Name: Class/Period: Study Guide: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes DIRECTIONS: Answer the questions I N COMPLETE SENTENCES on your own paper. Keep these questions in mind as you read Flowers for Algernon : WHAT GIVES A PERSON VALUE? HOW IMPORTANT IS INTELLIGENCE TO ONE S HAPPINESS? Progress Report 1 1. How old would you guess Charlie is from his writing? 2. How old does Charlie tell you he is? GRAMMAR BREAK!! On your own paper, rewrite Charlie s first journal entry using correct spelling and mechanics. Progress Report 2 3. Why do you think the doctors performed the psychological tests on Charlie before they would experiment on him? Progress Report 3 4. What are the doctors asking Charlie to do? 5. Why can Algernon beat Charlie in the maze? Could any mouse beat him? 6. Explain why Charlie s ideas about the Rorschach and Thematic Apperception tests are humorous. Journal for five minutes on your own paper about the following: What aspect of yourself are you most dissatisfied with? If there were an operation available to change it, would you have that operation? How might your life be affected if you did? Progress Report 4 7. What is the significance of a 68 I.Q.? What is an average I.Q.? 8. Algernon s motivation is cheese. What is Charlie s motivation? 9. What s Charlie s perception of why the doctors are for wanting to use Charlie? 10. Does Charlie understand what is going to happen to him? NOTE TAKING : What is the difference between 1 st person narration and an unreliable narrator. Define both terms.
Progress Report 5, March 10 th 11. How do we know Charlie is superstitious? 12. How do we know a black cat is bad luck (INFER)? 13. Is it a good idea for the operation to be done all over the world? (Math problem: look at the difference between current high vs. low IQ, and after the operations difference.) 14. Why does Charlie think Dr. Nemur is a grouch? Journal for five minutes on your own paper: Do you think Charlie made the right decision to have the operation? Would you have made the same decision? Progress Report 6 & 7 15. Do you see any changes in Charlie s journal entries so far? If so, what are they? Progress Report 8 16. How does Charlie feel about his job? 17. So far Algernon looks like he mite be smart perminent. What does this statement imply? 3/25 18. Are Joe and Frank really Charlie s friends? Why does Charlie think they are? 19. How do you and your friends treat people who aren t smart? Do you ever make jokes about people who are different? Give examples. 3/28 20. What kind of changes are you seeing in Charlie s writing? 3/29 21. Is it possible to learn while you sleep? Give reasons for your opinion. 4/3 22. What is the difference between conscious and subconscious? 23. What will happen to Charlie s relationship with Joe and Frank as Charlie gets smarter? 24. Who reads the Progress Reports? Would you tell Charlie about his friends and their intentions? Why or why not? Page 2 of 6
4/6 25. What important event occurred between Algernon & Charlie? What does this event mean in the story and to them? 26. What change do we see in the relationship between Charlie & Algernon? Journal for five minutes on your own paper: Have you ever seen someone get exploited/made fun of and not know? Write about that OR just a time when you saw someone getting picked on because they were different. 4/9 27. Contrast Charlie s conclusion about the picture of Robinson Crusoe to his earlier conclusions. 4/10 28. What has Charlie learned to do? 4/14 29. Why is Why an important question to ask? What does this question show the reader/ audience? 4/15 30. Why is Miss Kinnian worried about Charlie? 4/16 GRAMMAR BREAK!! On your own paper, correct Charlie s passage of 4/16. 4/17 31. Why do you think Charlie doesn t understand punctuation? 4/18 32. Is Charlie learning the same way you and I learn? Explain. 4/20 33. What do you notice about Charlie s punctuation? 34. What is Charlie realizing about his friends? Why is this a big deal? How does he come to this realization? 4/21 35. Why is Mrs. Flynn treating Charlie funny? 36. Why doesn t Charlie know what a Rorschach Test is? 4/22 37. Contrast this Rorschach test to Charlie s previous Rorschach test. Page 3 of 6
4/25 38. Why are people reacting as they are to Charlie now? 4/27 39. What do Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss feel is important in life? 40. What might that mean for Charlie? 4/28 41. What s the possibility Charlie didn t want to think of? 4/30 42. Why do you think the people at the factory have turned against Charlie? 5/15 43. What do you notice about Charlie s perception of the doctors? 44. How is it humorous that Charlie expected the doctors to know Greek, Latin, and Hebrew? 45. What does the look on Dr. Strauss face mean? 5/18 46. How is Charlie handling his new intelligence? Is it making him happier? 47. How has his relationship with Miss Kinnian changed? 5/20 48. Why does Charlie react the way he does in the restaurant? 49. Review and discuss Charlie s realizations in the column of page 333. Does he believe he s better off knowing these things? 50. What theme of the story is becoming evident? JOURNAL: Have you ever had an experience like this where you ve found out after the fact that someone was making fun of you or saying bad things about you? Were you better off when you found out about it? 5/23 51. Why is Algernon s behavior a bad sign for Charlie? 5/24 52. What new behaviors is Algernon exhibiting? What does this mean for Charlie? (Note: What literary element is being represented here?) Page 4 of 6
5/25 53. Why has time suddenly become very important for Charlie? 54. Why would the doctors ask Charlie not to come back to the lab anymore? 5/29 55. What is the problem Charlie has been concerned with all his life? (Write your answer in two forms: the way Charlie says it and in your own words.) 5/31 56. What is Charlie s motivation to keep working at the intensity he is, despite the doctors concerns for him? 6/4 57. What does Charlie believe about the experiment done on him and Algernon? 6/5 58. Try to paraphrase Charlie s hypothesis. (Paraphrase: Restate in your own words by shortening the overall number of words in the original.) 6/10 59. What important event happened in the progress report/ journal entry? How did Charlie react to these events? How would you react? 6/15 60. How is Charlie s deterioration paralleling Algernon s? JOURNAL : Charlie s deterioration appears to be out of his control. How much control do you believe you have over your own life? Over things that happen to you? How does it feel when you don t have control over what happens to you? 6/19 61. What previous event is Charlie referring to? 6/21 62. Is Charlie better off now than before the operation? Why or why not? 6/22 63. Why is Charlie s deterioration so rapid (refer to his hypothesis)? 6/23 64. What has Charlie lost? What does this mean? 6/30 65. Why does Strauss feel guilty? Why does Charlie not throw blame? Page 5 of 6
7/07 66. Why is Charlie thinking about his past so much? What is significant about the nostalgia? 7/10 67. Why is the landlady s comment so hurtful? 68. Why does Charlie still connect with Algernon? 7/14 69. What is the truth about the paycheck? 7/22 70. How has Charlie s Speech Changed? 71. Why does Charlie get mad at the doctor? 7/24 72. In your opinion, should Charlie return to Donnegan s? Why or why not? Explain. 7/25 73. Discuss what happened to Charlie s and Miss Kinnian s relationship and how she might feel about it. 7/27 74. How is Charlie s view of his friends changing again? 7/28 75. What s Charlie s plan for the future? 76. Why is Charlie so concerned about marking Algernon s grave? (Symbolism) 77. What do you think might happen to Charlie? QUESTIONS TO PONDER: PICK Two OF THE FOUR Q S to answer, write 4-5 sentences Was Charlie truly capable of making the decision to have this operation? Was this experiment ethical? (Was the experiment moral/ right or wrong?) Was Charlie better off for having the operation, even if the effects didn t last? Does intelligence have anything to do with happiness? IS ignorance bliss? Page 6 of 6