Dr+Heidegger's+Experiment

Dr Heidegger's Experiment

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title:  __Dr Heidegger's Experiment__

Point of View: 3rd Person

Protagonist:  Dr Heidegger

What type of character is the Protagonist? Round, Static. He has depth, but does not change.

Antagonist:  The water from the fountain of youth.

Describe the setting: The time was in around the 1800's and the story took place in Dr Heidegger's study. "It was a dim, old-fashioned chamber, festooned with cobwebs, and besprinkled with antique dust." The study is filled with books, one of which "was well known to be a book of magic; ..." It was said that once a maid had just lifted the book, and many unusual and magical things happened. Dr Heidegger also has a misterious looking glass in which it is said he sees the faces of his dead patients. Also, in one of the closets, there was a skeleton. This adds to the creepy and scary feeling of the setting.

Type of Conflict:  Man vs Substance

Describe the main conflict: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> Guests, including Mr Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, Mr Gascoigne, and the Widow Wycherly, were invited to Dr Heidegger's study to sample a drink from the fountain of youth. Once they drank it, the water not only renewed their youth but renewed their stupidity as well. They made the same bad choices as they did long ago, even after warning from the doctor. The guests, after drinking the water and seeing a few years removed, wanted more and more of the fountain of youth. Dr Heidegger only had a small amount though so they quickly ran out. Instead of learning their lesson however, the guests vowed to travel to Florida and drink from the fountain every single day.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">Describe the Climax of the Story: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">The climax of the story is when all three men that drank the water were fighting over the Widow Wycherly as they had been in their youth. All knowledge of their bad choices had vanished and there they were making the same bad choices all over again. The men were each trying to dance with "Clara"- the Widow Wycherly - and they each had a part of her that they were holding. "Clara" was struggling to dance with three men.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> The protagonist does not change over th course of the story. That is why he is a static character. Dr Heidegger made a good choice to not drink the water and stayed by that choice, he was wise. While all the guests were quarreling, Dr Heidegger was watching, seeing how foolish they all were and proving the secret theory he had all along. That when drinking the water from the fountain of youth, one will redo the same mistakes they have done before.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> The title, "Dr Heidegger's Experiment.", goes with the theme, decisions, because the doctor was deciding weither or not to drink the water and he performed an experiment on some guests to see if he should. The guests made very poor decisions in their youth and replayed them when they drank the water. This was proof that the doctor should not drink it, that and because it only lasts aout 10 mins.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">The main conflict was when the three men and the Widow Wycherly were drinking the water and redoing all their mistakes (see above). The theme matches this conflict because the guests made the poor decision to drink the water, and that led to them making the same wrong decisions they did many years ago. A bad decision sometimes leads to many more.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> The climax of the story is when the three men ( Mr Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, and Mr Gascoigne) are fighting over the Widow Wycherly (see above). This helps to illustrate the theme (decisions) because the climax was the result of a bad decision -drinking a lot of the water- and the cause of one, moving to florida and drinking the water each day. The climax itself was a bad decision too. They chose to fight over "Clara" again.

Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">Simile: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> Pg. 161, paragraph 7. "... as fresh as violets..."

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">Metaphor: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">Pg. 159, paragraph 3. Skelletons in the closet. This is a metaphor that means Dr Heidegger has something to hide.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">Personification: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> Pg. 159, paragraph 3. "...looking glass, presenting its high..."

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">Symbol: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> Pg. 160, paragraph 5. The rose is a symbol for Dr Heidegger's love.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">Foreshadowing (give both elements): <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">Pg. 159, paragraph 1. "...had once been on the point of cutting each other's throats for her sake." This was foreshadowing for when they are fighting over Widow Wycherly.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">Irony: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> Pg. 162, paragraph 3. Verbal Irony. "...my respectable old friends." He says that they are respectable but he knows they are ignorant and foolish. The perfect people for his experiment.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">Imagery: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> "...a rose, or what was once a rose, though now the green leaves and crimson petals had assumed one brownish hue, and the ancient flower seemed ready to crumble to dust in the doctor's hands."

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> The class theme is choices, and in the story the guests (Mr Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, Mr Gascoigne, and the Widow Wycherly) made a choice and drank the water from the fountain of youth and became young again. They also made the same bad choices as when they were young, the first time! A choice, led to a choice that led to choices. If that makes any sense.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">1) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> The purpose of the experiment is to see how the water from the fountain of youth effects "... the human frame..." To test whether the subjects retain their knowledge that they obtained with their age.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">2) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> Dr Heidegger's friends all have one thing in common, they were all unfortunate in their aging. they all had bad things happen to them as they became older. Each of the guests are doubtful of the water at first, then they had a sample of it and longed for more. They were not thinking about the consequences that came with the water, only the feeliing it brought to them. They were unknowing and unthinking.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">3) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> Dr Heidegger would not drink from the fountain of youthe because he says that he has "...had much trouble growing old..." and he is in "...no hurry to grow young again." I think that he already suspected side-effects such as redoing the same mistakes one had already done in life. He tried to warn the others of this but they did not listen. They were greedy for youth and ignored all the warnings and unknown parts of it.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">4) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> I do not know who the narrator of the story is, but he/she relays all the details as if he/she were right there. The narrator is omniscient, he knows everything. The narrator has no doubt whatsoever that what he says is true.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">5) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> This story seems to state that youth equals stupidity and wrong choices, and age equals knowledge and being wise. The story makes it seem like when the guests drink the water and become young they also became stupid. I do not agree with this at all, age is not an excuse for stupidity, nor is it a reason for it.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808000; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">7) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> No, I think a vaccine against aging would not be desirable because although we would not become oblivous like in the story, there would be extreme over population, polution, and all of our resources would be used up.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-size: 130%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> <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 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 17/20