Dr+Heidegger's+Experiment

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

Point of View: First Person/limited omniscient

Protagonist: Dr Heidegger What type of character is the Protagonist? He is a round dynamic character

Antagonist: The Hypothesis of Dr. Heidegger

Describe the setting The story is set in Dr. Heidegger's lab. The mood is tired and skeptic at first, then it becomes joyful as they become "young", then hectic as they get "younger", then dreary as they grow old "again". It is probably sometime in the early 1900s because of the vocabulary of the characters.

Type of Conflict: Man vs Self

Describe the main conflict: Dr. Heidegger conducts and experiment to see what would happen if one were to be young a second time.

Describe the Climax of the Story: I think the climax of this story is when the vase is broken, because a millennium's worth of changes happen in an instant. It is the turning point of the story.

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? At first, he is fairly normal; down to earth, but curious because he wants to conduct a experiment. afterwards, he is more wise because of the experiment and its consequences. He now knows what would happen if an old man or woman were to obtain a second youth.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. I think the theme of this story is "decisions" because choosing life or death is a big decision and "Dr Heidegger's Experiment" is an experiment conducted to see what would happen were one to take eternal life.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? The conflict is that Dr. Heidegger conducts an experiment to confirm or find out a hypothesis. The hypothesis is "what would happen if one had a second youth/eternal life?

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? The climax, when the four "lab rats" get up and prance around shows what would happen if one could be young again,and chose to, thus also answering Dr. Heidegger's hypothesis.

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

Simile: // "and there was the rose of half a century, looking as fresh as when Sylvia Ward first gave it to her lover" //

Metaphor: //"the snow had so entirely melted from he hair"//

Personification: // "the pursuit of sinful pleasures, which had given birth to a brood of pains" //

Symbol: Symbolizes love and romance, marriage, niceness. Symbolizes eternity and immortality.
 * The Rose:
 * The Water From the Fountain of Youth:

Foreshadowing (give both elements): // "Ahem!" said Colonel Killigrew, who believed not a word of the doctor's story; "and what may be the effects of this fluid on the human frame?" //

//To://

//"they drank off the water, and replaced their glasses on the table. Assuredly, there was an almost immediate improvement in the aspect of the party"//

Irony: The Irony is at the end, when the four friends teach someone else a lesson but don't teach themselves

Imagery: // "the crushed and dry petals stirred, and assumed a deepening tinge of crimson, as if the flower were reviving from a deathlike slumber; the slender stalk and foliage became green; and there was the rose of half a century, looking as fresh as when Sylvia Ward first gave it to her lover" //

Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. The class theme "Humanity" is related to the story because the story is about being young after growing old which, having a second youth or eternal life, is one of the greatest desires and mysteries for mankind.

Questions:

1. Dr. Heidegger Conducts an experiment to see what would happen if one were to achieve a second youth/eternal life. The experiment tells him that it would be disastrous so he comes to the conclusion: //"for if the fountain gushed at my very doorstep, I would not **stoop** to bathe my lips in it--no, though its delirium were for years instead of moments. Such is the lesson ye have taught me"// 2. Dr. Heidegger's friends all had unfortunate lives as young people and they want a second chance. During the experiment, Mr. Medbourne was busy calculating money, Colonel Killigrew was singing a battle song, Mr. Gascoigne was speaking full sentences about patriotism, national glory and people's rights in a very full and strong way, and the widow was standing before the mirror admiring herself. When they get even younger, the three men start dancing and grasp the widow and the widow tries to get out/escape. The entire scene becomes a mass of chaos and confusion, along with a certain danger. 3. Dr. Heidegger wouldn't drink of the water because his friends had taught him a lesson about becoming young again through their craziness. The doctor also fears to go through the trauma of growing old again. His friends are foolish and want to have a second youth so they plot to settle in Florida to be close to the fountain of youth//"and quaff at morning, noon, and night, from the Fountain of Youth."// 4. The narrator of the story is likely one of Dr. Heidegger's younger relatives, since he didn't have children, he would probably be closer to a younger relative like a niece or nephew. The story was probably told to him because he is unsure about certain facts, and he probably is telling the story after Dr. Heidegger's lifetime because if the doctor were still alive, he could just ask about the story, so he wouldn't be unsure about anything.

5. The story says that if one were to have a second youth, one could have a second chance at success. It says that that if one were to obtain a second youth, he/she would be restored in health. I still say con wins because having youth for a second time is unnatural and in the story, the four friends go on the verge of insanity. 7. Living for 800 years is not desirable because we would over populate because we would reproduce far faster than we would die and the world would truly end as we know it through sheer over population, without counting the facts of resources running out.

COMPLETION 5/5 EFFORT 3.5/5 CONTENT 3.5/5 QUESTIONS 10/12 TOTAL 21.5/27