Dr.+Heidegger's

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: Dr Heidegger’s Experiment

Point of View: First person “And before proceeding further, I will…”

Protagonist: Dr. Heidegger

What type of character is the Protagonist? Dr. Heidegger is a flat character because the author really focuses more on Mr. Medborne, Colonel Killigrew, Mr. Gascoigne, and Widow Wycherly. I know more about their background and personality more than I know of Dr. Heidegger. He is also dynamic because at first he did not know whether he wanted to drink the water. He learns from the experiment that he does not want to.

Antagonist: Himself because he is really only battling himself because the reason why he wanted to do the experiment in the first place is to find out whether he, himself wanted to drink the water.

Describe the setting The setting is in the 18th century. “…went in search of two or three centuries ago?” The way that the characters talk also gives me a hint about what time period it’s in. They live around Lake Macaco, which is now called Okeechobee. T he mood is very..........

Type of Conflict: Man vs. Himself

Describe the main conflict: The main conflict of the story is when the people have drank from the “magic” water, they start repeating their mistakes, like Dr. Heidegger told them not to.

Describe the Climax of the Story: The climax of the story is when Dr. Heidegger cried: “My poor Sylvia’s rose!” and everyone realized that this magic only lasted for moments, not forever, like most things in real life.

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">At first, he did not know whether to drink the water or not, but then in the end he realizes that people like him, who have done something that they regretted, or is hiding their past, will unintentionally repeat their mistakes.

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">The theme is that when given another chance to relive one’s past, or to even fix something that has already happened, one will often repeat their mistakes that they have hid and regretted doing. It is also to make the best and gain wisdom about growing old. The title relates to this theme because Dr. Heidegger is one of those people who have hid and tried to forget parts of their past. He picked these people with about the same background as him, to see if he would unintentionally re-live his mistakes.

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">The main conflict is where the people that drank could have changed what they did before, but instead, they did not learn from their mistakes, and they ultimately made the exact same mistake. This relates to the theme because this proves and supports that the theme is correct and reasonable.

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">The climax helps to illustrate the theme by showing the reader, that when you don’t learn from your mistakes, and make the same one over and over again, even when you were warned and insisted not to, karma and the universe will take back your chance, and it is like you never had a chance in the first place.

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">Simile: “…while the shadows of age were flitting from it like darkness from the crimson daybreak.” <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">“…a small round table, as black as ebony…”

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">Metaphor: “There, in fact, stood four glasses, brimful of this wonderful water, the delicate spray of which, as it effervesced from the surface, resembled the tremulous glitter of diamonds.”

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">Personification: “Between two of the bookcases hung a looking glass…”

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">Symbol: “…the skeleton had rattled in its closet” The skeleton in the closet is a symbol for him regretting or hiding something.

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">Foreshadowing (give both elements): <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">“…it would be well that, with the experience of a lifetime to direct you, you should draw up a few general rules for your guidance, in passing a second time through the perils of youth. Think what a sin and a shame it would be if with your peculiar advantages, you should not become patterns of virtue and wisdom to all the young people of age!” <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">This is Dr. Heidegger, warning the four people to basically not re-live their bad experiences. Even though this is looked at as a warning by the protagonist, it can also be seen as foreshadowing for when they do drink, and they actually end up doing exactly what Dr. Heidegger said not to.

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">Irony: <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">The irony in this story is situational because they “mocked the infirmity and decrepitude of which they had so lately been the victims.” They were making fun of Dr. Heidegger because he was old and they are young, while they were old just like Dr. Heidegger just moments before.

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">Imagery: “The crushed and dried petals stirred as assumed a deathlike slumber; the slender stalk and twigs of foliage became green; and there was the rose of half a century…’

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">The class theme is related to the theme of the story because the mistakes they have made in the first place are based off bad choices, and to not realize and learn from their mistakes is another choice they made. For example: if you had a drink from the Fountain of Youth, and were reminded before, to not make the same mistakes again, what would the process of that be for you? When you start to feel your bones shrink, would you still be thinking about making the right choice, which in this case is learning from your mistakes, and to do things differently? The outcome from situations like this one is always greatly influenced by choices and how they are put into action.

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. The purpose of Dr. Heidegger's experiment is to test what would happen to humans if they drank the water, and to also record and learn from how they would respond. <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Dr. Heidegger's friends all have made mistakes and regrets some part of their past. They all behave the same when they drink the water by repeating their mistakes. <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. He has learned from their mistakes, and would not like to make the same mistake, himself. His friends do not feel the same way as he does, because after this incident, they will head to Florida, and drink from the fountain of youth three times a day. <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. The narrator's gender is not mentioned, but by the way that the narrator talks, I am assuming it is a man who is talking. Is probably a good friend of Dr. Heidegger's and he might also even be the one who sent the water to him in the first place. The narrator exaggerates a lot, and he, himself said that the stories he tells is sometimes not reliable. <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. You have to embrace your age, no matter what, and youth will greatly affect how you react and how you see situations when you are old. I don't agree that all people will repeat their mistakes. Only some people who don't learn the first time, will repeat their mistakes and won't think twice about it. <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">7. Maybe some people would feel the desire to take that vaccine, but they are only thinking about themselves. What if a family member could not get that vaccine? Then, that person will live a long time without the love from their family, and friends. There would also be a problem of over-population. People in third world countries will likely not have access to this vaccine, so therefore, there would be a lot of Americans and Canadians. We always expect a huge abundance of food, and high quality entertainment. Since there is so many people in the world, now, these things would rapidly decrease, making the civilization miserable.

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> <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 4.5/5 <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 4.5/5

<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; min-height: 14px; 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