Study+Guide+Answer+Key

Study Guide Answer Key...
===Of course, you will only get out of this study guide what you put in. Below are the answers for your review. IF you have worked through all the questions and answered them, while using the text, and IF you then double check your answers, you should do just fine on the final exam. ===

hell yeah

1. How does Charlie react to the ink blot test and the Thematic Apperception tests? Charlie doesn’t understand either test because he is unable to think beyond a literal sense. With the ink blot test Charlie sees an ink pen bleeding all over a table cloth, or a spilled bottle of ink. With the Thematic Apperception test, Charlie thinks that making up a story about a picture of two people walking together is the same thing as lying. He doesn’t lie because he gets into trouble. 2. Why does Charlie have a rabbit’s foot in his pocket? Charlie has the rabbit’s foot in his pocket because he believe in luck, and by having the rabbit’s foot, everything will be okay in regards to the operation. As a behavior trait, Charlie is __superstitious__.

3. Why did Charlie go to night school? What does that tell you about him? Charlie went to night school because he “wanted to be smart” and be able to read and write better. This tells me that Charlie is motivated to get smart. He puts forth an effort, as best as he can, to do what he can in order to get smarter. Charlie is not a lazy person.

4. When does Charlie realize what he was like, prior to the operation. How does he feel about this realization? Charlie finally realizes what he was like __before__ the operation, when he sees the dishwasher boy at the restaurant. Up until that point, Charlie probably had an idea that other people had been smarter than he was (before the operation), but he didn’t understand __to what extent__ other people were smarter. By seeing the dishwasher boy, Charlie had a clear, smack-you-in-the-face reality look at who he had been.

5. What is the goal of the experiment? The goal of the experiment is to triple an individual’s I.Q. Dr. Nemur wanted to create a superhuman intellectual race of people. In Charlie’s case, his I.Q. would go from 68 to 204.

6. Describe Dr. Nemur. Dr. Nemur is an insecure but proud individual, whose wife constantly pesters him to publish an article in a professional journal publication. Burt describes Dr. Nemur’s wife as “a shrew of a woman.” Dr. Nemur is the man who thought up the theory of how to artificially increase a person’s intelligence, but he was not able to actually perform the surgery. He needed Dr. Strauss to do this, so he probably thought he wasn’t as good of a doctor as Dr. Strauss. Dr. Nemur also wanted to obtain the position of Chairman of the Psychology department at Princeton. This is a very honorable, prestigious position to have. To Dr. Nemur, publishing the results of the experiment was very necessary in order for him to earn this position. Dr. Nemur doesn’t seem to show much compassion for Charlie, but rather, looks at him as a subject of a scientific experiment. Charlie thinks Dr. Nemur thinks he is smarter than he really is, and thinks Dr. Nemur is “a grouch”. He is a pessimist.

7. Describe Dr. Strauss. Dr. Strauss is a compassionate man who has Charlie’s best interests at heart. Dr. Strauss is an optimist. He has a positive attitude in using Charlie for the experiment, based on Charlie’s high motivation. Charlie thinks Dr. Strauss could be nearly a genius, but he needs to get more education in some of the special areas of being a doctor. Charlie views Dr. Strauss as his friend. Dr. Strauss is also cautious and doesn’t want to publish the experiment’s results until they know more information—like if it’s going to be permanent or not. When Charlie starts to deteriorate, Dr. Strauss tries to visit with Charlie, but is unable to because Charlie refuses to let anyone in to see him.

8. How does Charlie feel before the operation? Charlie is nervous about the operation. Even though it may hurt, he doesn’t care, as long as he can get smart. Charlie takes his lucky rabbit’s foot just in case.

9. Charlie says his co-workers, Joe and Frank, are really his friends. Defend this statement, or argue against it. At the beginning of the story, Joe and Frank are definitely NOT his friends, based on their actions—going to a bar, getting Charlie drunk, then ditching him; having him clean a toilet in front of a lady. They are not his friends based on their cruel remarks—“He pulled a Charlie Gordon”, “What’d they do, Charlie, try to dump in more brains?”

However, towards the end of the story, Joe and Frank become Charlie’s true friends because they finally understand what has happened to Charlie, and they defend him against other people who make fun of Charlie.

10. What does the expression “to pull a Charlie Gordon” mean? “To pull a Charlie Gordon” means to do something stupid or foolish.

11. Describe Miss Kinnian, according to Charlie’s opinion BEFORE and then AFTER the operation. Before the surgery, Miss Kinnian was the smartest teacher Charlie ever knew. He though Miss Kinnian was a genius. Charlie also thought she was really old. AFTER the surgery, Charlie realizes Miss Kinnian is fairly ordinary when it comes to intelligence. However, Charlie realizes Miss Kinnian is very beautiful and young; Charlie falls in love with her.

12. What is the purpose of the “tv” Dr. Strauss gave to Charlie? The purpose of the “tv” was to teach information to Charlie through his sub-conscious mind. The “tv” was to be played while Charlie slept.

13. What does Charlie mean when he talks about having two minds? Charlie meant that he had a conscious and sub-conscious mind. The conscious mind is the mind we use when we are awake. We are aware of our surroundings, and what is happening around us. The sub-conscious mind operates behind the scenes, like when we are sleeping.

14. In his progress report Charlie says that these people are his friends and they laugh with him. Why does Miss Kinnian look at Charlie “kind of funny?” Miss Kinnian looks at Charlie “kind of funny” because she is about to cry. She realizes what exactly is happening to Charlie, and that people are making fun of him, and he doesn’t even realize it.

15. How does Charlie’s attitude towards people change through the story? Explain. Before the operation Charlie is a very trusting, gullible person. He is open to anyone and anything. One could call him naïve. After the surgery, Charlie is able to think more in-depth, more analytically. He realizes that not everything is the way he thought they were. Charlie understands how naïve he was before the surgery. He becomes more suspicious of people, and thinks that some people have hidden motives as to why they do what they do. Charlie begins to distrust people.

16. Besides “The Power of Motivation” as a theme of this story, what could be another possible theme? Give 3 example through the story to defend this chosen theme. “Innocence Lost” could be another possible theme. Examples from the story would be 1) Before the surgery Charlie trusted people and thought the best of them. After the surgery Charlie became distrustful of people and thought they had hidden motives. 2) Before the surgery Charlie was naïve—almost in a good way. He didn’t realize some of the cruelty of the “normal” world. After the surgery Charlie saw clearly how cruel people could be—through the actions of Joe and Frank, and through the actions of the people in the restaurant towards the dishwasher boy. 3) Before the surgery Charlie didn’t realize how “feebleminded” he was. After the surgery, when he saw the dishwasher boy, he saw clearly what he once was.

“Nature versus Science” could be another theme. Is it better to leave “mother nature” alone, or is it better to use science to “improve” something. Examples: 1) Algernon--he improved for a brief period of time, but then deterioriated. So what good did it really do? 2) Charlie--the same could be said of him. Except Charlie is a human being, not a mouse. Charlie experiences many positive and negative events as a result of the surgery--knowledge, intelligence, love, acceptance....along with lonliness, frustration, possible eventual death. In the end, Charlie tells Miss Kinnian he is glad he had the opportunity, even if it was for only a short time. 3) Fanny--she brings up the idea of Adam and Eve when Eve listened to the snake. It was evil she ate of the tree of knowledge, and the result is that now people grow old, sick and die. Eve should have left well-enough alone, but didn't.

"Unintended consequences." The initial idea of artificially increasing intelligence is a good idea, but in reality, it came with a bunch of unforeseen, unintended consequences, such as, 1) Charlie's isolation--as a genious. He thought he would make more friends and be accepted, and be "like other people." However, since he is so intelligent, no one can relate to Charlie, and he cannot relate to ordinary people. 2) Charlie's reality of human cruelty--although eventually Charlie thinks this is a good thing for him to know. Charlie sees people for who they really are, and not what he imagined them to be when he was of lower intelligence. 3) Charlie's eventual death--the whole idea was to make Charlie's life BETTER, not end it!

17. Do you agree or disagree it is a good thing to increase the intelligence of mentally retarded people with this new technique? Answers will vary. Be sure to support your answer with evidence from the text.

18. What are the implications of Algernon biting Charlie? The implications of Algernon biting Charlie are that Algernon is becoming more irritable. We see later in the story that Algernon dies. We can infer that since Charlie and Algernon had the same surgery, Charlie will experience the same things as Algernon, including death.

19. Why have the doctors asked Charlie not to come to the lab anymore? There are two reasons why the doctors have asked Charlie not to come to the lab anymore. 1) Since Charlie is also a subject of the experiment, seeing what is happening to Algernon might be too disturbing to Charlie. 2) Since Charlie is also a subject of the experiment, those who are responsible for performing the experiment might feel guilt for what they have/are putting Charlie through. It would be horrible to think that you had a part in someone’s eventual death, just because you wanted to see science advance.

20. What is the inciting incident of the story? Charlie is chosen to be a candidate for the experiment. If Charlie hadn’t been chosen, none of the other events would have happened in the story.

21. What is the central conflict of the story? Be specific. The central conflict of the story is that Charlie wants to be smart and be like other people. The problem is, once he becomes smart, he still is not like other people.

22. How is this conflict resolved? The conflict is resolved when Charlie is shown acceptance by Frank and Joe, and when Charlie realizes the gift of intelligence is something to be shared with other people—to use his gift (even though it will ultimately lead to his death) to help better the lives of other people.

23. What is the Algernon-Gordon Effect? The increase of intelligence is directly proportional to the rate of deterioration. In other words, however fast it took to gain the peak of intelligence, it will take 1/3 the amount of time to lose the intelligence once gained.

24. What do you learn about Charlie’s family in this story? Charlie’s family, at one time, had Charlie living in their home. However, something happened and Charlie’s family is no longer in his life. Taking the time period into consideration, you can assume that his family couldn’t deal with Charlie any longer, and sent him to an institution for the mentally impaired. Back in the day, these types of people were literally locked away and forgotten.

25. How do other people react to Charlie at this point: Mrs. Flynn, the doctors, Miss Kinnian? Mrs. Flynn doesn’t understand what has happened to Charlie. She is worried about him. She says Charlie reminds her of her son before she threw him out. She doesn't like "loafers". Mrs. Flynn must look at Charlie like he is just being lazy.

The doctors don’t know how to relate to Charlie anymore. He has surpassed even their knowledge in the area of medicine, science, and everything else. The very people who were responsible for creating this “new and improved” Charlie now don’t know what to do with him—especially since the experiment is a failure. They are worried about him because Charlie is working day and night. They are afraid he is going to over-work himself.

Miss Kinnian, though Charlie at one point had fallen in love with her—she now distances herself from Charlie. Again, she doesn’t know how to relate to Charlie, nor does she understand what he says because he is so advanced in his intellect.

26. Why does Charlie isolate himself? Charlie isolates himself for two reasons. One: when he is super intelligent, he isolates himself because no one really understands him. Two: when Charlie is deteriorating, he doesn’t want anyone to feel sorry for him. He also doesn’t want people to look at him as a failure.

27. Determine if the following characters are static (remain the same throughout the story) or dynamic (change through the story):

Charlie: Dynamic Miss Kinnian: Static Dr. Strauss: Static Dr. Nemur: Static Joe & Frank: Dynamic Mrs. Flynn: Static

28. Why is Charlie leaving New York? Charlie is leaving New York because he wants to go where no one knows who he was when he was intelligent. He doesn’t want Miss Kinnian, or the people at the factory to feel sorry for him. So Charlie is going someplace “where nobody knows that Charlie Gordon was once a genus and now he cant even reed a book or rite good.”

29. How does Charlie feel about what has happened to him, about the doctors, about Miss Kinnian? How would YOU feel? In his final letter, Charlie tells Miss Kinnian not to be sorry for him. He is glad he got a second chance to be smart because he learned a lot of things he never even knew were in the world. Charlie is grateful for the chance to see it, even for a little bit.

30. Is Charlie’s situation now the same as it was before the operation? Explain. Charlie’s situation isn’t exactly the same as it was before the operation, simply because of the fact that he realizes something had happened to him, that he was smart at one time, but he just can’t remember the details. Charlie does remember the good feeling he had to know things and be smart. Intellectual-wise, Charlie’s situation is somewhat the same as before the operation. He no longer can read or write or spell properly. However, this time, the reader can infer that Charlie will eventually die. He will revert (go back) to what he once was, but then continue to regress (go back) even further until he finally dies.

31. How does the ending affect you? Answers will vary. They must make sense!

32. What point of view is this story written? This story is written in first person point of view, using a progress report/journal-type text organization.

33. What does the author achieve by having everything seen from this perspective? Using this type of perspective, the author allows the reader to become personally involved with Charlie—to feel his pain, to feel compassion towards Charlie as a human being, and to experience the humility and shame Charlie suffers when he realizes everyone was laughing AT him. The reader becomes more involved and __part of the story__ rather than just reading a story __from the outside__.