The+Portable+Phonograph

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: __The Portable Phonograph__ By: Maddie G.

Point of View : Limited Omniscient, Third Person

Protagonist: Dr. Jenkins

What type of character is the Protagonist? He is a round and dynamic character

Antagonist: Society(the past, the war), Himself, Environment(cold weather)

Describe the setting : It takes place at nighttime in the prairies, after a devastating war, in a barren wasteland. There are not many signs of life. The mood and atmosphere give a slight feeling of despair, sadness.

Type of Conflict: Man vs. Society, Man vs. Himself, Man vs. Environment

Describe the main conflict: Man vs. Society. The war stole from everybody; the characters would not be in this situation if it weren’t for the war.

Describe the Climax of the Story: The climax is when Dr. Jenkins hears the coughing of the musician not too far away from his cabin and becomes even more suspicious and is sure that he was right about the musician wanting to steal his phonograph, for the last few hours before he passes away.

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? Dr. Jenkins begins to realize that his suspicion of the musician was correct and he begins to treasure the few items he possesses even more than before.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. The “Phonograph” is one of the main symbols from the story; it represents the only link Dr. Jenkins has to remind him of the past. That ties into the theme, where the men cherish what few things they have, even though they do not have much. These objects they decided to preserve tie them to humanity.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme. The main conflict is Man vs. society(war); the war stole almost every thing that was valuable to the men. This is especially true for Dr. Jenkins. That’s why they cherish the smallest of things, because it is all that they have left. These items(music and literature) are the only link they have back to their old humanity. They possess feelings of greed over these few remaining items.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? The climax being just when Dr. Jenkins realizes he’s right, or thinks he realizes he’s right about the musician wanting to steal his possession. The musician is sick and wants to steal the phonograph and music to have a day or 2 of pleasure before he dies, as there is no way for him to be cured. This represents the greed, where the musician wants to steal it for himself, and Dr. Jenkins would not give it to the musician, as it has too much importance to him; he cherishes it with everything he owns.

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

Simile: “The red sunset, with narrow, black cloud strips like threats across it...”, “...a sort of cell, with a single opening like the mouth of a mine tunnel...”, “He was like a prehistoric priest...”, “My brain becomes thick, like my hands...”

Metaphor: “...the veil of dusk...”

Personification: “Crept the narrow and deeply rutted remains of a road...”

Symbol : “the young trees trying again”, they are a symbol of regrowth and rebirth, they are showing symbols of life, and hope that the future will be better.

Foreshadowing (give both elements): The musician had been acting “funny” and weird; he was making Dr. Jenkins even more suspicious. Then Dr. Jenkins could hear the musician coughing and knew that he was coming for the phonograph. Dr. Jenkins could tell that something was up, when the musician wasn’t behaving normally.

Irony: Dr. Jenkins was willing to scratch up his disks to be kind to the musician and so he could have some beautiful real music played, and then in the end the musician ends up going to steal the phonograph rather than repaying the favor, of being kind.

Imagery: “clouds could be seen gliding rapidly south and changing shapes...”

Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. A part of the story is showing how us humans took everything from these men, by combat and war. That is why the men cherish these little things because it’s all that they have left. These things remind them of times when there was peace, times before the war. Some people today, don’t have much either, but they love every piece of what they do have; they will protect it with their lives. Another part of story is greed. Dr. Jenkins and the musician struggle with this. Greed is also a piece of our humanity, maybe not a positive aspect but most of us have it within.

1. When is this story set? What has recently happened? Support your opinion with details from the story. This story is set in the future after the war. There is still evidence that a war took place in that location. There are huge scars in the ground from the bombing.

2.What is the purpose of the men’s meeting? Why does the author compare the unwrapping of the book bundle to a ceremonial rite? The purpose of the men’s meeting is to remember their past; it means so much to them almost like a religious church meeting. They worship their possessions in a way because it’s the only memory they have from the good of mankind.

3.What is the significance of the books that were saved? Why are there no recent works of fiction included? There aren’t any recent books, because there had just been a war and these books were the only ones that had been preserved.

4.a) What do you think is the significance of Dr. Jenkins clutching the lead pipe at the end of the story? Dr. Jenkins is prepared to defend himself and his phonograph against the musician by smacking or possibly killing the thief(musicia n).

b) What do you think might happen next? Discus, using references from the story. I think that the musician comes to Dr. Jenkins house to steal the phonograph and music, since he does not have much longer to live, and would appreciate to listen to it before he dies. The musician had been acting strange all night, and was heard coughing near Dr. Jenkins’ house. I don’t think that the musician would succeed because Dr. Jenkins was clutching a lead pipe in the end of the story, meaning that if the thief got too close, he would get a beating or possibly be killed.

Completion 5/5 Effort 5/5 Content5/5 Questions 6/8 total 21/23

Link to Presentation: https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AXSv8ytpnKP6ZGNiZjl4N3hfMWZzbng0aGhy&pli=1 One of your partners has the breakdown of the rubric score for your presentation.