Flowers for Algernon

1. Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes

2. 1. Define theme. • Theme is the general truth behind the story. • Sometimes it is called the lesson or moral of the story. • Science has a moral responsibility to society. • Or just because we can, should we? • Learning new material increases knowledge; knowing when to use it, is wisdom.

3. 2. What format does the story take? • It is a diary or journal. • Charlie calls them progress reports.

4. 3. What point of view is used? • This is a first person narration. • This limits the reader to seeing only what Charlie sees.

5. 4. Who is the speaker? • Charlie Gordon

6. 5. What is your first impression of the speaker based on the first entry? • Charlie seems uneducated, mentally slow, and childlike. • He also seems happy and enthusiastic.

7. 6. Why did Charlie think he failed the ink blot test? • He couldn’t see any pictures.

8. 7. Why did Charlie go to adult education classes? • He wanted to become smart. • He thought school could make him smarter.

9. 8. Why did Charlie say he could not make up stories about the people in the photos? • He cannot tell the difference between imagination and lying. • Would he be able to tell why this baby is crying?

10. 9. Who is Algernon? • He is a white mouse used for a laboratory experiment in intelligence.

11. 10. How does Charlie explain Algernon’s winning the maze tests? • He’s a white mouse. • That’s the only thing that Charlie can see that makes Algernon different from any other mouse.

12. 11. If Charlie’s motivation isn’t cheese, what is it? • He wants to be smart.

13. 12. What is the anticipated outcome of Charlie’s operation? • It will triple his intelligence. • His IQ will change from 68 to 204.

14. 13. What does Charlie keep with him for good luck? • A rabbit’s foot, a lucky penny, and a horse shoe

15. 14. Describe how Charlie’s attitude has changed in Progress Report 7. • He has become frustrated and angry. He does not think the operation has worked. • What he does not realize is that learning is difficult and sometimes even painful. His frustration is evidence that he really is learning.

16. 15. Why does Algernon always beat Charlie? • Getting smarter takes time. • Algernon had the operation earlier, and so he has a head start on Charlie.

17. 16. Are the people in the factory really Charlie’s friends? • No, they are using him for entertainment. • He thinks they are his friends because they spend time with him. • They also laugh with (at) him. He sees only the laughter, not that it is at him not with him.

18. 17. What does Charlie think he has to do with the TV to make himself smart? • He tries to sleep through it.

19. 18. What do you know about Frank and Joe that Charlie doesn’t know? • They abuse him and make fun of him.

20. 19. How do you know the operation was successful? • Charlie beats Algernon. • Charlie begins to develop a sense of conscience.

21. 20. Why does Charlie decide to become friends with Algernon? • There is no longer any challenge in racing him. • He feels protective of Algernon. • He feels it’s wrong for Algernon to have to pass a test in order to earn his food.

22. 21. Miss Kinnian says that Charlie is contributing to science. How ? • The experiment has ramifications beyond Charlie. • Regardless of what happens to Charlie, science has learned from him and his operation.

23. 22. What is significant about Charlie asking the question “Why”? • It shows a deeper understanding of the world. • It leaves the concrete world and enters into the abstract. • WHY?

24. 23. What does Charlie like about Miss Kinnian? • She always give him a reason. • She explains things to him. • She genuinely cares about him as a person, not just as a laboratory experiment.

25. 24. Why doesn’t Charlie race Algernon any more? • There is no contest. Charlie always wins.

26. 25. What does Charlie realize about his friends? • He realizes that their friendship was fake. • They were making fun of him to make themselves feel more powerful and smarter.

27. 26. How is Charlie’s current performance with the Rorschach test different from the first? • He now is able to use his imagination.

28. 27. How does Charlie now see Miss Kinnian? • He sees her as a beautiful, attractive woman.

29. 28. Why was there a petition to have Charlie fired? • The people at the factory fear the changes they see in Charlie.

30. 29. Why didn’t Charlie write any progress reports for two weeks? • Since writing proved to be too slow for his thoughts, he was learning how to type.

31. 30. Why doesn’t Charlie talk much to others? • He finds it difficult to communicate at their level.

32. 31. How does Charlie react to the incident of the broken dishes? • He laughs, then he sees himself in the busboy. • He realizes that others have been laughing at him right along.

33. 32. Why might people be less sensitive to the mentally challenged than the physically handicapped? • A physical disability is obvious. • A mental disability is not.

34. 33. What does Charlie decide to do with his gift? • He decides to continue on with the scientific investigation into human intelligence.

35. 34. How has Algernon’s behavior changed? • He has become vicious and unpredictable.

36. 35. What does this imply for Charlie? • He, too, will begin to fail. • He and Algernon have followed the same path in character development.

37. 36. Why does Charlie go to work in his own lab? • To work on his own special project: The Algernon-Gordon Effect.

38. 37. Describe the Algernon-Gordon Effect. • Intelligence will decrease at the same rate or even faster than is was increased. • The intelligence increase is only temporary.

39. 38. How does losing his intelligence affect Charlie? • It creates a strange sort of déjà vu for him. • It feels like someone else wrote his reports.

40. 39. How does Charlie view his own work? • He has no understanding of what he wrote. • He is perplexed by the work.

41. 40. What is happening to Charlie’s journal entries? • The format is returning to his original style. • The spelling is slipping. They are becoming shorter.

42. 41. How does Charlie act toward Miss Kinnian? • He still loves her, but she has now become to him as before. • She is his teacher, not a girlfriend.

43. 42. How do Frank and Joe treat Charlie now? • They are protective of him. • They are more comfortable with him now that he has returned to his old way.