“Flowers for Algernon” By Daniel Keyes

Literary Analysis (What you need to know) Basic plot Subplots Parallel Episodes Foreshadowing Vocabulary

Basic Plot Charlie discovers the Algernon-Gordon Effect Charlie gets smarter, reads books Charlie loses his intelligence Charlie wants to get smart Charlie moves away Charlie has an operation

SUBPLOTS Minor plot lines or stories that relate to the major story

Major Story: Charlie has an operation to get smart Subplot #1: Charlie and Algernon Subplot #2: Charlie and Miss Kinnian Subplot #3: Charlie and the doctors Subplot #4: Charlie and the factory workers

Charlie and Algernon Algernon bites Charlie They race more, and Charlie finally wins Algernon dies, and Charlie puts flowers on his grave Algernon regresses Charlie and Algernon have the same operation They race the “amazed”

Charlie and Miss Kinnian At dinner, Charlie realizes that he’s smarter than Miss Kinnian Charlie gets smarter; Miss K. tutors him Charlie loses his intelligence Charlie is in Miss Kinnian’s class Charlie accidently goes to her class Charlie has an operation

Charlie and the doctors Charlie takes over the doctor’s research Charlie gets smarter, reads books Charlie asks the doctor to publish his article Charlie wants to be part of the experiment Charlie becomes like he was before the operation Charlie has an operation

Charlie and the factory workers Charlie works as a janitor and has friends at work Charlie has the operation

PARALLEL EPISODES Repeated elements of plot “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” “Not by the hair on my chinny, chin, chin.” “Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow this house in!” This exact thing happens _____ times in the story!

Parallel Episodes in “Flowers” Taking the Rorschach Test Algernon and the “amazed” Factory workers get Charlie drunk Any others ???

Foreshadowing Clues in the story of what will happen later

What clues tell us that Charlie’s surgery won’t last forever? What does Progress Report 1 say?

How are Algernon’s and Charlie’s futures linked? What happens to Algernon foreshadows what may happen to Charlie.

What do you think becomes of Charlie after the story ends What do you think becomes of Charlie after the story ends? Why do you think that?

Why is Algernon so important to Charlie?