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Flowers For Algernon Research Paper

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What would happen if it were possible to increase a person's intelligence? According to his autobiography, Algernon, Charlie, and I: A Writer's Journey, that was the question a college-aged Daniel Keyes, the author of Flowers for Algernon, asked himself one crisp April morning as he boarded the train to school (17). That same thought would then blossom into his critically-acclaimed story Flowers for Algernon, which was developed into a full length novel, a television feature, a movie, and a musical (Slotnik). However, Keyes did not create this story in a vacuum. There are many events in his life that aided his journey to becoming a writer. These, events, therefore, can be found in his stories, including Flowers for Algernon. Keyes' experience …show more content…

He obtained the job after going to college at Brooklyn University ( “Flowers,” Novels 45). At his new job, Keyes taught creative writing, as well as two classes of special modified English for low I.Q. students. According to Literature and its Times, it was during this period that Keyes wrote the first draft of Flowers for Algernon (151). However Keyes had trouble figuring out how to portray his main character. The idea for Charlie Gordon came from a student in Keyes' class. While he was teaching one of his modified classes, one of his students asked him, “If I [try] hard and I get smart by the end of the term, will you put me in a regular class? I want to be smart” (Keyes, Algernon 98). With that question, the boy in Keyes' class opened his teacher's eyes to possibilities he never thought before. It was at this moment that Keyes realized that a developmentally challenged person could be aware of their limitations and might want to be more intelligent. He connected this idea with the question he had so many years ago: What would happen if it were possible to increase a person's intelligence? Keyes' answer to this question was Flowers for Algernon. Various parts of Flowers for Algernon allude to Keyes' young student, and support that fact that he influenced Daniel

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He experiences, psychotic behavior, convulsions, paranoia, and more, Leonard eventually goes back to the catatonic state he was in towards the beginning of the film and eventually passes away. As Well as in Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon after the surgery Charlie was using big words and, his IQ was very high, but he started to rapidly decline towards the end of the story and eventually says he is "going away" which can be inferred as the after life and/or death. It can be understood that although the results of both treatments were good at first, the long term effects were not well known and neither of characters had good long term outcomes. A third connection between Algernon's Flowers and the film's awakening is the similarity of medical ethics issues. On page 270 of Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Doctors Nemur and Strauss fail to tell Charlie what the operation is, nor does Charlie have any sort of ability to understand what is happening to him.

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The setting of “Flowers for Algernon” takes place in New York during the 1960s where people with mental disabilities were treated unfairly. Even though Charlie and Max persevered through similar situations, Charlie had a different personality. Unlike Max, Charlie was innocent, extroverted, and naive. We know this because Keyes presented in the book, “Everybody laffed and we had a good time and they gave me lots of drinks and Joe said Charlie is a card when he is potted”(Keyes 40). With Charlie being outspoken, he was able express in a positive manner what he was feeling and believed.

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In the short story “ Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes and the movie “Charly” have many differences and similarities. The short story and movie are about a guy named Charly Gordon. Charly is mentally challenged but has a operation later on. Here are a few examples about the comparison and contrast. In the short story Charly has a friendship with Miss. Kinnian.

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Flowers for Algernon Essay In the story Flowers for Algernon scientists found a way of increasing intelligence. In this story the main character is Charlie Gordon who has problems retaining knowledge. He was offered a surgery to increase his intelligence.

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His inspiration for writing the book arose from a previous discussion with his parents, about dropping out from med-school, in order to achieve his dream of becoming an author; to which his parents did not agree. Keyes strong arguments toward this book and against his parents claimed that his “education [was] driving a wedge between [him] and the people [he] loved” (Keyes, Interview). The intrigues of the book’s topic began with a single question: “What would happen if it were possible to increase a person’s intelligence?” (Keyes 1999, 16). Subsequently, ideas took off from there, using his medical school professors taking roles on the book as Professor Strauss and Nemur.

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Unlocking Knowledge and discovering the impact it can have on someone’s life and society is shown through Charlie Gordon in the book Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes,is about a man named Charlie Gordon with an IQ of 68. He gets an experimental surgery that makes him smarter. Flowers for Algernon is written as a bunch of progress reports that Charlie wrote throughout the process of the surgery. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes uses tone and literary devices to convey how powerful knowledge is and how it can change people in American society & culture. One of the main themes in the book is how strong knowledge is and how it can change someone’s life.

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There is an important theme in the story Flowers for Algernon By Daniel Keyes. It is a fiction novel about a thirty year old man who has been battling to overcome an intellectual deficit all of his life and has an opportunity to become more intelligent than he ever had imagined through an experimental operation. He takes the opportunity and in a few weeks he becomes a genius for a short time before his itelligence receded as fast as it increased. The author includes many important themes throughout the passage. Daniel Keyes develops the theme that intelligence doesn’t affect who you truly are through Charlie’s experiences both before and after the operation.

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“Flowers for Algernon” Argumentative Essay Charlie Gordon should not have had the surgery because of the tragic outcomes. While Daniel Keyes in “Flowers for Algernon” portrayed hope of a mentally impaired man, the procedure failed with overwhelming results. First, Charlie realized that the society had turned against him when he gained the mental capability. Then, both Dr. Namur and Dr. Strauss sacrificed Charlie as a human experiment. Lastly, while Charlie still obtained knowledge, he understood the failure of the surgery.

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“Flowers for Algernon” Persuasive Essay Have you ever wondered what it would be like making yourself smarter and/or increase your ability to learn? In the story “Flowers for Algernon”, a 37 year old man named Charlie Gordon wasn’t the smartest person in the world but, he was able to function and maintain a job. Charlie had an I.Q. of 68 before being approached by Dr.Nemur and Dr.Strauss. They wanted him undergo a surgery that would triple his I.Q. Charlie had the surgery and became, at one point, the smartest man in the world with an I.Q. approaching 210. After this he began to lose the intelligence, knowledge, and emotions he just recently gained.

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The novel Flowers of Algernon by Keyes have one major thematic augments which we shall discuss in this paper. The thematic augment is about the mistreatment of the people who are mentally disabled (Yal 7-14). The fictional idea in the novel of falsely diminishing or augmenting intelligence has enabled Keyes to be able to provide a portrayal of the society telling or showing how the mentally disabled are mistreated. After Charlie has been operated he becomes more intelligent and he transforms effectively from the known man who is mentally retarded and becomes a genius. It’s during this period when he realizes that the people in the society have been having attitudes

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The Keyes-Robertson Effect While the short story, "Flowers for Algernon", written by Daniel Keyes and the movie, Charly, directed by Cliff Robertson, are similar but their distinctions set them apart. These two memoirs share identical conflicts and themes. However, the plot, resolution, setting, and characterization drastically clash between the two versions. As a result, both of these renditions provide the audience with a variety of resemblances and distinctions. The tales, "Flowers for Algernon" and Charly, share two main literary elements which are discussed throughout the story.

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“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination,”(Einstein). Most people do not realize grades do not measure intelligence and age does not define maturity. The short story, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, is about a thirty-seven year old man named Charlie Gordon. He is a mentally disabled man who has an IQ of 68. As the subject of an experiment in human engineering, Charlie earns artificial intelligence that triples his IQ to 200; but this action came with more costs than benefits.

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Flowers for Algernon explores themes of ethical dilemmas in scientific research. Charlie Gordon is the first human to undergo an experimental operation to triple his IQ from 68 to 204. His mental capacities dramatically increase, but the consequences are drastic when the operation fails and he regresses. Under Charlie’s circumstances, the operation was unethical. Charlie, mentally disabled, cannot give informed consent.

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