Dr.+Heidegger's+Experiment



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

Point of View: The point of view is Omniscient/ third person

Protagonist: The protagonist is Dr. Heidegger

What type of character is the Protagonist? The protagonist is a round, and dynamic character

Antagonist: The antagonist is the Fountain of Youth

Describe the setting Time: Early 1900's Place: It took place in Mr. Eidegger's lab ( chamber) Mood: creepy, mysterious, sad, tense, gloomy

Type of Conflict: Man v.s. self/ man v.s. nature

Describe the main conflict: Dr. Heidegger found the fountain of youth. He had to make a decision to either drink from the fountain of youth or not to. Dr. Heidegger did an experiment on the effects of the water and had to make a desicion after that whether to drink from the fountain or not. If he drank from the fountain he would be young and youthfull again, but he would also have to keep drinking the water to stay young and he would become addicted and greedy towards the water. If he didn't drink the water he would stay old and continue aging.

Describe the Climax of the Story: The climax of the story occurs after Dr. Heidegger's friends drank the water from the fountain of youth. His friends kept drinking more and more water and fell in love with the effects of the water. They became young and beautiful again but the way they acted changed aswell. Dr. Heideggers friends started to fight over widow Wycherly who was now beautiful. Dr. Heidegger tried to stop the riot but it was too late, they each got a hold on her and tried to win the prize (her), "Still keeping hold of the fair prize, they grappled fiercely at one another's throats. As they struggled to and fro, the table was overturned, and the vase dashed into a thousand fragments. ". After the water spilled onto the floor, the young beautiful subjects suddenly started to age again until they were as old as they were before they drank the water. "...each fleeting moment had taken away a charm, and left a deepening furrow where none had been before.".

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? The protagonist, Dr. Eidegger, decided that he would never drink from the fountain of youth. He saw that the fountain water only lasted for moments, not years, and that once you had it you could never not have enough of it. He saw that his friends grew greedy over the water and decided that the water was too valluable for humans to posses.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. The title, "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment", was related to the theme because the theme was 'learn from your mistakes, don't live in the past'. Dr. Heidegger's Experiment was to see what the effects of the water was on people. He saw that after his subjects had drank from the fountain of youth, they made the same mistakes that they made years ago by fighting over the widow Wycherly. Dr. Heidegger's experiment proved that some people dont learn from their mistakes and choose to live in the past. He decided not to drink the water; thus not making the same mistakes and not living in the past, but in the future.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? The main conflict helps to illustrate the theme because Dr. Heidegger had to make a decision between drinking the water, becoming young again, and starting his life over, or not drinking the water, staying old, and living in the future. After his experiment was done, he chose not to drink the water and learned that one should learn from their mistakes and not live in the past.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? The climax helps to illustrate the theme because when the subjects of the experiment drank the water, they became young and charming. Excited by their youth, they picked up old habbits and started to fight over widow Wycherly. They refused to become old again and insisted to stay young and beautiful as they once did in the past. In the fight to win widow Wycherly's affection though, they knocked over the vase containing the magical water and became old again. Because of their actions after drinking from the fountain of youth, Dr. Heidegger chose not to drink from the fountain of youth; thus creating the theme ' learn from your mistakes, don't live in the past'.

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

Simile: "...a small round table, as black as ebony, stood in the centre of the room..."

Metaphor: "...the skeleton had rattled in it's closet..." The skeleton in the closet is a metaphor for regretting things in one's life.

Personification: " A strange chillness, whether of the body or spirit they could not tell, was creeping gradually over them all."

Symbol: The dried rose was a simble for the love of his life. Even though she was dead, like the rose, he still kept the rose ( and kept her close in his heart), and treasured her ( like he treasured her).

Foreshadowing (give both elements): "...each of these old gentlemen, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, and Mr. Gascoigne, were early lovers of Widow Wycherly, and had once been on the point of cutting each other's throats for her sake." This is forshadowing because later on in the story, when they drink from the fountain and become young again, they fight over Widow Wycherly like they used to many years ago, " Still keeping hold of the fair prize, they grappled fiercely at one another's throats."

Irony: " As they struggled to and fro, the table was overturned, and the vase dashed into a thousand fragments. The precious Water of Youth flowed in a bright stream across the floor...A strange chillness, whether of the body or spirit they could not tell, was creeping gradually over them all. They gazed at one another, and fancied that each fleeting moment snatched away a charm, and left a deepening furrow where none had been before."

Imagery: " The sunshine came through the window, between the heavy festoons of two faded damask curtains, and fell directly across this vase; so that a mild splender was reflected from it on the ashen visages of the five old people who sat around."

Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. The class theme of choices is related to the story theme ' learn from your mistakes don't live in the past' because Dr. Heidegger conducted an experiment to help him make the chioce between drinking or not drinking from the fountain of youth. From his experiment he concluded that if you drank from the fountain, you would make the same mistakes twice and live in the past. Dr. Heidegger made the choice to learn from his mistakes and not live in the past by deciding not to drink from the fountain of youth.

Responding

1) According to Dr. Heidegger, what is the purpose of his experiment? ﻿The purpose of his experiment was to see what the effects of the water from the fountain of youth was on people and how they acted once they drank it.  2) What do Dr. Heidegger's friends have in common? how does each of them behave during the experiment? "They were all melancholy old creatures, who had been unfortunate in life, and whose greatest misfortune it was that they were not long ago in their graves". Each of them makes the same mistakes that they did when they were younger during the experiment by fighting over widow Wycherly while she admired her own beauty. 3) Why would Dr. Heidegger not stoop to bathe his lips in the Fountain of Youth? Do his friends feel the same way? Comment ﻿Dr. Heidegger would never drink from the fountain of youth because he saw that the water made his friends act differently in a bad way and made them greedy for more. He didn't want that to happen to him so he decided not to ever drink from the fountain of youth. His friends feel differently. His friends would drink the water forever if they could. 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 narrator is third person, omniscient. The narrator is all knowing and knows what all the characters thoughts are. The narrator is 100% sure of his facts because he is all knowing like god. 5) What points are made about youth and aging in the story? Do you agree with the views in the story? Comment ﻿Some points made about youth and aging in the story are that with age comes wisdom, learn from your mistakes, given the chance to do something over again you may make the same mistakes again, and don't live in the past. I agree with the points in the story because they are life lessons that are valuable to learn so that you can learn from your mistakes and live in the future rather than in the past.  7) Some scientists hope to develope a vaccine against aging. They speculate that human beings could live approximately 800 years. Do you feel this is desirable? Explain your answer ﻿I dont think that it is desirable because there would be worldwide overpopulation. There would also be a lack of food because of overpopulation and there would be war over the food remaining in the world. If people took the vaccine, they would watch some of the people they love, who decided not to take it, die. Completion 5/5 Effort 4.5/5 Content 4.5/5

Total 14/15

Questions Completion Mark 4/5

Total 18/20