Assignment 3

Lesson 3, Part A: Scenes Make a Story: The Causal Chain
ASSIGNMENT:Using a fictional novel or novella that you are very familiar with, or that you have written, analyze one of your favorite scenes. 1. Find the main conflict in the scene even if it doesn't relate to the overall conflict of the story. 2. Try to determine the goal or agenda of all the characters in the scene. You may need to refer to a previous scene in order to pinpoint a character's goals or objectives. 3. Finally, evaluate the type of hook or cliff-hanger used to hold the reader in suspense. Then, write a short essay pointing out these three elements in the scene. Please give the name and author of the novel or story you choose, even if it is your own.


The "Pig and Pepper" scene in Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Even in a book where nonsense is the rule, every character has a purpose, conflicts run rampant, and cliffhangers connect scenes.

In Alice in Wonderland, The "Pig and Pepper" scene starts out with two footmen, a frog and a fish, conversing outside the Duchess's house. The fish was delivering a letter from the queen, and the frog was there to accept it for the Duchess. (The Frog footman also seems to serve another purpose - simply to drive Alice up the wall with his ridiculousness.) Alice eventually gets into the house and finds the Duchess sitting in the middle of the room holding a raucous baby. A cook stands in the corner stirring a pot of soup with copious amounts of pepper in it. The Cheshire Cat sits on the floor grinning. The main goal of the cook may be to bean the Duchess on the head with a projectile frying pan, but other than that, she's probably there to make the scene more uncomfortable for Alice. The pepper makes everyone sneeze and makes the baby cry more. Through the Duchess, Alice finds out about the queen's croquet game. The Duchess's personal goal in this scene seems to be to make the baby cry, adding to the boisterousness of the scene.
The Duchess eventually shoves the baby at Alice, who takes it outside for some fresh air (thereby moving the scene back outside). The baby turns into a pig and runs away, at which point its goal is probably to find some slop to eat. Alice finds that the Cheshire Cat has followed her outside. The Cat doesn't seem to have a goal of his own, except to drive Alice insane (or maybe to use her to amuse himself), but he does serve as a guide to Alice, directing her to the Mad Hatter and March Hare.
The main conflict in this scene is probably Alice's conversation with the Duchess. It seems that every conversation Alice has is a conflict for her because everyone in Wonderland is so completely unreasonable and frustrating.
The "cliffhanger" at the end of the scene is when Alice arrives at the March Hare's house and wonders about the occupant's sanity before she moves toward the front door.