IHWO Activity Pack - Level C2

Reading 1 & 6

I can recognise plays on words and appreciate texts whose real meaning is not explicit (for
example irony, satire).
I can recognise different stylistic means (puns, metaphors, symbols, connotations, ambiguity) and
appreciate and evaluate their function within the text.

Reeling Turtles
Aim: Learners recognise the use of puns and humour within an extract from a literary text.

Topic: Education

Time: 40-60 mins

Concept: At this level learners have no problem understanding a wide range of texts but don´t always
follow the puns in certain text types e.g advertisements, literary texts, jokes. These stylistic
means are often lost in translation, so while learners have often familiar with the story of
Alice in Wonderland, they will not be familiar with the humour which arises from Lewis Carroll
´s play on words. These materials aim to raise awareness of the use of puns and also
provide a break from the Proficiency type reading tasks, as well as working with a text type
not usually included in textbooks at Proficiency level.

Suggested Procedure:

1. Show students a picture of Alice in Wonderland plus the Mock Turtle and Griffin ask what they think
the scene is showing (e.g. a traditional illustration downloaded from ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/.../
images/alice34a.gif).

2. Try and elicit the written genre they think it accompanies (Children´s Literature, fantasy). Ask if they
have heard of Lewis Carroll or read Alice in Wonderland.

3. Tell students they are going to read an extract from “The Mock Turtle´s story” taken from Alice in
Wonderland. Lead in with the following prompts.

What´s the difference between a turtle and a “Mock” turtle?

(Most learners at this level are familiar with the term “mock exams”)
What’s the difference between a turtle and a tortoise? (Often the same word for both in
other languages)
What is a Gryphon or Griffin?
A legendary creature with the body of a lion and the wings of an eagle. Associated with
heraldry .The Queen of Hearts orders the Gryphon to take Alice to see the Mock Turtle and
hear its story.

4. The text is a conversation on the theme of education and the characters will be talking about
different school subjects. Learners predict in pairs what school subjects they think will be mentioned.

5. Learners read through the text and see whether any of the school subjects they predicted appeared.

6. In the text there are a lot of puns i.e. plays on words. In this extract Carroll uses words that are alike
or nearly alike in sound, but different in meaning with a humorous intention. Give example of “taught
us” and “tortoise”. Learners read again and complete the grid in exercise one with other puns which
refer to subjects at school.

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IHWO Activity Pack - Level C2
7. As some of the vocabulary used for the puns will be new for learners the next exercise focuses on
meaning. The easiest way to access this is through dictionary work. Learners work through exercise
2 on the handout looking up those words which are new for them. They then categorise these
vocabulary items into words which exist in common use and those which are invented by Lewis
Carroll. Demonstrate the activity with the two examples below:
Reading 1 & 6

I can recognise plays on words and appreciate texts whose real meaning is not explicit (for
example irony, satire).
I can recognise different stylistic means (puns, metaphors, symbols, connotations, ambiguity) and
appreciate and evaluate their function within the text.

“Real” words Meaning “Mock” words Meaning

Reeling etc…. Uglification
Seaography

8. A final pun is “lesson” and “lessen”; to point this out ask the following question; How practical is the
lesson plan at school like the one described in the last lines?

Extension: Compare a translation of this extract in the learners’ L1 with the original (again this can be
found on the internet). Find out which of the puns have been lost and which still work in L1.
Discuss the limitations of translated texts.
Further examples of puns can be collected by learners from jokes or advertisements.

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IHWO Activity Pack - Level C2
Reading 1 & 6

I can recognise plays on words and appreciate texts whose real meaning is not explicit (for
example irony, satire).
I can recognise different stylistic means (puns, metaphors, symbols, connotations, ambiguity) and
appreciate and evaluate their function within the text.

The Mock Turtle’s Story by Lewis Carroll

“Once,” said the Mock Turtle at last, with a deep sigh, “I was a real Turtle.”
These words were followed by a very long silence, broken only by an occasional exclamation of
“Hjckrrh!” from the Gryphon, and the constant heavy sobbing of the Mock Turtle. Alice was very
nearly getting up and saying, “Thank you, Sir, for your interesting story," but she could not help
thinking there must be more to come, so she sat still and said nothing.
“When we were little,” the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now
and then, “we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle — we used to call him
Tortoise — ”
“Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn’t one?” Alice asked.
“We called him Tortoise because he taught us,” said the Mock Turtle angrily. “Really you are very
dull!”
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself for asking such a simple question,” added the Gryphon; and
then they both sat silent and looked at poor Alice, who felt ready to sink into the earth. At last the
Gryphon said to the Mock Turtle, “Drive on, old fellow! Don’t be all day about it!” and he went on in
these words:
“Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you mayn’t believe it — ”
“I never said I didn’t!” interrupted Alice.
“You did,” said the Mock Turtle.
“Hold your tongue!” added the Gryphon, before Alice could speak again. The Mock Turtle went on:
“We had the best of educations — in fact, we went to school every day — ”
“I’ve been to a day-school, too,” said Alice. “You needn’t be so proud as all that.”
“With extras?” asked the Mock Turtle, a little anxiously.
“Yes,” said Alice; “we learned French and music.”
“And washing?” said the Mock Turtle.
“Certainly not!” said Alice indignantly.
“Ah! Then yours wasn’t a really good school,” said the Mock Turtle in a tone of great relief. “Now, at
ours, they had, at the end of the bill, ’French, music, and washing — extra.’”
“You couldn’t have wanted it much,” said Alice; “living at the bottom of the sea.”
“I couldn’t afford to learn it,” said the Mock Turtle with a sigh. “I only took the regular course.”

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IHWO Activity Pack - Level C2

Reading 1 & 6

I can recognise plays on words and appreciate texts whose real meaning is not explicit (for
example irony, satire).
I can recognise different stylistic means (puns, metaphors, symbols, connotations, ambiguity) and
appreciate and evaluate their function within the text.
“What was that?” inquired Alice.
“Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with,” the Mock Turtle replied; “and then the different
branches of Arithmetic — Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.”
“I never heard of ’Uglification,’” Alice ventured to say. “What is it?”
The Gryphon lifted up both its paws in surprise. “Never heard of uglifying!” it exclaimed. “You know
what to beautify is, I suppose?”
“Yes,” said Alice doubtfully: “it means — to — make — anything — prettier.”
“Well, then,” the Gryphon went on, “if you don’t know what to uglify is, you are a simpleton.”
Alice did not feel encouraged to ask any more questions about it: so she turned to the Mock Turtle,
and said, “What else had you to learn?”
“Well, there was Mystery,” the Mock Turtle replied, counting off the subjects on his flappers
—"Mystery, ancient and modern, with Seaography: then Drawling — the Drawling-master was an
old conger-eel, that used to come once a week: he taught us Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in
Coils.”
“What was that like?” said Alice.
“Well, I can’t show it you, myself,” the Mock Turtle said: “I’m too stiff. And the Gryphon never
learned it.”
“Hadn’t time,” said the Gryphon: “I went to the Classical master, though. He was an old crab, he
was.”
“I never went to him,” the Mock Turtle said with a sigh. “He taught Laughing and Grief, they used to
say.”
“So he did, so he did,” said the Gryphon, sighing in his turn; and both creatures hid their faces in
their paws.
“And how many hours a day did you do lessons?” said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject.
“Ten hours the first day,” said the Mock Turtle: “nine the next, and so on.”
“What a curious plan!” exclaimed Alice.
“That’s the reason they’re called lessons,” the Gryphon remarked: "because they lessen from day
to day.”

Extract from The Mock Turtle’s Story taken from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
http://www.authorama.com/alice-in-wonderland-9.html

Reading 1 & 6

I can recognise plays on words and appreciate texts whose real meaning is not explicit (for
© International House World Organisation C2 Activity Pack
IHWO Activity Pack - Level C2
example irony, satire).
I can recognise different stylistic means (puns, metaphors, symbols, connotations, ambiguity) and
appreciate and evaluate their function within the text.

The Mock Turtle’s Story Lewis Carroll

Exercise 1 Find the puns on the school subjects in the text.

Pun A play on:

taught us tortoise
reading
writing
addition
subtraction
multiplication
division
history
geography
drawing
sketching
painting in oils
latin and greek

Exercise 2 Now look back at the puns in the text.

Which words exist in common use and which are invented by Lewis Carroll?

“Real” words Meaning “Mock” words Meaning

Reading 1 & 6

I can recognise plays on words and appreciate texts whose real meaning is not explicit (for
example irony, satire).
I can recognise different stylistic means (puns, metaphors, symbols, connotations, ambiguity) and
appreciate and evaluate their function within the text.
Reading 1 & 6
© International House World Organisation C2 Activity Pack
IHWO Activity Pack - Level C2
I can recognise plays on words and appreciate texts whose real meaning is not explicit (for
example irony, satire).
I can recognise different stylistic means (puns, metaphors, symbols, connotations, ambiguity) and
appreciate and evaluate their function within the text.

Answer Key Exercise 1

Find the puns on the school subjects in the text.

Pun A play on;

Taught us Tortoise
Reeling Reading
Writhing Writing
Ambition Addition
Distraction Subtraction
Uglification Multiplication
Derision Division
Mystery History
Seaography Geography
Drawling Drawing
Stretching Sketching
Fainting in coils Painting in oils
Laughing and Grief Latin and Greek

Answer Key Exercise 2

“Real” words Real” words “Mock” words

Reeling

Writhing

Ambition Stretching
Uglification
Distraction Fainting in coils
Seaography
Derision Laughing and Grief

Mystery

Drawling

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