...In “Flowers for Algernon” Charlie is a man with a very low intellect. He goes through a surgery as a test subject to triple his intelligence. The surgery works and Charlie’s intelligence exceeds his teacher, the doctors that came up with and performed the surgery, and his friends and coworkers. Charlie’s way of life worsens due to the surgery. There are many reasons why Charlie’s life worsens. His friends Joe and Frank work with him at a plastic box factory and they invite him to lots of parties. In the text it says “It's a funny thing I never knew that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around all the time to make fun of me. Now I know what it means when they say to pull a Charlie Gordon.” This shows how Charlie lost all his “friends”...
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...Flowers for Algernon Rita Ghatourey, a famous Indian writer, once said “I do not exist to impress the world. I exist to live my life in a way that will make me happy.” Flowers for Algernon is a story, in which a man by the name of Charlie Gordon tries to change to impress the world. After reading Flowers for Algernon, one can see that Charlie Gordon was far better off before the surgery. He was happier, content with his job, and he had friends. He was living in a way that made him happy. In this story, Charlie Gordon is a man with very low IQ. He is chosen for an experimental surgery that can greatly increase his intelligence. Before the surgery, Charlie’s IQ is 68. He is living in his own apartment, going to night school to better himself, and is working as a janitor at Donnegan’s factory. Charlie has guys that he thinks are his friends. While he longs to be smarter, he is for the most part happy. After the surgery, Charlie slowly begins to get smarter; starts seeing things differently. He now notices that Ms. Kinnean, his night school teacher, is his age, and that she is very pretty. This was something he hadn't noticed before. He also realizes that the guys that he thought were his friends, are not. They make fun of him and laugh at his expense. Charlie’s intelligence goes from being inferior to greatly superior. In this story, there is character who is similar to Charlie, his name is Algernon. Algernon is a mouse who ...
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...Flowers for Algernon Is knowledge the key to happiness? Does the fact that you know almost everything, complete your life? Or does it make you distant to your friends and family? These are some of the main questions Daniel Keys raise in his prizewinning fictional novel “Flowers for Algernon” from 1966. The Novel is about the mentally challenged Charlie Gordon, who will do anything to learn, and become ‘a smart person’. Charlie accepts the terms of an experiment, which will triple his IQ, even though he is not told of the consequences of the experiment. The novel “Flowers for Algernon” is written in the diary form, and the story features a first person narrator called Charlie Gordon. The novel is combined of several progress reports that show the current intelligence of Charlie. As we follow his everyday life, we get detailed information about his increase in artificial intelligence. Throughout the story the reader almost gets a feeling that there are multiple narrators telling the story. Nevertheless the sudden huge growth in grammatical skills is not simply because of another narrator expressing the story, it it’s merely due to the fact that the experiment triples Charlie’s IQ. This experiment takes Charlie’s writing skills to a point, where it’s almost flawless. Having this in mind, the story in a way switches narrator three times. The story starts of with Charlie before his operation, where he’s not exactly mentally gifted. Actually he would be referred to as a mentally...
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...The Wrong Choice “Charlie Gordon “wants to be smart.” His is a passion which leads to risk greatly and achieve greatly--at great cost.” (“CAN HUMAN INTELLIGENCE BE INCREASED?”). Charlie Gordon from the story Flowers for Algernon had a lifelong goal to be smart, so he decides to take part in an intelligence-altering surgery. Due to the operation, his IQ increases to 208, but this comes with side effects and death. In the story he competes with a mouse named Algernon, later they become friends. The doctors in the story were Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur, and the lab worker's name was Burt. In Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, doctors Strauss and Nemur made the wrong choice by selecting innocent Charlie Gordon for the intelligence-altering surgery. Dr. Strauss...
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...Keyes’s Experiment: Ignorance to Intellect, and Back Again What would happen if scientists found a way to exponentially increase human intelligence through a simple medical procedure? In his most famous novel, Flowers for Algernon, American author Daniel Keyes not only poses this provoking question, but shares his own answer through the story of Charlie Gordon, a mentally disadvantaged man whose IQ skyrockets within a matter of months after an experimental operation. Through Charlie’s eyes, readers are able to experience the ascent from mental incapability to profound intelligence, as well as the range of emotions that accompany it. However, Keyes was a far cry from mentally incompetent, and although he could not relate to Charlie’s IQ of...
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...In the short story "Flowers for Algernon" there is a man named Charlie Gordon. Charlie has an IQ of sixty eight and he is thirty eight years old. Charlie had the chance to get an operation, which would triple his IQ. Charlie was chosen for this test because he had the motivation to become smart. Charlie's doctors had to make ethical decisions about the operation. Charlie Gordon's doctors did not act ethically when they performed the surgery to make him smarter. Charlie's doctors did not think of the consequences the operation would have on Charlies quality of life. Quality of life is "the principles of beneficence, nonmaleficence, and respect for autonomy" (Siegler). The doctors do not think of Charlie or even consider what will happen to his quality of life after the surgery. When Charlie became smart he lost his job and his friends. Which is evidence of his quality of life decreasing due to his surgery. Charlie Gordon's doctors did not act ethically when they performed the surgery to make him smarter....
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...Keyes in “Flowers for Algernon,” portrayed hope for a mentally impaired man, Charlie Gordon, the operation was unsuccessful with devastating consequences. Therefore, Charlie should not have had the surgery; nevertheless, Charlie did not regret the surgery. After the operation, the conflicts between societies developed into something existent for Charlie that he had never experienced before. Charlie was thrilled with the research in effort to make him an ordinary human. What Charlie could not apprehend is that he was merely used as a human experiment to modify other mentally impaired individuals. The failure of the operation permitted Charlie, as a genius, to recognize every individual problem. Following the surgery, impediments...
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...said “ HARRY you're a hero! ” Lady 2 said Charlie was faced with a difficult situation in his search for identity, with having tests in his life which taught him something about life. He was on his search for identity when he lost his memory, when he saw the mentally challenged boy, and when Algernon died. First, he was on his search for identity when he started to lose his memory. Charlie is on a search for his identity as the author states on page 219, “I am forgetting things I have...
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...Everybody has something they don’t like about themselves. Would you change something about yourself if you had the chance? In ¨Flowers for Algernon¨, Charlie Gordon wanted to be smarter. Luckily, he was found by somebody that could help him achieve this goal. Charlie had a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a part of a scientific miracle. The operation helped him to see the world from a different perspective. He was able to realize the cruelty in the world around him. The decision to have the operation made Charlie the happiest that he has ever been. The IQ surgery was a good idea for Charlie, because he had the chance to advance scientific research, he got to see the world in a different way and he had always wanted to be smart. Charlie should have had the surgery, because he was able to advance science. Charlie was a part of a new, rare surgery. If the operation works, many other people can benefit from the results. Charlie writes his progress in a journal. By doing this, his doctors can see how his writing improves. They can also see how he slowly learns to understand things around him. Charlie’s newly found intelligence helps him to create a lab study. The study is called the ¨Algernon- Gordon Effect¨. This report helps to show people how the experiment works. Charlie...
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...Molly Patterson Flowers for Algernon Paper Recreation for Special Populations East Tennessee State University Flowers for Algernon is a short story that has many themes within it. This paper will focus on the theme of the mistreatment of disabled people. The bullying is practiced purposely and accidentally. However, society mistreats anyone who is different and most of the time it happens subconsciously. The main theme of this story is the mistreatment of mentally disabled and even mentally gifted people. Mentally disabled people are mistreated daily just because of their condition. Many cruel people, like the bakery workers in the story, make fun of mentally disabled people just for amusement. Others treat the mentally disabled as inferior and try to help them, but the help they offer is only because they feel superior to the disabled person and view the help as charity. Society in general feels awkward and superior to the mentally disabled due to lack of contact or knowledge of them. Even the main character, Charlie, is unable to show any warmth for the mentally disabled once he gains his knowledge. An example of how society treats people who are different is proven through each person’s level of knowledge. Young children treat mentally disabled kids the same as any other. However as they grow and learn more through society they begin to treat them different. As we have learned in class, society has enough knowledge to know that these people are different but...
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...threatening the "highborn" with a "tragic fall" of cognitive regression..." (Cline 4). He wanted people to feel bad for Charlie and see that the issue wasn’t exactly the disability, rather it was the operation changing how God had made him. “Charlie's return...
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...In the exciting text of Flowers for Algernon, Algernon a lab mouse was undergoing a procedure to get him intellectually advanced. Now, Charlie an intellectually disabled man did the surgery and changed drastically. I strongly believe that Charlie should not have had the surgery for multiple reasons. Many people would think that Charlie made the right decision in doing the surgery for a number of reasons. Charlie’s intelligence was at its peak after the surgery. Being smart had always been Charlie’s life goal: “It was incredible that someone would steal from such a man. There had to be some other explanation. Gimpy had really made a mistake in ringing up the sale, and the half dollar was a tip” (86-87).Charlie’s intellectual growth is allowing him to pick up things that he did not before. Now that he is smarter he can read better and he knew money. He now figures out that Gimpy was stealing from Mr.Donner all this time. He also figured out that Gimpy was using him to get a chance to steal also. Charlie must now decide what to do.” Another reason as to why the surgery was a success was because Charlie started to see the truth about his life: “I guess i was pretty dumb because i believed what people told me. I should not have trusted Hymie or anyone” (55). As Charlie has flashbacks about being bullied when he was younger he realize that he trusts nobody, especially not the guys at the bakery.It finally came to him that they were teasing him and not laughng with him....
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...Unit 1 Title: Flowers for Algernon Suggested Time: 5-7 days (45 minutes per day) Common Core ELA Standards: RL.8.1, RL.8.2, RL.8.3; W8.1, W8.4, W8.9; SL8.1; L.8.1, L.8.2 [Additional Tasks: RI8.8, RI8.9] Teacher Instructions Preparing for Teaching 1. Read the Big Ideas and Key Understandings and the Synopsis. Please do not read this to the students. This is a description for teachers about the big ideas and key understanding that students should take away after completing this task. Big Ideas and Key Understandings: * Students should work through the idea that different levels of intelligence, emotional and intellectual, lead to different types of interactions with people and society. * Students should evaluate moral/ethical decisions of characters. Synopsis A mentally challenged man is presented with an opportunity to have an operation that will triple his intelligence. The story chronicles the journey that he takes as his intelligence progresses and regresses. 2. Read the entire selection, keeping in mind the Big Ideas and Key Understandings. 3. Re-read the text while noting the stopping points for the Text Dependent Questions and teaching Tier II/academic vocabulary. During Teaching 1. Anticipatory Set: Discuss the following questions with students to guide deeper understanding of the main themes of the story: What is intelligence? Can a person ever be too smart? What is meant by the saying “ignorance is bliss”? 2. Students read the...
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...the standards known as right and wrong, and help to guide humans on what they consider to be right and wrong. The story "Flowers for Algernon" is about a thirty two year old man named, Charlie Gordon. Charlie has an IQ of 68, and undergoes a surgery to triple his IQ. Charlie Gordon's doctors did not act ethically when they performed the surgery to make him smarter. Charlie's doctors neglected to inform him of all of the risks involved. The doctors neglected to inform Charlie that his improved IQ could not be permanent, or even that his life would not be the same after the surgery. Charlie was very happy when his IQ got better, but did not seem to understand why his IQ returned to its previous level. One of the first indications that his IQ could return to its previous level, was when Algernon's IQ returned to is original level. According to the article about the five steps to ethical decision making, step one is to gather all of the facts. If Charlie's doctors had done adequate research, they should have found that the results are not always permanent, and quickly...
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...When people finish stories, they are often curious about the film that’s based on the story that they had read. However, most people would be disappointed if the filmmakers had changed some part of the story. In the story “Flowers For Algernon,” and the film “Charly,” Charlie is one example that the filmmakers departed from the story. But, why do filmmakers change stories? What’s the difference between the story and the film, and what would be the opinion toward these changes? The first and the major difference between the story and the film would be the progress report. In the story, Charlie was asked to write a progress report to summarize the events that he had done each day. However, in the film, Charlie wasn’t asked to write any progress reports or do any writing based on his daily life. The filmmakers made this change probably because they wanted to create more time for the significant events since writing and reading the progress report wastes time. On the other hand, the filmmakers might have thought that the progress report would bore the audiences....
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