LEWIS CARROLL
An author, a mathematician, a photographer of the Victorian era, the one who wrote ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ and the sequel ‘Through the Looking Glass’. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson also referred to as Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) is the man who knows how to entertain and express his feelings though powerful words. Sir Carroll was born on 27 January in Cheshire as being the youngest sibling in the family; was exposed to magic tricks, marionette shows and poems written for homemade newspapers. Lewis Carroll attended Rugby School from 1846-1859, he graduated from Christ Church College, Oxford in 1854. Carroll remained in the college and started lecturing on mathematics, writing treatises and guides for students. In later life Sir Carroll was described as asymmetrical as he was carrying himself stiffly. He was challenged with a knee injury sustained in middle age, as a very young child he suffered from a fever that left him deaf in one ear. He also went through a severe attack of whooping cough that resulted in a weak chest in later life.
From a young age, Lewis Carroll wrote poetry and short stories this work was sent to various magazines. Between 1854 and 1856, his poetry and short stories appeared in the national publication, ‘The Comic Times’ and, ‘The Train’ as well as a few other smaller magazines. Most of this work was humorous, sometimes mocking but his standards and ambitions were set up high. “Always speak the truth, think before you speak, and write it down afterwards,” this was a famous quote Lewis Carroll told and followed as he filled this thoughts in 13 diaries. Unfortunately a total of 7 complete pages of text were missing.
Over the twenty years of his life, throughout his growing wealth and fame, his poem ‘Jabberwocky’ exemplifies the different combinations of mythical creatures and invented vocabulary. Lewis has played with the words and made the poem original. He’s used plenty of imagery to help the reader imagine the words carefully and make out the right meaning of the poem.