Dr.+Heidegger's+Experiment

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

1.I think he wanted to do this experiment so he could see hwat would happen if he took the water himself.

2. All of his friends wasted their youth. they want it back so they can fix their mistakes and have another chance, but when they are given the opportunity they waste it by doing the same things they did before.

3. I think he wouldn't drink from the fountain because he's seen that even though it would make him young again, it would do him no good as he would most likely repeat the same mistakes. Also even if the fountain made him young again, it wouldn't bring his wife back. Even if it did bring her back, she'd probably still die from drinking one of his experiments.

4. The narrator has somekind of relationship with Dr Heidegger. It seems as thouguh he were told this story by either Dr Heidegger himself or somebody who got told it. I think he heard it from somebody other then Dr Heidegger because in some places they seemed unsure on themselves.

5. I think this story makes the point to show us the in fact youth is not wasted ion the young. Often humans get so caught up in themselves and in the moment that they have no consideration for the consequences of their actions. We pay so much attention to whawt is, in the long run, unimportant that if we were given the chance to fix our mistakes, we would continue to act the say way as before.

7.I don't think it would be good for us to live longer then we already do because that would lead to massive overpopulation. Wars would go on longer because we'd have more endurance, and there would be more of us to destroy the planet. Can you imagine being 6 years old, and having to visit your 600 year old great great great great great grandmother? It would be weird.

__ Point of View: __ This story is in first person. Although the narrator doesn't participate in the events portrayed, they relay them to us and use the possesive term 'I'.

__ Protagonist: __ The protagonist of this story is Dr. Heidegger.

__ What type of character is the Protagonist? __ I think Dr Heidegger is a flat, drynamic. I know those seem contradicting, but he is a typical human who decides to test something on others instead of himself. In the beginning he was considering taking the elixer, but in the end he decided against it.

__ Antagonist: __ I think the antagonist is Dr Heidegger.

__ Describe the setting: __ This story takes place in the late 18th century or early 19th century in Dr Heidegger's office. It's slightly mysterious, making you wonder at first what the experiment will be, why he is doing it and at the end how willwthe other's react to this experiment.

__ Type of Conflict: __ The conflict is Man vs Himself.

__ Describe the main conflict: __ The conflict is Dr Heidegger fighting against the voice inside of him that wants him to take the drink and return to his youthful self. Instead of testing it on himself, he decides to test it on his colleagues.

__ Describe the Climax of the Story: __ The climax of the story comes just after the elderly folks are repeating the same mistakes they made in their youth. The water spills off the table and they start to feel the same way they had inly minutes before.

__ How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? __ I think Dr Heidegger changes, but only subtly. His opinions about taking the drink don't change, but get confirmed, as in the beginning he would rather his friends take the drink and in the end he wouldn't take it at all.

__ Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. __ I think the theme connects to the title because the title is about an experiment and the theme is about the experiment of life. We only have one chance to do all that we want, and the title shows somebody testing the limits of that.

__How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme?__ I think the main conflict helps to illustrate the theme because it shows a man trying to figure out if it's worth it to redo something, even though we can't.

__ How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? __ In the climax we see four people go from making the same mistakes as when the were young to being old again. It shows that given the chance to redo something, it would end up the same way it was anyways.

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

__ Simile: __ '...stood four glasses full with the wonderful water...resembled the tremulous glitter of diamonds' they are comparing the way the light hits the spray of the water to the way light reflects off of diamonds.

Metaphor:

Personification: A closet standing tall in the corner-closets don't stand, they sort of just get places in a position and stay there

__ Symbol: __ The old, withered rose is a symbol of what is lost. It shows that just because something has become old it can still be preserved along with the memories that it represents. It also shows that what //is// lost can be recovered. Another symbol is the skeleton that they say doubtfully resides in a closet. I think this represents the way that we will judge others and make inferences about them just because of rumors we have heard from others.

__ Foreshadowing (give both elements): __ First Element: There was only four champagne glasses at the table, even though there was five people. Second Element: I thought it foreshadowed that the Dr wanted one person to not have a glass, either to observe the others after they drank the substance or so he could see the contrast between those who had drunken it and those who hadn't.

__ Irony: __ I found it ironic that the people who wanted their youth back the most would waste it the same way they had in the first place. This is situational irony.

__ Imagery: __ It was a dim, old fashioned chamber, festooned with cobwebs, and besprinkled with antique dust. Around the walls stood several oaken bookcases, the lower shelves of which were filled with gigantic folios and black-lettered quartos, and the upper with little parchment-covered duodecimos. I think those two sentences are imagery because they made me picture an old library, possibly in a mansion. The cobwebs made it seemed neglected, but having so many books made it seem like it was once cared for and loved. I could almost smell the dust it was so intense.

__ Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. __ This story relates to our class theme of humanity because it shows us how people would give anything to stay young. It does a really good job of portraying the unhappiness we are with what we are given, and the longing we feel for what we cannot have. COMPLETION 4/5 EFFORT 5/5 CONTENT 5/5 QUESTIONS 10/12 TOTAL 24/27