Dr.+Heidegger's+Experiment

Short Stories - Literary Devises

 - First Person/ Limited Omniscience **Protagonist: **  - Dr. Heidegger
 * Point of View: **

 - Round, Dynamic
 * What type of character is the Protagonist? **

 - Dr. Heidegger
 * Antagonist: **

 - Time: 1800’s - 1900’s - Place: In Dr. Heidegger’s old-fashioned study lab - Mood: Mysterious, suspicious
 * Describe the setting: **

 - Man vs. Himself (Internal)
 *  Type of Conflict: **

 - Dr. Heidegger calls his friends over to use them as part of his experiment. He’s curious as to whether he should drink from the Fountain of Youth or not, and so he uses his friends as examples and experiments of what life would be like if you were to drink from it. He’s unsure if he wants to drink the water or not.
 * Describe the main conflict: **

 - The climax of the story is when the testers become old again, even after drinking the Fountain of Youth water. They were devastated knowing that they were old once again.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Describe the Climax of the Story: **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> - At the end of the story, Dr Heidegger realises that he does not want to drink the water and become young again. He witnesses his friend’s reactions, and they keep repeating the same mistakes they made in their youth. Their actions greatly influence his decision, and he realizes that people don’t necessarily learn from their mistakes, so he decides to not drink the water. **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> - The theme of the story is about second chances. The title states that the short story is about a doctor and his experiment. The title at first appears to be very scientific, but as you read the story, it becomes evident that it is not a typical science experiment, but rather the doctor experimenting his friends on second chances in life.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> - The main conflict is Dr. Heidegger debating on whether or not to drink the water from the Fountain of Youth. The theme is about second chances. He uses his friends as testers to see what would happen if people were given a second chance, which would then influence his own decision on whether or not to drink the water.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> - The climax of the story is when his friends turn old again, moments after drinking the water. The testers were given a second chance, and they continued to make the same mistakes as they did in their youth. They were devastated when they realized that they had a second chance, but let it go so quickly because of not learning from their mistakes. Dr. Heidegger also realizes that not everyone can learn from their mistakes, and decides to not drink the water.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes): **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“ ...a small round table, as black as ebony, stood in the center of the room...”
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Simile: **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“...but had lost his all by a frantic speculation, and was now little better than a mendicant.”
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Metaphor: **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“...the flower were reviving from a deathlike slumber...”
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Personification: **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> - The rose that he presented to his testers played a huge symbol. The dried up flower was a symbol for the Widow’s face. They were described as old, wrinkly, and dry.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Symbol: **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> - An example of foreshadowing is in the very concluding sentence of a paragraph that says “Four champagne glasses were also on the table.” This hints that the doctor’s experiment involves four champagne glasses. It is also more significant because it is the very last sentence of the paragraph. If the glasses weren’t that important, the author wouldn’t have placed that sentence as the concluding sentence of a paragraph. It is later proven that the experiment did involve four champagne glasses when he offers them water from the Fountain of Youth.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Foreshadowing (give both elements): **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> - An example of irony could be when he presented the rose to his testers, and he described it as old, wrinkly, and dry. The first person to answer him, the Widow, was in fact the person who had the exact characteristics of the flower: skin that is old, wrinkly, and dry.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Irony: **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“On the summer afternoon of our tale, sustaining a cut-glass vase of beautiful form and elaborate workmanship. The sunshine came through the window, between he heavy festoons of two faded damask curtains, and fell directly across this vase; so that a mild splendor was reflected from it on the ashen visages of the five old people who sat around.”
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Imagery: **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> - Elements of humanity are expressed greatly by the theme. Humans are lucky if we are given a second chance, whether it’s by people, nature, or fate. The testers were all given a second chance to relive their youth, and they made the same mistakes they did before. When humans are given a second chance, it is really evident whether people learn from their mistakes or not. Humans might not make the best decisions when given a second opportunity, but at the same time, not every human can learn from their mistake.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1) According to Dr. Heidegger, the purpose of his experiment was for him to see what life would be like if he could go back in time through his friends eyes. He uses them as testers to see how people would react if given a second chance in life. Instead of remaining unsure, he decides to use his friends as part of his experiment, and makes his decision based on what he observed of them.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Questions: **

2) Some common things that Dr. Heidegger’s friends shared included them all being old, waiting for death to confront them, living unfortunate lives, and all being in love with the Widow. Their behaviour after drinking the water plays a very significant role in the story, as the doctor based his decision off of their reactions. All of the old friends react foolishly, just like they did in their youth, and repeat mistakes.

3) Dr. Heidegger refuses to drink the Fountain of Youth water because of what he witnessed in his experiment. After realizing that his friends did not learn from their mistakes, and repeated the same mistakes they made in their youth, the doctor is influenced by their actions, and decides he knows better. Their actions influenced him to do the exact opposite. His friends, however, had a completely different view. They were all for reliving their youth, and to become young once again. His friends completely took advantage of the second chance, but in a wrong way.

4) I believe the narrator of the story is one of Dr. Heidegger’s friends. I believe this because the story seems as if it were recorded from someone who wasn’t involved in the experiment, but still present in the doctor’s study lab. Perhaps the doctor had another one of his friends observe the experiment and document it very precisely so that they could refer back to it at a later time. Because he was present in the room observing the experiment, he witnessed a lot of the things that took place in the experiment. However, the story is not a fact-based documentary, because the narrator himself says “Some of these fables, to my shame be it spoken, might possibly be traced back to mine own veracious self...”. Perhaps the narrator wanted to spice things up, and he included or took out some details.

5) Very different points are made for youth and aging in this story. The testers are obviously against aging, and all for youth. They wanted to relive their youth, hence why they drank the Fountain of Youth water. Dr. Heidegger, however, is contemplating on whether or not he is for aging or youth. At the end of the story, the doctor chooses aging over youth. This proves that just because you are older, does not mean you are wiser. I only agree with the doctor’s point of view on aging. I believe you only live once, and life would have no significant meaning if I was forever young.

7) My personal belief on vaccines that could possibly make us live for 800 years is all negative. If I woke up tomorrow, knowing that I have hundreds and hundreds of years ahead of me, I wouldn’t cherish life as much as I do now. Life would lose all of its meaning and significance. This world would overpopulate, more epidemics would take place, we would eventually run out of resources, and many wars would take place. If we have trouble getting along as a population of 6 billion people, how would we get along in a population of 20 billion?   Excellent detail! 25/25   Dr Heidegger's Experiment  Great choice of metaphorical images!    25/25