Flowers for Algernon

1. Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes M10440 원종현

2. About the author (Daniel Keyes ) • Keyes was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, August 9, 1927. At age of 17, he joined the U.S. Maritime Service as ship'spurser. He obtained a B.A. in psychology from Brooklyn College, and after a stint in fashion photography (partner in a photography studio), earned aMaster's Degree in English and American Literature at night while teaching English in New York City public schools during the day and writing weekends. In 1959 [Flowers for Algernon] was published and in 1981 [The minds of Billy Milligan] was published. Daniel Keyes was awarded Hugo award for [Flowers for Algernon] in 1960.

3. About the Story [Flowers for Algernon] • Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction short story and subsequent novel written by Daniel Keyes. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960. The novel was published in 1966 and was joint winner of that year's Nebula Award for Best Novel. Although the book has often been challenged for removal from libraries in the US and Canada,sometimes successfully, it is regularly taught in schools around the world and has been adapted numerous times for television, theatre, radio and as the Academy Award-winning film Charly.

4. Short summary • This story is about a man named Charlie who has low I.Q of 68 and is 32 years old. Charlie who was suitable for the exeriment went through an operation which was done by Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur. After this operation Charlie’s intelligence gets higher. During this process he meets a mouse named Algernon who also got this operation and got smarter. One day this mouse named Algernon gets less cooperative with the people and dies one day. As Charlie got smarter he earned many things but lost many things at the same time. For example, he learned how to read book and understand it. Also he reached the level where he could write a theory. However Charlie lost most of his friends and he also lost job. As time goes Charlie himself also realizes that his intelligence is dropping and he will soon become dumb. Charlie who wanted everyone not to be sad about him, tries to go away from New York. This story ends by last letter from Charlie to Dr. Strauss to put some flowers on Algernon’s grave as a last request

5. Plot diagram In this part Charlie now gets an I.Q of 216 and lives a life of a genius. Although Charlie likes the feeling of being Genius, many people dislikes him and many kind of conflict occurs. During a dinner meal Charlie sees a dishwasher boy. During this dinner the dishwasher boy breaks a dish. The people try to blame him but Charlie stops him. After this event Charlie changes his mind and tries to help the others Algernon dies and Charlie expects that his intelligence would drop. Charlie ‘s ability to speak many languages disappears and his memorization ability deteriorates. In this part Charlie’s intelligence gets higher after the operation. His intelligence higher to the level where he even wins a race with a mice named Algernon(Algernon also got this operation and is smarter). Charlie is dumb again as he used to be before the operation. Charlie who wanted no one to be sorry about him determined to leave the city towards where no one knew about him. In this part Charlie who is a 32 year old man with a low I.Q takes part in an experiment and gets an operation that makes human’s intelligence get higher

6. Literary elements (chronological order, Allusion) • Chronological order • Chronological order is a literary element that is the arrangement of events in the order in which they occurred. For example this story is a group of letters and progress reports. These progress reports are written in a time order. This story starts with progress report of march 5, 1965 and ends with a letter to Dr. Strauss in July 28th, 1965. • Allusion • Allusion is a reference to a famous person, place, event, or work of literature. In p.199 Charlie mentions “Robinson Crusoe” which alludes to Daniel Defoe’s novel

7. Literary elements (Character traits, Antagonist) • Character Traits • Character traits are the qualities shown by a character. Traits may be physical or expressions of personality. Writers reveal the traits of their characters through methods of characterization. In p.194 line 100 to 102 we can know that Charlie really works hard for his own goal. For example, in this part Charlie studies hard to be smart. • Antagonist • An antagonist is a force working against the protagonist, or main character, in a story, play or novel. Co-workers in the factory are antagonists to Charlie because all except one co-worker in the factory wants Charlie to be fired.

8. Literary elements (Conflict, First-person point of view) • Conflict • Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces. Almost every stor has a main Conflict, a conflict that is the story’s focus. There are two kinds of conflict; external conflict and internal conflict. One conflict in this story is conflict between Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur. Dr. Nemur states that this experiment was his own project and was his own idea. However Dr. Strauss also says that it was him who did the operation. This conflict is not clearly solved but in the end this project was the result of both of them. •   First-person point of view • In a work told from a first-person point of view, the narrater is a character in the story. In this story the story is narrated by Charlie. We can know this because in this story we can see some words such as I, me. By this we can know that this story is narrated in the view of a character in the story.

9. Literary elements(Alliteration, Denotation) • Alliteration • Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of word. For example in this sentence “I got to take those tests over again” t sounds are repeated. • Denotation • A word’s denotation is its dictionary definition. For example a denotation of an apple is a round fruit with smooth green, yellow, or red skin and firm white flesh. In this story there is a denotation of subconscious. A denotation of subonscious is stated as “Of the nature of mental operations yet not present in consciousness”.

10. Literary elements (Mood, Fiction) • Mood • Mood is the feeling or atmosphere that a writer crates for the reader. Within a story there could be several moods and moods can change. Descriptive word, imagery, and figurative language all influence the mood of a work. In this story the general mood is gloom and mysterious. • Fiction • Fiction is prose writing that tels an imaginary story. The writer of a fictional work might invent all the events and characters on a story. “Flowers for Algernon” is also a fiction which is written by Daniel Keyes. This is a fiction that narrates about a human being intelligent by the development of medical technology. This story narrates one man’s dream, reality, advantages, and the challenges that a man might face when they become intelligent.

11. Critical Thinking Question • 1. If you were Charlie would you choose to be a genius and be disliked by friends you used to know or would you stay dumb and have good relationships with the people you used to know? • 2. Why do you think Dr. Strauss wanted Charlie not to come to the labratory after Algernon’s death?

12. Vocabularies in the story • Opportunist: a person who takes advantage of any opportunity, without moral regard. • Sensation: a state of great interest and excitement • Specialization: a focus on a particular area of study • Absurd: ridiculously unreasonable • Refute: to prove as false • Impair: to weaken, damage • Proportional: having a constant relation in a degree of number

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