Dr.+Heidegger's+Experiment


 * Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: ** __Dr. Heidegger's Experiment__


 * Point of View: ** 3rd person/ Omnicient


 * Protagonist: ** Dr. Heidegger

Round and dynamic
 * What type of character is the Protagonist? **

the water from the Fountain of Youth/Himself
 * Antagonist: **


 * Describe the setting **


 * Time: ** around the 1800s
 * Place: ** Dr. Heidegger's study in the USA
 * Mood: ** creepy, mysterious, happy, sad, gloomy, tense


 * Type of Conflict: ** Man vs. Nature/ Man vs. Self


 * Describe the main conflict: ** The main conflict is that Dr. Heidegger lets his friends have a taste of the water from the Fountain of Youth. They become young again and instead of trying not to make the same mistakes they made when they were young the first time, they become to excited and end up making the same mistakes.


 * Describe the Climax of the Story: ** The climax of the story is when Dr. Heidegger's friends drink the water from the Fountain of Youth. They end up making the same mistakes that they did in their youth before instead of taking that second chance and putting it to use.

The protagonist, Dr. Heidegger, changes over the course of the story from wanting to possibly drink the water from the Fountain of Youth, to not ever wanting to do so. This is because he asked his friends to try it first and wanted to see how they would react to it. The results weren't good so he decides that he doesn't want to try the water.
 * How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? **

The theme of this story is second chances. The title of the story, Dr. Heidegger's Experiment, is a way to test second chances. He does an experiment on his friends to see if they use thier second chances at youth wisely or better thatn they did before. His friends fail.
 * Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. **

The main conflict, which is the friends getting a second chance at youth and absolutely failing, helps to illustrate the theme because it shows that not all people will use a second chance wisely. They might just screw up again or even do worse the second time than the first.
 * How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? **

The climax illustrates the theme of the story the same way the main conflict does. Dr. Heidegger's don't use the second chance that they're given wisely. The friends don't put it to good use; it was a wasted chance.
 * How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? **


 * Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes): **


 * Simile: ** "One limped across the floor, like a gouty grandfather..."


 * Metaphor: ** "...the skeleton had rattled in its closet..." This is a metaphor for regretting something that one has done in the past.


 * Personification: ** "...the flower were reviving from a deathlike slumber..."


 * Symbol: ** The rose that Dr. Heidegger keeps is a symbol of love. It was from his sweetheart Sylvia Ward. Even though she is deceased, he still keeps it because it reminds him of her. Dr. Heidegger treasures it which is like treasuring Sylvia. He also has a big portrait of Sylvia Ward in his study.


 * Foreshadowing (give both elements): ** "They stood still, and shivered; for it seemed as if gray Time were calling them back from their sunny youth, far down into the chill and darksome vale of years." "His guests shivered again. A strange chilliness, gradually over the body or spirit they could not tell, was creeping gradually over them all. They gazed at one another, and fancied that each fleeting moment snatched away a charm, and left a deepening furrow where none had been before. Was it an illusion? Had the changes of a lifetime been crowded into so brief a space, and were they now four aged people, sitting with their old friend, Dr. Heidegger?" The five friends didn't know that the effects of the water from the Fountain of Youth would wear off so quickly, so they did not know that when they shivered, something was happening to them. Later on they find out that they were changing back to how they were before.


 * Irony: ** What's ironic about this story is that one expects the effects of the water from the Fountain of Youth to last longer than just a few minutes. Another ironic thing is that one expects people that are older to act more mature and probably not make the same mistakes as they did before in their youth. The friends of Dr. Heiddeger, however, did the exact opposite of what was expected.


 * Imagery: ** "He uncovered the vase, and threw the faded rose into the water which it contained. At first it lay lightly on the surface of the fluid, appearing to imbide none of its moisture. Soon, however, a singular change began to be visible. The crushed and dried petals stirred, and assumed a deepening tinge of crimson, as if the flower were reviving from a deathlike slumber; the slender stalk and twigs of foliage became green; and there was the rose of half century, looking as fresh as when Sylvia Ward had first given it to her lover. It was scarcely full-blown; for some of its delicate red leaves curled modestly around its moist bosom, within which two or three dewdrops were sparkling."

The class theme, which is choices, relates to the story because of the events that take place during the story. Dr. Heidegger makes a **choice** to invite some friends over so they could try out the water from the Fountain of Youth. The friends then **choose** to drink it. The point of trying the water and become young again was to have a second chance at being young and not making the same mistakes they made before. This, however, did not work because his friends did exactly that. They could have **chosen** to act different and accomplish something different, but that was not the case. He, Dr. Heidegger, realized that it was not a good idea to drink that water only to have a few moments to relive the feeling of being young again. He also noticed the greed that his friends had after drinking the water so he **chose** to never ever drink from the Fountain of Youth. His friends had something different in mind. They **chose** to go looking for the Fountain of Youth the next day so they could drink as much water as they wished and stay young forever.
 * Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. **

**1) According to Dr. Heidegger, what is the purpose of his experiment?** ﻿The purpose was to see if his friends would make the same mistakes if they could relive their younger years again.

**2) What do Dr. Heidegger's friends have in common? How does each of them behave during the experiment?** ﻿ ﻿They are all old and have been unfortunate in life. The men also fought over Widow Wycherly. The five of them are thought to be a little beside themselves. They behaved almost exactly as they did the first time they were young. The men were still aggressively fighting over Widow Wycherly.

**3) Why would Dr. Heidegger not stoop to bathe his lips in the Fountain of Youth? Do his friends feel the same way? Comment.** ﻿ ﻿He doesn't want to drink from the Fountain of Youth because he saw what his friends were doing and how they acted. He didn't want to be like them. The water made them greedy for more and they hadn't changed one bit. Dr. Heidegger's friends didn't agree though. They planned to make a pilgrimage to Florida the next morning to search for the Fountain of Youth.

**4) Who is the narrator of the story? Though he is not a participant in the experiment, the narrator relates all the details. How does he know what happened to the doctor and his friends? How certain of his facts is the narrator?** ﻿ ﻿There are many people that could be the narrator, but I think that it was a close family member or a friend of Dr. Heidegger's. The Doctor probably told this person. I think this because in the story it mentions that the narrator is a bit unsure as well of what exactly happened. Dr. Heidegger could have exaggerated some parts of the story to make it sound more interesting.

**5) What points are made about youth and aging in the story? Do you agree with the views in the story? Comment.** ﻿If one had the chance to relive one's youth, one shouldn't make the same mistakes. I agree with this because if one had a second chance to be young again, I wouldn't want to make the same mistakes. It would be a waste of reliving the moments. I'd want to do different things that I did previously.

**7) Some scientists hope to develope a vaccine against aging. They speculate that human beings could then live approximately 800 years. Do you feel this is desirable? Explain your answer.** I personally wouldn't want ot live for 800 years. I'd maybe want to live for 100 years., but no longer than that. This si because I'd have to watch all of my loved ones and the people I'm close to die. That would be very painful and I wouldn't want to go through that.

 Completion 5/5  Effort 4/5  Content 4/5

 Total 13/15

 Questions Completion Mark 4/5

 Total 17/20