“You ought to return thanks in a neat speech,” the Red Queen said, frowning at Alice as she spoke.
“We must support you, you know,” the White Queen whispered, as Alice got up to do it, very obediently, but a little frightened.
“Thank you very much,” she whispered in reply, “but I can do quite well without.”
“That wouldn't be at all the thing,” the Red Queen said very decidedly: so Alice tried to submit to it with a good grace.
(“And they DID push so!” she said afterwards, when she was telling her sister the history of the feast. “You would have thought they wanted to squeeze me flat!”)
In fact it was rather difficult for her to keep in her place while she made her speech: the two Queens pushed her so, one on each side, that they nearly lifted her up into the air: “I rise to return thanks – ” Alice began: and she really DID rise as she spoke, several inches; but she got hold of the edge of the table, and managed to pull herself down again.
Which life experience best connects to the theme in the excerpt?
being pressured to dance when you do not want to dance
being invited to a dance by someone you really like
being taught how to dance by a talented teacher
being admired as the best dancer in a talent show
1 answer
The life experience that best connects to the theme in the excerpt is being pressured to dance when you do not want to dance.
In the excerpt, Alice feels a mix of obligation and reluctance as she is pushed by the Red and White Queens to make a speech, highlighting the theme of external pressure to conform to the expectations of others, even when it causes discomfort. This mirrors the situation of feeling pressured to participate in something (like dancing) that one may not want to do.
