Dr.+Heidegger's+Experiment

Dr. Heidegger's Experiment - Literary Devices Point of View: Third person (omniscient) Protagonist: Dr. Heidegger What type of character is the Protagonist? round/dynamic Antagonist: waters of the fountain of youth Describe the setting: the study of Dr. Heidegger's home, dim, dusty, old-fashioned, walls of bookcases, creepy, late 1800s/early 1900s Type of Conflict: person vs. supernatural, person vs. self Describe the main conflict: The main conflict occurs when Dr. Heidegger's friends interact with the waters from the Fountain of Youth, and revert back to the old ways of when they were young. Widow Wycherly, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew and Mr. Gascoigne forget the lessons they have learned from aging and act as if they were the still those foolish people. In their minds, they are thinking about the old positions they once held and choosing how to accomplish things they would do in such jobs, though they do not have them anymore. Dr. Heidegger tries to make these characters use their prior knowledge to not make the same mistake twice, but is dismissed by the others. Describe the Climax of the Story: The climax of this story is when Dr. Heidegger's friends have drank the water from the Fountain of Youth and return to youth while he sits and observes. Dr. Heidegger knew the water would work, but he wanted to see if the knowledge his subjects had gained would stay with them in transformation, or need to be gained again. While Dr. Heidegger watches his experiment unfold, his friends are blissful at the thought of being young forever. They do not see the negative outcomes that Dr. Heidegger does. In their vanity, they choose to have the appearance of youth, rather than have the ability to prevent their mistakes with experience. How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? Dr. Heidegger changes of the course of the story to realize he is content with the process of aging. In the beginning, he sees what the Fountain of Youth does to the flower from his lost love, and has hope that the water will improve life. As the experiment clarifies the true tendencies of human nature, he can come to the conclusion that the Fountain of Youth may eliminate some of the benefits of age by returning someone back to youth. Describe the relationship between the title and the theme: The title, "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" gives little insight into the theme of youth vs. aging in this story. The title allows the reader to know that the story will probably be about an experiment, but what kind is not specified. As one reads, one finds out that Dr. Heidegger, the protagonist, conducts an experiment on four elderly people to see how water from the Fountain of Youh will affect them. This experiment is the link between the generic title and a very specific theme. How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? The main conflict illustrates the theme by giving a direct example of what might happen if aging could be reversed. One sees this as the four friends of Dr. Heidegger lapse into the foolishness of old ways while he concludes that he would rather have lessons learned than physical appearance and mentality of youth. How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? The climax, like the main conflict, demonstrates the theme through example. The protagonist's friends choose to go back to the best times of their lives in youth, while he sees he is living the best part of his life in age and would rather not drink the water from the Fountain of Youth. The characters have had different "high points" in their lives and as a result, make the decision of whether or not to be young again based on this. Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes): Simile: pg. 160, par. 2 "...a small round table, as black as ebony..." The image of a very dark table comes to mind when the author uses this simile. Metaphor: pg. 160, par. 1 "...the skeleton had rattled in its closet..." This metaphor describes the past regrets of Dr. Heidegger by placing a physical skeleton in Dr. Heidegger's closet. Personification: pg. 161, par. 3 "...flower...reviving from a deathlike slumber..." Flowers are not human, and do not awake from sleeping. By using personification, the idea of the flower opening up as if new from years of having long died is created. Symbol: pg. 166, par. 5 "My poor Sylvia's rose! ...it appears to be fading again." As Dr. Heidegger's treasued rose loses the youth from the water, so do his friends. This symbolizes that once time has passed, one can never permanently go back. Just as the rose would naturally fade, so would the four friends. Such is the natural process of life. Foreshadowing (give both elements): pg. 162, par. 3 and pg. 166, par. 1. In the first part of this forshadowing, Dr. Heidegger cautions his friends not to make the same mistakes twice. In response, his friends all laugh at the thought of making the mistakes that cost them so much again once they have drank from the Fountain of Youth. Dr. Heidegger seems skeptical, but eager to continue on with his experiment, passes out the glasses to his friends. In the second part of this forshadowing, Dr. Heidegger's friends are young again and making the same mistakes they made then all over again. Dr. Heidegger had some reason to think his friends might act foolish once returned to similar circumstances in which they originally had acted in such a way. Perhaps he was hinting that his suggestion would be ignored by his friends, even though he made the consequences clear before he gave them the water. Irony: pg. 167, par. 5 and 6. In the conclusion of this story, Dr. Heidegger realizes that the waters of the Fountain of Youth take away more than they restore and vows never to drink from it even "...if the fountain gushed at my very doorstep." Dr. Heidegger's friends, however, do not see the consequences of the Fountain of Youth and instead vow to find the fountain and restore their youth by drinking from it morning, noon, and night. One might think that after all that has occured, Dr. Heidegger's friends would be the ones to see the benefits of age as opposed to Dr Heidegger himself who wanted to experiment with the idea of returning to youth Imagery: pg. 163, par. 1 "...the deep and sad inscription which Father Time had been so long engraving on their brows." With this stunning piece of imagery, one envisions an old man steadily writing something very depressing into the face of someone who has seen many sadnesses over their lifetime. Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story: ﻿This story's theme of youth versus againg can be examined using the class theme of choices. If someone gave you the ability to return yourself to the way you were in an earlier part of your life, would you choose to? This is the question which comes to mind when the youth versus aging is compared to choices. For some, the ability to be the way you were when you were young is intriguing and desirable. These people would likely make the chocie to be as they were in the best time of their lives. For others, they appreciate the knowledge they have gained from making mistakes in youth, but would not want youth to be restored to them. It is human nature to make mistakes, and by making them, one can learn. If someone could go back and fix these mistakes, they would change the course of their life and make different decisions based upon that. With each mistake in life, comes a different opportunity to fix it or not later. Every decision leads us down a different path in the giant maze of life, and without the ability to look back on our missteps, we cannot change our future.

Questions: 1. //According to Dr. Heidegger, what is the purpose of this experiment?// The purpose of this experiment was to see if the knowledge gained from old age would remain when the old became young again. If given a second chance at youth, would his old friends use their knowledge to correct their erred ways or fall back to human nature and make the same errors again. Dr. Heidegger already knew that the waters from the Fountain of Youth would make something or someone return to prior youth, as he demonstrated with the rose. In his experiment, he wanted to see the result of the waters on the lessons his friends had learned from their mistakes in youth.

2. //What do Dr. Heidegger's friends have in common? How does each of them behave during the experiment?// Dr. Heidegger's friends are all very old, and all of the men were have rumoured to have been lovers of Widow Wycherly. The friends' best time of their lives was when they were young. When Dr. Heidegger offers the idea of returning to youth, they are excited for the prospect of returning to the high point in their lives. When they drink the water, they act as if they were those young, careless people and assume their old professions and lifestyles while still within Dr. Heidegger's home. Through these actions, one can see that all of them have their longing for youth in common as well.

3. //Why would Dr. Heidegger not stoop to bathe his lips in the Fountain of Youth? Do his friends feel the same way?// As Dr. Heidegger sees the outcome of his experiment unfold, he realizes that he would rather not give up the knowledge he has attained with age than have the appearance, mentality, and lack of knowledge that comes with being young. Dr. Heidegger's friends only see the physical side of the experiment, and would prefer to remain looking young forever and not have many of their experiences that gave them knowledge than be wise and old.

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?// The narrator of the story is likely someone who would have been close to Dr. Heidegger, though we never actually meet this character. The narrator probably knows many of the details of the story from what Dr. Heidegger might have told him/her or from the findings of written pieces, such as a journal, that Dr. Heidegger wrote about the account in. This unknown narrator is mostly certain of his facts, but was not actually present when the experiment occured, and therefore cannot be completely sure of specific facts.

5. //What points are made about youth and aging in the story? Do you agree with the views of the story?// The author brings up many different aspects of the issue of youth and aging in this story. One learns that, in the author's point of view, many mistakes are made in youth and as a result, one can learn from these mistakes to improve themselves. Our authour also concludes that with age comes knowledge and becoming old is an important in our lifetime. I agree with these views. The other key point that is brought up is that some people will not learn from their mistakes. Dr. Heidegger's friends don't choose to use knowledge from past experiences to change themselves, and this will occur for some of us.

7. //Some scientists hope to develop a vaccine against aging. They speculate that human beings could live approximately 800 years. Do you feel this is desirable?// Though at first thought the idea of an anti-aging vaccine seems desirable, in my opinion, there would be too many negatives in this situation to make it desirable to me. If one were to live 800 years, think of all the consequences of going against nature. For example, anyone who had not had the vaccine would die before you, leaving you alone in a world of strangers. This vaccine may also not restore one's youthful appearance. What might one look like with the effects of 800 years of aging without death? A vaccine might also fall into the wrong hands, and be handled in terms of money rather than to benefit society. If many people chose to get vaccinated with against aging, think of the over-population in the world. With over-population would also come many issues such as disease, elimination of resources, and war among others. None of these outcomes would be desirable to me. I would want to live my life knowing I had lived it the way it was supposed to be and not the way science would have manipulated it to be.

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

 Total 15/15

 Questions Completion Mark 5/5

 Total 20/20