It is not a quick, terrifying fall but a slow, dreamlike drift through a very deep well, which is bizarrely furnished with cupboards, bookshelves, and maps. During this fall, Alice has ample time to contemplate impossible physics and geography, such as falling four thousand miles through the earth. The journey transforms the predictable laws of her world into a new reality where the impossible is commonplace, culminating in her safe landing on a heap of sticks and dry leaves, fully immersed in a world of pure fantasy.
