Logic with
Lewis Carroll
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Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, was actually a mathematics teacher.   As a hobby, Carroll wrote stories that contain amusing examples of logic.  His works reflect his passion for mathematics and can be wonderful interdisciplinary teaching tools.

Consider this quote from a conversation which occurred during the Mad Hatter's Tea Party:

"Then you should say what you mean." the March Hare went on.

"I do," Alice hastily replied; "at least -- at least I mean what I say -- that's the same thing, you know."

"Not the same thing a bit!" said the Hatter, "Why, you might just as well say that 'I see what I eat' is the same thing as 'I eat what I see'!"

"You  might just as well say," added the March Hare, "that 'I like what I get' is the same thing as 'I get what I like'!"

"You might just as well say," added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, "that 'I breathe when I sleep' is the same thing as 'I sleep when I breathe'!"

"It is the same thing with you," said the Hatter, and here the conversation dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute.

 

Suggestion:
Showing a video cassette of this conversation can be a wonderful anticipatory set for studying conditionals.

The passages from this conversation can be 

  • examined by the class for truth value.

  • translated into "If...then" form.

  • examined using truth tables.

  • described using the term "converse".

  • further examined using other related conditionals.

For example, all of the following sentence pairs could be examined:

If I am sleeping, then I am breathing.
If I am breathing, then I am sleeping.

If I am sleeping, then I am breathing.
If I am not sleeping, then I am not breathing.

If I am sleeping, then I am breathing.
If I am not breathing, then I am not sleeping.

 

Let your imagination guide you. 
There are many opportunities within this one small passage to engage your students.