Math A Logic with  Lewis Carroll

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 an animated adaptation of this conversation can be a wonderful anticipatory set for studying conditionals.

The passages from this conversation can be 

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.