Dr.+Heidegger's+Experiment

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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 and dynamic

 Antagonist: Dr. Heidegger

 Describe the setting: One night in America a few decades before the beginning of the American revolution (late 1800's) in Dr. Heidegger's old parlour. The mood is eerie and untrusting as if something secretive is going on without the reader's knowing.

 Type of Conflict: Man vs. Self

 Describe the main conflict: Dr. Heidegger is simply having an internal debate with himself as he watches how his friends act when given a second chance. How his friends act will decide the outcome of the debate which in turn will decide whether or not Dr. Heidegger will too drink from the fountain of youth.

 Describe the Climax of the Story: When Dr. Heidegger makes his decision to not drink the water.

 How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? Unlike the other characters Dr. Heidegger doesn't change physically but his knowledge does. He learns that it is pointless to drink from the fountain of youth to give yourself a second chance because as demonstrated by his friends you will only relive your same mistakes.

 Describe the relationship between the title and the theme: The theme which we have chosen is second chances. This relates to the title because second chances and experiments can be compared as synonyms. When you take a second chance, it's an experiment to what will happen the second time.

 How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme?: Dr. Heiddeger is debating within himself whether or not he wants to have a second chance at life. The outcome of this internal debate is decided how other people react at this second chance.

 How does the climax help to illustrate the theme?: When Dr. Heiddeger makes his decision to never drink the water because he realizes from the experiment on his friends that a second chance would only result in the same mistakes.

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

 Simile: "Its source is overshadowed by several gigantic magnolias, which, though numberless centuries old, have been kept as **fresh as violets** by the virtues of this wonderful water."

 Metaphor: "... as if the flower was returning from a deathlike slumber..."

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Personification: "...the picture of the young lady had stepped a foot on the floor..."

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Symbol: the skeleton in the closet is a symbol for Dr. Heidegger's hidden secrets.

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Foreshadowing (give both elements): When the narrator describes the young woman in the mirror it foreshadows Widow Wycherly looking in the mirror and seeing herself young again.

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Irony: In the end the young people were robbed of youth and were turned old again, which is ironic because this is the second time that it's happened to them. It turned them delirious for youth.

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Imagery: "It was a dim, old-fashioned chamber, festooned with cobwebs, and besprinkled with antique dust."

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story.: The theme of the story, second chances, relates to our class theme, power, by demonstrating the power of youth. Youth is when you make all your decisions until you are old, whether those decisions are good or bad. To have the power to go back in time and have that power of youth again, it is easily a desirable thing. To go back and right the wrongs in your past that you've made could let you have a perfect life. Unfortunately, by the truthful display in this story, when we're given a second chance, we're most likely doomed to repeat our youth and the decisions we made <span style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment - Questions //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">__

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">1. According to him, he wants to see what effects the water would have on people and to see if he would drink it or not.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">2. All of them used to be lovers with Widow Wycherly and they are all old. They each react amazed by the result of the water, but at first they are sceptical. After drinking the water they are ecstatic and gleeful.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">3. Dr. Heidegger doesn't drink the water because he is sceptical about drinking it and he doesn't want to become young again and make the mistakes he made, he wants to move on. So he employs the aid of his friends to test the water. They have no doubt about drinking the water because they want to start over and try to change their sins because it's easy. This is true about life in general; you can either accept your past and move on or live with your sins and try to correct them, which is futile.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">4. I believe that the narrator is the "doubtful" skeleton in the closet. The skeleton knows everything because the door has been left slightly ajar, leaving room to observe the scene and the characters. The skeleton isn't that sure of its facts because it is merely observing the scene, and making valid assumptions to what the characters could be feeling, as if it had been old once as well.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">5. There are a few different views about aging and youth in this story, hidden beneath the emotions of the characters. You can say that youth is short and should be lived to the fullest, as demonstrated by the short term fountain of youth water. You can also say that aging erases all wounds, as demonstrated by Dr. Heiddeger's willingness to stay old and to not be haunted by the pain of his lost loved one. You can also say that as you age/get older, you have to live with sins/mistakes you make and learn from them to get wiser which Dr. Heiddeger did, and why he was content with being old. As for the other four people, they wanted to erase their sins and start over again, which would mean losing all of their life experience making up who they are. So to age, somewhat, is like the process of becoming oneself. I agree with all of these points especially the last one, which I believe is the deepest one of all. Aging is truly the creation of being.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">7. If, so to say, you were to take the pill at a young age and live those 800 years, it could be desirable because you have more time to do the things you want, to travel, to watch the world evolve around you. To take it at an older age would be more or less the same thing because you are merely extending your life, not completely renewing yourself. Some downsides of this would be boredom from living, nothing to do, having to work a lot longer etc. Looking at a global perspective though, it would most likely overpopulate the planet, leaving us with little resources, a much greater carbon footprint, and most likely the eradication of the planet. I think most people would want this to escape death, which haunts even the bravest warriors, bringing them to their knees. People would want to live because it's fun living, fun to love, fun to feel and its necessary experiencing everything life has to offer <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="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 Effort: 5/5 Content: 5/5 total: 15/15

Question Completion Mark: 5/5

total 20/20