Dr.+Heidegger's+Experiment

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: ﻿Dr. Heideggers's Experiment Point of View:

Third Person and partly omniscient. Protagonist:

Dr. Heiddegger is the protagonist. What type of character is the Protagonist?

The type of character that he is dynamic because decides after the experiment to not drink out of the fountain and this is a change. He is also a well rounded character because we find out that he almost married and we also learn a little bit about his personal life.

Antagonist: The antagonist is Dr. Heiddegger himself.

Describe the setting: The time is 1800-1900s. The place is somewhere in U.S.A. The mood seems a little creepy and weird after the description of Dr. Heiddegger's chamber, but overall, it seems a little creepy. The main thing that describes how creepy the setting is that chamber is described with skeletons, old dusty furniture, and portraits of dead people. The overall description of the chamber does seem normal and that is the reason why I described it as weird and creepy.

Type of Conflict:

The type of conflict is Man vs. Himself. Describe the main conflict:  The main conflict was Dr. Heiddegger struggling with himself over the question of should he drink the water from the Fountain of Youth. To help himself to answer the question, he decides to have an experiment with four other people so that he can determine what he will do. The four people that drank the water are his tools because he is using them to figure out wether or not he will drink. If the result of the experiment turned good then, Heiddegger would have then drank it, but seeing that it did not turn well, he did not drink it. Describe the Climax of the Story:

The climax was when Sylvia's rose faded and when his four friends grew back being old and weary. This was a major turning point in the story because the Dr. will not be drinking the water after seeing this. This is also a huge change for his friends because this shows that cannot be young again and that they will continue being old until they die. After this, the action of this story starts to fall with the conclusion of him learning the valuable lesson his friends taught him while they act crazy and goes on a pilgrimage to the Fountain of Youth. How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story?

The protagonist changed over the course of the story because he was hoping to drink the water from the fountain himself, but after his experiment, he decides to not do that. This is a very big change if he kept going with his initial thoughts than he would have drank and would have done everything his friends did. If that did happen, than the whole story would have been altered, but it didn't because he change the way he was going to act and decides to not drink. His change over the course of the story is very important and it was not an easy change for him because he had the chance to be young again. Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. The relationship between the title and the theme is that the title is Dr. Heidegger's Experiment and in the story he makes an experiment to see what will happen when someone will do if they can be young again. The theme of the story is that no one can escape the time and that it is best to go live that way. Life is supposed to be life and death and Heidegger followed that. There is a start in life and an end in life and the best solution is to not alter that. The title of this story is an preview of a man who decides to create an experiment so that he can see what happens if you try to alter the course of life. In the end, he finds out that everything should be left and that he or anyone else should try and alter their age. How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? The main conflict helped to illustrate the theme because the conflict was should man try and be young again and if they did what will happen is the whole idea of this theme. The theme was that we should try and be younger and that we should just let things go in it's own way and the conflict was an example of that. The Dr. experimented with humans on what they will do when they are given the chance to be young again. From the experiment, he gathered that he should not try to change his age and that this was all part of life. The humans that were in the experiment; however did not change and decides to go on an pilgrimage to this fountain. The conflict also gave us some good images based on the theme, for example, "Blushing, panting, struggling, chiding, laughing, her warm breath fanning each of their faces by turns, she strove to disengage herself, yet still remained in thier embrace." From this description we can tell that the people are very happy and very eager about being young again and escaping age. How does the climax help to illustrate the theme?

The climax helped to illustrate the theme by giving showing different examples that portraits nothing can escape age. For example, the four experiments growing old again and they are very disappointed. This is part of the climax and it shows that even though they tried the fountain and recieved a little bit of youthfulness, but in the end, they still end as the old. The theme is also illustrated because the climax is the turning point of this story. In this stories case, after the failure attempt by the four people of trying to reach youth again; the protagonist decides to never try the water and this is all part of the theme because he realizes that everything will eventually wither away and die. Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):

Simile: Pg 160 "On the summer afternoon of our tale, a small round table, as black as ebony..." The table is being described as a deep, lustrous black. Pg 161 "... and there was the rose of half a century, looking as fresh as when Sylvia Ward had first given it to her lover." The rose is being described as very fresh. Pg 161 "Its source is overshadowed by several gigantic magnolias, which, though numberless centuries old, have been kept as fresh as violets by the virtues of this wonderful water." The magnolias are being described as fresh violets. Metaphor:

Pg 163 "... the deep and sad inscription which Father Time had been so long engraving on their brows." They are describing time as some one who is very old. Pg 160 "... the skeleton had rattled in its closet, the picture of the young lad had stepped one foot upon the floor." This is describing that something is being hided here. Pg 160 "Whose eccentricity had become the nucleus for a thousand fantastic stories." Eccentricity is being used to describe that this man is very peculiar and nucleus is used to describe center or brain. Personification:

Pg 161 "The crushed and dried petals stirred..." Dead petals cannot stir. Pg 160 "... the picture of the young lady had stepped one foot upon the floor..." Pictures do not have feet there fore they cannot take steps. Pg 163 "...together with a sudden glow of cheerful sunshine..." Sunshine cannot be cheerful because they have no emotions. Symbol: ﻿ The Fountain of Youth is a symbol for wanting to be young because many people will believe in the Fountain so that they can be young again. The fountain does not really exist, but it is just a symbol for be youthful. The rose can be a symbol for love and youth because the doctor uses it to think of his youthful days and his days of love. In reality, this is true because many people give roses as symbol of love. Foreshadowing (give both elements):

The title of this book is Heidegger's Experiment and later in the book we find out that he does perform and experiment. Pg 159 the author hints that Dr. Heidegger and all his guests were sometimes beside themselves and later in the book when his friends get the chance to be young again, they were beside themselves. Irony: Pg 162 When Heidegger tells them to drink, he also tells them to pass knowledge learned from being old to the youth when these four are going to be the youth. Pg 166 "Yet by a strange deception, owing to the duskiness of the chamber, and the antiques dresses which they still wore, the tall mirror is said to have reflected the figures of the three old, gray withered grandsires, ridiculously contending for the skinny ugliness of a shrivelled grandam." According to the fountain, they are young and in their youthful years, but mirror shows them in their old and shrivelled up bodies. Imagery:

Pg 159 It was a dim, old fashioned chamber, festooned with cobwebs, and besprinked with antique dust. Around the walls stood several oaken bookcases, the lower shelves of which were filled with rows of gigantic foliios and vlack letter quartos, and the upper wth little parchment covered duodecimos. Over the central bookcases was a bronze bust of Hippocrates, with which, according to some authorities, Dr. Heidegger was accustomed to hold consultations in all dfficult cases of his practice. Between two of the bookcases hung a looking glass, presenting its high and dusty plate within a tarnished gilt frame. Among many wonderful stories related of this mirror, it was fabled that the spirits of all the doctor's deceased patients dwelt within its verge, and would stare him is the face whenever he look thitherward. Pg 162 It was apparently impregnated with an effervescent gas, for little bubbles were continually ascending from the depths of the glasses, and bursting in silvery spray at the surface. As the liqur diffused a pleasant perfume, the old people doubted not that is possessed its rejuvenscent power, they were inclined to swallow it at once. In this imagery, the water frrom the fountain is being described. Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story.

The relationships between the class theme and the story include many things. The first relationship is that they both involve choices because the class theme is choices and the story's wether or not try and overcome life's end. If the Dr. chose to try the water, he would be making a choice of trying to destroy life's cycle. Also, choices are related to life and death because it happens everyday in society. For example, a person will make a choice of wether or not they will try stem cells to repair a body part that otherwise could not be fixed. If this person tried to keep creating new body parts to escape death, than they are overcoming a big part life. This is the relationship between the class theme and the story because choices are all part of life and death. If Heidgger chose to try the water before he observed the experiment, then he would be making a choice to not follow death and that would be a totaly different story. If there weren't any choices for the theme of the story, then the story would be straight forward because no one would choose to change their, but because there were choices, the four people chose to keep pursuing youth and the Dr. chose to keep his age. Questions 1) According to Dr. Heidegger, what is the purpose of his experiment.

The purpose of his experiment was to see what will happen once they drank the water from the Fountain of Youth. 2) What do Dr. Heidegger's friends have in common? How does each of them behave during the experiment.

His friends all pretty successful people, but they all failed youth. During the experiment, they behaved out of control and very joyful. 3) Why would Dr. Heidegger not stoop to bathe his lips in the Fountain of Youth? Do his friends feel the same way?

﻿ Dr. Heidegger would no bathe his lips in the Fountain because of the lesson his experiment taught him and he does not want to be delirium. His friends feel the opposite way and are arranging a pilgrimage to the Fountain so that they can bathe in it day and night. ﻿4) Who is the narrator of the story? Though he is not a participant in the exp eriment, the narrator relates all the details. How does he know what happened to the doctor and his friends? How certain of his facts in the narrator?

The narrator is unknown and he knows what happened to the doctor and his friends because he is omniscient. He does not know what the doctor's friends think, but he does know everything else. He is very certain of about his facts which makes him more omniscient.

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

Some points made in the story are that no one can stop the power of time and age and that you should make life worthwhile by not wasting your youth years like the doctor's friends so that you do not wish for youth when you are old. I do agree that everyone should make their life worthwhile and that they should not waste youth years because you can never get them back.

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?

I personally do feel this is desirable because we were born to eventually die. That is how the human cycle works, old die and new are born. If no one dies, this planet would really be over populated and any amount of resources will be used in a blink of an eye. Also, if no one died, this planet will be a very messy place because dictators will rule forever and criminals will just commit any crime they want because they will keep on living. The government won't be able sustain the pension system like right now and most people would have to work until they are 700+ years old. That is not a good thing because no one would want that and the human body are not built to function like that.

 Completion 5/5  Effort 5/5  Content 5/5

 Total 15/15

 Questions Completion Mark 5/5

 Total 20/20