Flowers for Algernon

1. Flowers for Algernon Test Review

2. Point of View • The story is told in first person from Charlie Gordon’ point of view.

3. How is the story told? • The story is told in the form of progress reports written by Charlie.

4. What is an inference? • When you make inferences, you look at the information the author provides to make logical assumptions about what the author leaves unstated. To make inferences, use details that the author provides as clues. • An inference can also be called an educated guess.

5. Who is Charlie Gordon? • Charlie is a 37-year-old man of below average intelligence who is selected for an experiment which will triple his intelligence if it works. • Charlie is very motivated and really wants to learn to read and write well. • Charlie works as a janitor at a factory. • His coworkers laugh at him.

6. Who is Algernon? • Algernon is the mouse that the doctors have experimented on first. • Charlie really wants to beat Algernon at the maze.

7. Who is Miss Kinnian? • She is Charlie’s teacher at the night school where Charlie has gone to learn how to read and write better. She recommends him for the experiment because he is cooperative and motivated.

8. Who are Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss? • Dr Nemur is the psychologist who is conducting the experiment, and Dr. Strauss is the neurosurgeon who performs the surgery on Charlie.

9. How does Charlie change after the operation? • He eventually becomes very intelligent. He has trouble communicating simply so that others can understand him.

10. How do Charlie’s coworkers react to him after the operation? • They want him to be fired.

11. What finally happens to Algernon? • His behavior changes, he loses his intelligence, and he dies.

12. What do the changes in Algernon mean for Charlie? • He will also lose his intelligence.

13. How do the progress reports written from the first person point of view allow you to see the changes in Charlie? • You can see how he changes through his spelling, sentence structure, and vocabulary.

14. What is a Rohrschach test? How does Charlie perform on the first one he takes? • It is a test where psychologists analyze someone based on what they see in a series of inkblots. Because Charlie is very literal, he cannot “see” anything in the inkblots or pretend that he does.