Dr.+Heidegger's+Experiment

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: __Dr. Heidegger's Experiment__ By: Maddie G.

Point of View:

I think that the story is told in the point of view of the __"First Person".__ It is also "__limited omniscient".__

Protagonist:

The "protagonist" is __Dr. Heidegger__

What type of character is the Protagonist?

Dr. Heidegger is a __round__ and __dynamic__ character.

Antagonist:

Dr. Heidegger(his conscience)

Describe the setting:

The story takes place in Dr. Heidegger's house, mainly in the study. On a sunny, summer afternoon. It's a curious and interesting place, very old as well. There are cobwebs, and a huge amount of dust.

Type of Conflict:

Man vs. Himself

Describe the main conflict:

Dr. Heidegger is trying to figure out what will happen if he was tempted to repeat his past, and redo all of his experiences. If drinking the water would let him correct his youth. He needs to find within him, his decision, but also by learning from his "friend's" choices.

Describe the Climax of the Story:

I think that the climax is when the fountain crashes onto the ground signifying the end of the "friends" temporary youth. How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story?

Dr. Heidegger becomes aware of how gullible the people he invited over are, and in his mind he realizes that he fears death, and would never want to repeat his past. At the beginning he's somewhat interested in how the test "subjects" will react to his fountain, then in the end he's in awe of how immature they acted.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme.

The theme being that given the opportunity, people will usually be gullible, and foolish enough to repeat time and their past, which is an experiment in itself. The title is: Dr. Heidegger's //**__Experiment__**//.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme?

The main conflict is how Dr. Heidegger fights within himself to figure out if he too will be foolish enough to repeat his youth, this demonstrates a part of the theme which is, time repeats itself. The friends are too immature and still have a childlike mind, so if they were turned to a young age, they would not be smart enough to not make the same mistakes as before.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme?

The climax being when the test subjects start wanting more and more to drink from the fountain, then the liquid crashes to the ground which symbolizes the end of their short term youth. This illustrates the theme because they start to act silly and childlike which is a sign that they are destined to repeat their past mistakes. They have not matured at all during the course of the life or during the experiment.

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

Simile:

"... while the shadows of age were flitting from it like darkness from the crimson daybreak."

Metaphor:

“They were all melancholy old creatures..."

Personification:

“A strange chillness, whether of the body or spirit they could not tell, was creeping gradually over them all.", "...his own conscience could scarcely catch the secret;"

Symbol:

'The mirror' is a symbol in the story. It shows the reflection of the four people who have been turned to supposedly "youth", but truth tells that they are indeed still old. It is also the point which gives us a hint that this whole eternal life scheme is psychological and in their minds rather than a physical transformation.

Foreshadowing (give both elements):

There is a special book of Magic in the study, therefore we know that he uses some interesting spells(fountain of youth). Another example of foreshadowing would be when at the beginning of the tale, the narrator explains these friends have been unfortunate in life. Later we realize that the Dr. selected these people to try his experiment because he knew that they would be up to it, and willing to risk themselves, not knowing what side-effects this concoction may hold, only to have another chance at their youth.

Irony:

I think that it is ironic how, Dr. Heidegger's "lover" died by ingesting her __husband__'s potion, the night of their wedding, and how Dr. Heidegger misses her so dearly.

Imagery:

"...within which two or three dewdrops were sparkling.", "...the delicate spray of which, as it effervesced from the surface, resembled the tremulous glitter of diamonds."

Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story.

Part of what makes us human are mistakes, and learning from them but also having crises and being unfortunate. If we don't have a great youth, most of the time we will try to enjoy our lives more once we start to grow older and become more mature. The theme of the story being that once we are old, we will only feel old if that is what is in our mind, we have to believe that we are young. Also, part of the theme is how these "friends" are foolish and have an immature mind, they don't realize that by becoming young once again, they will repeat their past. Their minds have not become more wise or mature.

1. According to Dr. Heidegger, what is the purpose of his experiment?

The purpose of the experiment is to find out if Dr. Heidegger would be tempted to relive his youth, and also to figure out if his friends wish to be young again to try and fix what happened in their youth years.

2. What do Dr. Heidegger's friends have in common? How does each of them behave during the experiment?

None of Dr. Heidegger's friends lived a very successful youth; he believes that they will definitely want another chance at a happy life. During the experiment the three men fight over the widow and she feels quite important. They act immature and very youthful but not in such a great way, they are juvenile and childish. They are all dancing and having a great time. They feel power.

3. Why would Dr. Heidegger not stoop to bathe his lips in the Fountain of Youth? Do his friends feel the same way? comment.

He did not live a poor life, but his friends did not live their lives very well. They want to feel young again, at whatever opportunity they have. I also feel that Dr. Heidegger realizes that he and the friends are imagining this transformation, that's it's psychological, not physical. Dr. Heidegger fears that he too will repeat his mistakes just as the test subjects have. The friends want to drink this water morning, noon and night from the fountain, they have not learned a very important lesson.

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 seems to know a lot of facts but not everything, some things he is unsure about. Dr. Heidegger did not have any children, so the narrator could not be closely related to him at all. I believe that the narrator has been possibly told this story by someone, who was told by someone, who was possibly told by Dr. Heidegger. Maybe after "the experiment", Dr. Heidegger went into teaching, even though he was quite old, possibly only to share his stories and educate others to not repeat their pasts. The narrator does not know everything, some of his information may be false, as it was just a version of the story passed on by generations.

5. What points are made about youth and aging in the story? Do you agree with the views in the story? Comment.

If they(friends) see themselves as old ugly people on the outside, they are going to feel the same way on the inside, that goes for being young as well. Age does not always mean that the "elders" will be a lot more mature or wise, it depends on their minds. I agree with Dr. Heidegger in the story, how in the end he realizes that we shouldn't become young again unless we have matured by a huge amount. Then, if we **have** matured, we will probably not want to go back in time, as we realize about making our same mistakes, and repeating time.

7. Some scientists hope to develop a vaccine against aging. They speculate that human beings could then live approximately 800 years. Do you feel this is desirable? Explain your answer.

I believe that drinking from a "fountain of youth" would be a lot less "scientific" and more humane. If doctors pump horrible chemicals into our bodies to stop us from aging, like Botox for example, these "medications" can have awful effects on our life and bodies. Also when scientists create vaccines they usually have horrible side effects until decades later. That's why I don't think it's a very likely or safe option.

COMPLETION 5/5

EFFORT 5/5

CONTENT 5/5

QUESTIONS 12/12

TOTAL 27/27