Dr.+Heidegger's+Experiment

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Rm-c8IShxhEWGpU5l2UkOlIWW6J6cOsiV3ytrx-oCf8/edit#slide=id.p

Short Stories - Literary Devises

Point of View: Third person. (Omniscient).

Protagonist: Dr. Heidegger.

What type of character is the Protagonist?: Round/dynamic.

Antagonist: Potion of the fountain of youth.

Describe the setting: Dr. Heidegger's study, inside his home. Old fashioned, creepy/eerie, dim, dusty, walls with shelves full of bookcases.

Type of Conflict: Person vs. Self, Person vs. Supernatural.

Describe the main conflict: The main conflict occurs when Dr. Heidegger's friends drink the elixr from the fountain of youth, and become physically youthful again, as well as going back to their old ways of when they were young. The four guests; Widow Wycherly, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew and Mr. Gascoigne forget the lessons they may or may not have learned from aging and act as if they were the still those foolish people, making the same mistakes which got them into trouble in the first place. Dr. Heidegger tries to make these characters use their prior knowledge to not make the same mistake twice, but is dismissed by the others in their excitement of once again being youthful.

Describe the Climax of the Story:

The climax of this story is when Dr. Heidegger's four guests have drank the youth potion, and in all their excitement as well as the three men fighting over Widow Wycherly once again, they knock over the glass containing the potion. This causes them to return to their youth while he sits and observes. Dr. Heidegger knew the potion would work - that wasn't what he was experimenting on. He wanted to see if the knowledge his subjects had gained and the lessons they had learned by making the mistakes they had made throughout their lives would stay with them after they are given a second chance at youth. While Dr. Heidegger watches his experiment unfold, the four guests are completely blissful at the thought of being young forever, but are oblivious to the negative outcome that Mr. Heidegger can see so clearly. In their vanity and foolishness, they choose to have the appearance of youth, rather than to have the ability to prevent their mistakes after learning how through experience.

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story?

Dr. Heidegger changes over the course of the story through the knowledge he has gained after watching his experiment. He realizes the fact that he is okay with becoming old. In the beginning, he sees what the Fountain of Youth does to the flower from his lost love, and has hope that the water will improve life. As his experiment proves in a pessimistic way what the true tendencies of human nature are, he sees that even when given a second chance people it is natural for humans to make their mistakes once again. He can safely come to the conclusion that the fountain of youth, and giving people the opportunity to appear youthful once again may eliminate the benefits of growing old, which are having experiences in life to learn from.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme:

The title, "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" gives little insight into the theme of the story, which has to do with youth vs. aging. The title allows the reader to know that the story will most likely involve some kind of experiment, but it does not specify what it is about. The reader will soon enough by reading the first or second page of the story that Dr. Heidegger, the protagonist, conducts an experiment on four elderly people to see for himself how the potion of youth will effect them and if they will have learned from their mistakes they had made in their lives. This experiment is the link between the generic title and a very specific theme.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme?

The main conflict illustrates the theme by giving a direct example of what might happen if aging could be reversed, and whether or not people would have remembered what they learned in their lives in order to not make the mistakes again which they already once had made. In the climax, it is proved that people, when given a second chance will lapse back into their foolish ways once again. Mr. Heidegger then concludes that he would rather grow old and keep the knowledge he learned throughout his life, than to appear youthful and have a youthful mentality once again.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme?: The climax, like the main conflict, demonstrates the theme through example. The guests make the decision to go back to their youth and what they thought to be the best times in their lives, while Dr. Heidegger realizes the best part of life is living with the knowledge gathered through the experiences he has had, and never wants to drink the youth potion.

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

Similie: pg. 160, par. 2 "...a small round table, as black as ebony..." The author compared a dark wooden table to the blackest wood which can be found in the rainforest.

Metaphor: pg. 160, par. 1 "...the skeleton had rattled in its closet..." This metaphor describes the regrets Dr. Heidegger had from his past by placing a physical and literal skeleton in Dr. Heidegger's closet.

Personification: pg. 161, par. 3 "...flower...reviving from a deathlike slumber..." Flowers are not human, and do not awake from sleeping. By using personification, the author compares the flower once again becoming youthful to waking up.

Symbol: pg. 166, par. 5 "My poor Sylvia's rose! ...it appears to be fading again." As Dr. Heidegger's rose loses it's youth once again, so do the four guests. This symbolizes that once time has passed, there is no way of it ever permanentley coming back. Just as the rose's youth faded, so did the guests'.

Foreshadowing: pg. 162, par. 3 and pg. 166, par. 1. In the first part of forshadowing throughout the story, Dr. Heidegger cautions his guests not to make the same mistakes twice as they had the knowledge from experience not to. Instead of listening to him, the four of them all laugh at the thought of making the mistakes once again - the ones which got them into trouble in the first place. Dr. Heidegger seems doubtful, but only which makes him want to see the results of his experiment even more. He proceeds to give each guest their first glass of the elixr. In the second part of this forshadowing, the guests become young again and begin making the same mistakes they already made, only a second time around. Dr. Heidegger had some reason to think his friends might act foolish once given another chance at youth, when they had already made the exact mistakes. Perhaps he already knew that his suggestion would be ignored, even though he made the consequences clear to them prior to the experiment.

Irony: pg. 167, par. 5 and 6. In the conclusion of this story, Dr. Heidegger realizes that the Fountain of Youth does more bad than good for a person after seeing what it did to his four guests. He vows never to drink from it, when he said; "...if the fountain gushed at my very doorstep, I would not stoop to drink from it." Ironically, however, the guests who experienced the potion still do not see the consequences of the Fountain of Youth and instead vow to search for and find the fountain to restore their youth by drinking from it morning, noon, and night.

Imagery: pg. 163, par. 1 "...the deep and sad inscription which Father Time had been so long engraving on their brows." This clearly inspires the reader through a metaphor, of an elderly man enscripting something upon the face of a person.

Describe the relationship between the class theme and the story: This story's theme of whether or not it's human nature to make the same mistakes twice when/ if we would ever be given a second chance at youth, connects to the class theme of decisions. If you were given the opportunity to become youthful again, would you make the choice to take that chance? For some people, the ability to have something like youth once again - something which is truly impossible to obtain twice - would be something they would want more than anything. They would want to be young and youthful again, and to be able to enjoy what thy remember as being the best years of their life a second time. Although, the truth is that the wiser people would appreceate the life they've lived, along with the knowledge they've gained through the experiences they've had by making the mistakes they made in their youth, but would not want to live it again. It is in our nature to make mistakes, because as people, through mistakes is how we learn.

Excellent detail! There were also a series of questions to complete for this assignment.

15/15 0/10 Questions total 15/25