1. Daily Journal Response Questions
Flowers for Algernon
Daily Journal Response Questions

2. Preview the Story
IQ Test: noun a psychometric test of intelligence Intelligence Quotient
Rorschach Test: –noun Psychology. a test for revealing the underlying personality structure of an individual by the use of a standard series of 10 inkblot designs to which the subject responds by telling what image or emotion each design evokes.

3. What Do You See?

4. Now What Do You See?

5. Preview Questions
What does mentally challenged mean? Do you know anyone who is mentally challenged? Explain how you know them or know of them.
Imagine...you woke up tomorrow and realized you had become a genius. What would your initial reaction be? What might the reaction of your family and friends be?
What drawbacks would there be if you became a genius overnight?

6. Journal Entry #1 Progress Report 1 – Progress Report 6 (pgs. 33-37)
Words to Know (Unfamiliar Words-choose 3)
Ink Blot
Fountain Pen
Summary- 1 paragraph
Questions of the Day- choose 1 and write 1 paragraph
Identify the differences between the tests Miss Kinnian gives Charlie and the Rorschach test.
How does the author reveal Charlie is a highly motivated person?
Based on what I have read today, these are my inferences about what will happen to Charlie.

7. Journal Entry #2 Progress Report 5 – April 15 (pgs. 37-42)
Words to Know (choose these or your own)
Subconscious
Conscious
Potted
Summary- 1 paragraph
Questions of the Day- choose 1 & write a paragraph
What may Charlie’s negative remarks suggest about the success of his operation?
Explain what “pulling a Charlie Gordon” is.
Describe Charlie’s relationship with his co-workers.

8. Journal Entry #3 April 16 – April 28 (pgs. 43-47)
Words to Know (choose these or your own)
Psychology
Plateau
Photostatted
Feeble
Summary- 1 paragraph
Questions of the Day-choose 1 and write 1 paragraph
Describe a time or an event in your life that resulted in you feeling smarter.
Why is Charlie’s use of punctuation humorous? Describe Charlie’s attitude toward learning.
What changes do you see in Charlie since his intelligence is increasing? How does he see himself? Others?
Why do Charlie’s co-workers suddenly seem frightened of him?

9. Journal Entry #4 April 28 – May 20 (pgs. 48-52)
Words to Know (choose these or your own)
Opportunist
Shrew
Sensation
Tangible
Specialization
Absurd
Summary- 1 paragraph
Questions of the Day-choose 1 and write 1 paragraph
Why is Miss Kinnian worried about Charlie?
Why has Mr. Donegan asked Charlie to leave his job?

10. Journal Entry #5 May 20 –June 5 (pgs. 53-57)
Words to Know (choose these or your own)
Catcalls
Vacant
Vacuous
Naïveté
Illiteracy
Summary- 1 paragraph
Questions of the Day-choose 1 and write 1 paragraph
How do the customers in the diner behave similarly to Charlie’s co-workers?
Charlie is upset when he realized that he unknowingly laughed at himself. What does Charlie mean by this? How did he laugh at himself?
Has reading this story altered the way you would act in the future if you witnessed people making fun of a mentally challenged individual?
What changes have occurred in Algernon? What do these changes suggest might happen later in the story?

11. Journal Entry #6 June 5 – July 28 (pgs. 58-62)
Words to Know (choose these or your own)
Regression
Impair
Syndrome
Statistically
Hypothesis
Proportional
Introspective
Summary- 1 paragraph
Questions of the Day-choose 1 and write 1 paragraph
Charlie says he will “fight it” (pg. 58). What is he fighting and what does this tell you about Charlie’s character?
How do you know that Charlie’s condition has worsened since his last progress report?
Why is Charlie moving away from New York? What do you think will happen to Charlie?
Why do you think Charlie put flowers on Algernon’s grave?
Now that we have completed the story, do you feel this experiment should have been done on a human being? Explain.