Dr.+Heidegger's+experiment

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: Dr. Heidegger's experiment

Point of View: omniscient narrator in third person

Protagonist: Dr. Heidegger

What type of character is the Protagonist? Dr. Heidegger is an old man who was a doctor in his prime, but now spends his days in his cramped and dusty study, he is a dynamic flat character.

Antagonist: the fountain water

Describe the setting: Dr. Heidegger’s old and cobwebby study in present time. The mood is is rather gloomy

Type of Conflict: Man vs self

Describe the main conflict: when the people who have just drunk the fountain water start fighting over the Widow Wycherly

Describe the Climax of the Story: When the guests are very young and they start to fight over the widow. Then They realize that they are starting to go back to regular age.

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? He doesn’t. At the beginning Dr.Heidegger is a tired old man with a vase full of magic water. At the end, he’s a tired old man without any magic water.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The title is "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment"and the theme of the story is to test human reactions so the title is quite a clear to the theme.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The hypothesis of the experiment was to see whether his friends, if rejuvenated with water from the fountain of youth, would make the same mistakes as they did when they were younger. During the main conflict, they made all the same mistakes.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The climax is when the guests are very young and they start to fight over the widow, then they realize that they are starting to go back to regular age. The theme is testing human reactions and the climax is a big reaction so it is based completely on the theme because it is a big reaction.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Simile: "They felt like new-created beings, in a new created universe." not the greatest simile but it was slim pickings and, yes it is a simile.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Metaphor: "... a tall narrow oaken closet, within which doubtfully appeared a skeleton.”

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Personification:

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Symbol: Dr Heidegger’s rose was a symbol of his love for Sylvia Ward.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Foreshadowing (give both elements): When the vase shattered and the flower dried up, it hinted that the old friends would soon return to their true old selves.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Irony: The guests were children and they were making fun of themselves when they were old only to become old again in moments.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Imagery: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When the narrator describes Dr. Heidegger’s interesting, yet creepy, study.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The class theme is choices and Dr. Heidegger made the choice to do the experiment with the guests first so the whole story is based on that choice.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Story Questions: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1. According to Dr. Heidegger, what is the purpose of his experiment? To test the effect of the fountain water on the friends.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2. What do Dr. Heidegger’s friends have in common? How does each of them behave during the experiment? His friends have all been in relationships with the widow <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wycherly. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> They behave like children when they are very young, like when they are fighting over the widow.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3.Why would Dr. Heidegger not stoop to bathe his lips in the Fountain Of Youth? Do his friends feel the same way? Comment. I think He would not stoop because there is nothing good in his past so he does not want to live it again. His friends have all had good pasts so they would want the opposite.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4.Who is the narrator of the story?Though he is not a participant in the experiment, the narrator relates all the details.How does he know what happened to the doctor and his friends? How certain of his facts is the narrator? The identity of the narrator is not known, and seems to be omniscient as he knows all the facts and seems to be sure of them.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5. What points are made about youth and aging in the story? Do you agree with the views of the story? comment. some of the points that are made are that any change to aging will quickly be undone, and that even if we can reverse aging, we’ll just make the same mistakes again. I personally believe that human aging is something best left alone

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">7.some scientist hope to develop a vaccine against aging. they speculate human beings could live approximately 800 years. do you feel this is desirable? as I said before, I don’t think messing around with aging is a good idea. the damage done by such technology would far outweigh the benefits.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> <span style="color: #ae1610; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Completion 4.5/5 <span style="color: #ae1610; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Effort 4/5 <span style="color: #ae1610; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Content 4/5

<span style="color: #ae1610; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Total 13/15

<span style="color: #ae1610; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Questions Completion Mark 4/5

<span style="color: #ae1610; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Total 16.5/20