Flowers for Algernon Chapter 9

1. Flowers for Algernon Chapter 9

2. How does Charlie get his new job? • He proves that he can work the mixing machine

3. How does Charlie respond to his new job? • He wants his old job back

4. 2a. Why does he respond that way? • He is familiar with his old job and feels uncomfortable in his new position

5. What does Miss Kinnian teach Charlie about? • Punctuation

6. 3a. What indicates he does not understand the concept? • He uses commas excessively

7. 3b. How does Charlie remedy the problem? • He reads a book on punctuation

8. 3c. What does Charlie’s remedy indicate about his condition? • He can learn quickly by reading a book

9. Describe Joe and Frank. • Charlie’s co-workers • Befriend Charlie to make fun of him

10. 4a. How do Joe and Frank embarrass Charlie? • They get him drunk and force him to dance • The guys get in a circle and trip him

11. Give two examples, unnoticed by Charlie, that show his improving condition. • Grammar corrections • Memories

12. Describe Charlie’s memory of Donner’s bakery. • Kids gang up on him • Charlie runs back to the bakery • The guys at the bakery are as mean as the children on the street • Charlie goes to the back of the bakery and someone there kicks his legs out from under him

13. 6a. What does this memory tell you about his emotional connection to the place and to the people there? • He knows that they can be cruel

14. What does Charlie dream about? • Harriet and a valentine

15. What does young Charlie decide to give Harriet? • A locket

16. What does Charlie realize at the end of his dream? • He never got the locket back

17. 9a. How is this realization pertinent to his improving condition? • His memory is improving

18. What does Charlie see in the ink blots? • Fencers • A pair of bats

19. Why does Charlie want to keep the reports private? • He is aware that people are reading them

20. THE BIG QUESTION: How does Charlie’s truth about the ink blots change and what does this change say about his condition? • He is able to see images in the ink which shows that he is getting smarter

21. Flowers for Algernon Chapter 10

22. How does Charlie improve the mixing machines? • He makes them go faster

23. What does Frank suggest Charlie learn to do? • Make the rolls

24. 2a. What does this suggest about Frank’s character? • He sets Charlie up so that he fails

25. What happens when Charlie tries to make the rolls? • He cannot remember the steps

26. 3a. How does this make Charlie feel? • He is upset and embarrassed

27. Infer what Nemur saying “nothing can go wrong now” indicates to the reader. • It indicates that something will go wrong

28. Who does Charlie ask out? • He asks out Alice Kinnian

29. 5a. What does this tell you about how his relationship with women has changed? • He is beginning to see women sexually

30. Describe Charlie’s new friends. • Intelligent • Talk about politics and religion • Are from the university

31. 6a. Give two examples of how these friends are different than his friends at the bakery. • Respect Charlie • Listen to Charlie • Speak with Charlie not at him • Do not embarrass Charlie

32. What is Charlie’s dream about in his April 28th progress report? • His mother

33. Describe Charlie’s mom. • Wants Charlie to be normal • Is in denial • Has brown hair

34. Explain each parent’s view of Charlie. • Mother – is in denial; believes Charlie is normal • Father – is more accepting of Charlie’s condition; will not stand up to Rose

35. 9a. How might each parent’s view affected Charlie and his relationship with people? • Mother – might make him take on challenges he is not capable of handling • Father – might understand his condition and understand when people are being cruel

36. THE BIG QUESTION: How does the reader’s truth about Charlie’s background change after we meet his parents? Does this truth explain anything about why Charlie thinks of the men at the bakery as friends? • We realize Charlie may not be aware of his condition • He may be more trusting of people because he thinks he is normal

37. Flowers for Algernon Chapter 11

38. What is Charlie beginning to realize about Alice Kinnian? • Charlie realizes he loves Alice

39. 1a. How does this realization embody his improving condition? • He sees women as more than just friends

40. What did Charlie realize from his nightmare about the bloody knife and the free association he did after the dream? • He associates love with blood and abuse

41. Describe the problem Charlie discovered at the bakery? • Gimpy is stealing money

42. 3a. What did he do about this problem? • Charlie confronts Gimpy and asks him what he would hypothetically do in this situation

43. 3b. What did Charlie realize when he talked to Alice about the problem at the bakery? • He has to figure out the right thing to do

44. Describe Charlie’s evening out with Alice. • They go to Central Park • When things get physical between Charlie and Alice, Charlie sees young Charlie watching them • Charlie is paranoid

45. What is the status of Charlie’s job at the bakery? • Charlie’s co-workers feel uncomfortable and have signed a petition asking to have him fired

46. 5a. What does Charlie conclude because of his status? • He concludes the men are jealous

47. What was Alice’s comment when Charlie next visited her? • She says it doesn’t have to do with him

48. What memory did Charlie experience while he was talking to Alice? • A middle-aged woman exposed herself to Charlie during a bakery delivery • Then his mother yelling at him for thinking of girls in a sexual way

49. THE BIG QUESTION: How does Charlie’s truth change after he speaks with various professors and specialists • He realizes that professors are not necessarily “intellectual giants”