Flowers for Algernon is a thought provoking short story by Daniel Keyes about a 36 year old man, Charlie Gordon, who had of an unusually low IQ of 68, that left his mind trapped in one similar to a 5 year olds. This lead his life through a rollercoaster of struggles he was desperate to change. He had been offered a surgery that was said to triple his IQ, and give him the “normal” life he always dreamed of. This being said, because this procedure had never been tested on anyone but a mouse, Algernon, the side effect were unknown not to mention unpredictable. After the surgery was performed Charlie went through a period of time with no change, and then within a few days his intelligence immediately skyrocketed, making him so smart his journal entry began to be difficult to understand from all of sophistication in word choice. This all came to an end quickly as his mind soon began to deteriorate as fast as it had grown. Charlie was better off after the surgery and made the right decision by having it done because it gave him insight
Charlie is one of the main characters in “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” by Rod Serling. In the story there 's a science and superstition involved. There 's fears in people 's eyes. Their knowledge of superstition, and their imagination is ruining their lives. The people on Maple Street heard the sound of the roar and the flash of light, and they freaked out. They wonder what caused it. Some people assume it’s probably just a meteor, but some thought it’s an alien or some sort of dangerous creature. There were many great characters throughout the story. However, Charlie stood out the most because he keeps blaming people. Although many people were great characters, Charlie stand out the most because he was
"The Snow Walker " is a tale of adventure and survival. A story about how the main characters are going to survive in Northern Territories of Canada after a plane crash. Set in the 1950s, it features an arrogant white pilot, Charlie Halliday, who was bribed with walrus tusks into taking a sick Inuit girl to a big city hospital. He is an ignorant racist. At the opening scene of the movie, we can see how he scoffed at being called "Brother" by an Inuit. He is sexist and fancy of himself as a man's man. We get the sense that his “girl in every port” lifestyle is driven by a “you only live once” attitude. But things change in a crisis.
Boom! “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” is about an ordinary street that turns from peaceful to chaos, and how easily people can turn on each other. The plot is not realistic in “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” because Les Goodman’s car started on its own in the 1950s, they blamed the power outage on aliens, and Charlie shot Pete Van Horn.
Steve admits to having casual conversations with King when he saw him around. King, a violent criminal with a record, tries to say the he and Steve spoke of the robbery and Steve agreed to participate. However, Steve, a kind hearted, scared young boy with no record, denies ever speaking with King about the robbery. Steve is a good kid who hardly gets into trouble; Steve’s film teacher George Sawicki backs up this fact. Mr. Sawicki defends Steve and Steve’s character on the stand, which helped the jury realize Steve’s innocence. Mr. Sawicki refers to Steve as “talented, bright, and compassionate”. Throughout the book you learn a lot about Steve and one thing you learn is how Steve is just like any other 16 year old. He just wants to grow up regularly and follow his passion, which is making
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. While Charlie was still intelligent, the social part of his life turned against him.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Charles Manson is an American cult leader whose followers carried out several notorious murders in the late 1960s and inspired the book Helter Skelter. Charles Manson is notoriously connected to the brutal slayings of actress Sharon Tate and other Hollywood residents, but he was never actually found guilty of committing the murders himself. However, the famous Tate-La Bianca killings have immortalized him as a living embodiment of evil. Images of his staring "mad eyes" are still used today to illustrate countless serial-murder news stories. The Manson Family—including Charles Manson and his young, loyal dropout disciples of murder—is thought
This quote by Rod Serling, the narrator, depicts how adults can act childish by attempting to find a scapegoat in moments of distress. The narrator, in Rod Serling’s The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street describes a similar exploit when the residents incriminate each other. The characters set in Maple Street undergo tremendous paranoia when a major blackout occurs. Initially the townspeople believe it is a normal blackout. Then, Tommy doubts that what is happening is normal and starts to voice his ideas. As the situation unfurls, the townspeople search for reasons to lay blame. Finding scapegoats becomes obsessive on Maple Street. This “monster” characteristic hides inside each of the Maple Street residents. Uncertainty triggers the “monster” to act in
“Pow pow.” Charlie, you shot pete vanhorn! The monsters are due on maple street is about, aliens shutting out power on an entire street. People start killing each other,and cars starting by themselves. I think the The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street is unrealistic because aliens can not shut off power on a whole street, they can 't start cars, and they would ask who was there before they would shoot.
“The Monsters are Due on Maple Street,” by Rod Serling criticize the people of Maple Street. The teleplay (as we will call “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street”) criticizes the people of Maple Street by saying, “(People shout, accuse, and scream as the lights go on and off. Then, slowly, in the middle of this nightmarish confusion of sight and sound,)” This shows that they are chaotic people at the end of the teleplay. (Remember? That’s what we’re calling it.) And if they are shouting and accusing they aren’t probably very nice, this is called criticism. Also, the teleplay says different things like, “…Ethel Goodman behind him is very frightened.” and “…Then looking around, frightened,” “Charlie is on his porch as a rock thrown from the
The novel Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes effectively explores the complex human experiences of disability and the impact that it has on individuals and society through its three major themes; Self-realisation , Alienation and loneliness and treatment of the mentally disabled by society. Through these themes this response will highlight the difficulties experienced by people with disabilities and the people in their lives.
In the short story, “Flowers for Algernon” written by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon made a disastrous mistake; proceeding with the operation to raise his IQ. The surgery backfired on Charlie in numerous ways. One of the reasons being, Charlie learned that who he thought were his close friends did not appreciate him. Charlie was the first human to ever be tested on; therefore it was bound to fail. Lastly, Charlie was not informed on all of the possible outcomes of the surgery, since he was obviously blindsided by his excitement. Initially, the operation enhanced Charlie’s cognitive and mental abilities.
People like to be different and unique, one wants to stand out. But trying too hard to exclude yourself and separate yourself yourself from the rest of society only leaves you lonely and an outsider. Not being able to connect with people is not “cool”. In the bildungsroman novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky we follow the main character, Charlie, through the beginning of high school. The entire year the readers follow his story we also see how this type of isolation effects Charlie's mental health, and the differences in his mood when he is with his friends and when he is alone. Humans are a social species and we need each other's accompaniment to maintain a stable mental health. Dismiss the notion that being an outSIder is cool
Prologue I had known Charlie Phillips mildly for many years and I spoke with him only if we ran into one another. I had no idea he was even a musician and he rarely spoke with me regarding his personal life-‐ just chitchat and small talk. One day while meeting with some mutual peers, Charlie left the festivity we’d attended and a friend of mine asked me how I knew the great Charlie Phillips. I explained I had been acquainted with him for years. My friend then began telling me about the song “Sugartime” and about some of Charlie’s exploits over his long career. I had no idea as Charlie has always been so humble and would never be seen tooting his own horn so to speak. But the next time I sat down with Charlie, I asked him questions unmercifully and he graciously answered anything I asked him. As I sat and listened, I became enamored by his stories and his fascinating life. I remember clearly asking, “Charlie is there a book I could buy and read about your life?” “I want to know everything,” I said as I awaited his reply. He explained to me that a guy from Europe had once worked on the story of his life, but it’s possible the guy was simply a Buddy Holly souvenir collector and had rummaged through much of Charlie’s extensive collection of photographs and paraphernalia he he’d painstakingly collected throughout his 60 year career and pocketed anything he thought valuable. It took months for me to build up the courage to ask Charlie if “I” could be the man to tell the story of his life. Always the frugal one, Charlie said, “Sure, you can write the story just as long as I don’t have to spend any money out of pocket.” I chuckled a bit and told him he wouldn’t need to spend a dime. The plan was simple. I was going to gather all of the information on Charlie’s life, put together a few decent chapters, and pay to have a few hundred books self-‐published; then move on with my life. How wrong I was in thinking two long careers from an accomplished musician and radio personality could be crammed into a few short months of life. The can of worms opened up quickly when I visited the own of Clovis, New Mexico in 2013 and spoke to the curator of the Norman Petty Studio, Kenneth Broad, who cordially gave me full access to and a private tour of the legendary Norman Petty domain. During Ken and I’s tour, he asked me if I wanted to listen to something cool. Of course I said yes and he expertly slid some reel-‐to-‐reel tapes onto the once state-‐of-‐ the-‐art music recorder. It was one the first cuts of “Sugartime” with Charlie singing loud and proud. When it was over, I nodded and thanked him. He then asked me if I heard the background instruments and singing. I really hadn’t. Ken then told me that the cut he had just played was Charlie Phillips being backed up by Buddy Holly and the Crickets, among others. “Well I never” was all I could input. I sat in Norman’s comfortable chair and stared blankly Ken and the equipment behind him. I didn’t know what to say, after all, I was Charlie’s biographer and I should have known that small tidbit of information before I ever stepped into the studio. But I didn’t. After leaving my grand tour and bidding Ken ado, I quietly loaded my recording equipment and cameras into my truck. I picked up my cell phone and dialed Charlie who was at home in Amarillo, Texas. I explained to Charlie I was at the Norman Petty Studio and had completed a journey down memory lane with Ken Broad. Then I quietly asked him, “Charlie, was Buddy Holly and the Crickets on one of your first cuts of ‘Sugartime’?” “Oh yes”, he timidly explained. Then I asked, “Listen Charlie, you do know I’m writing your biography, right?” “Yes” he said questionably. “Listen Charlie, if Buddy Holly and the Crickets were on your first record, or Elvis and the Beatles dropped over for lunch-‐ well, you really need to tell me about it.” Since that phone conversation, Charlie opened up and began filling me in on any pertinent information. I cannot possibly describe the monumental task of cramming a person’s 80 years of life into a few short chapters. Thinking I was going to spend around six months on this project, I began to have doubts the more information I dug up and the more people I interviewed. I remember saying “holy crap” to myself when I had compiled around 1000 pages of notes and hadn’t even begun to touch the surface of his long career. For fear of this becoming a 5-‐pound coffee table book, I selected just a few stories from Charlie’s and compiled them into this book. With Buddy Holly and the Crickets assisting Charlie on his on “big break” song which landed him a record deal with Coral Records out of New York, to discovering Glen Campbell’s involvement on two of Charlie’s records with Warner Brothers, to following Charlie’s appearances on television and radio shows like the Grand Ole Opry and the Louisiana Hayride, I quickly realized my little six month undertaking was going to turn into monstrous project. And it became just that. Since Buddy Holly’s ill-‐fated death in 1959, music historians have documented every facet of Buddy’s childhood, musical education, career, relationships, finances and death. Some have been researching the star’s life for over 5 decades and have written articles and books extensively covering his life and the life of the Crickets. It was necessary to cover much of Buddy’s lifecycle in this biography and I included as many details as possible; but quite frankly, did not want Buddy’s contributions to detract from the fascinating story of Charlie’s life. There are so many books already written on Holly I only wrote about him where it seemed suitable. I spent painstaking hours chronicling his involvement with Charlie, Decca Records, Coral, Norman Petty and Clovis; however, so much of the information I received can be contradicted depending on the source. For example, several books might state Buddy and the Crickets traveled to a certain location and recorded a specific song on a certain date, but eyewitnesses recount a different story and oftentimes, even the eyewitness accounts differ from each other. Any historians reading Charlie’s version of history might have evidence to substantiate a dissimilar version whereby I welcome irrefutable evidence to the contrary and will include revised versions in future printings of this book. In other words if any of you history buffs have proof I misspoke somewhere in the book, let me know and I’ll fix it. As days and weeks passed, more and more people became involved with this writing and most importantly, the recording of Charlie’s life. I began discovering so many stories told by both country music celebrities and folks who witnessed events as they occurred-‐ many have never been written about until now. Chronicling Charlie’s life story became a harried obsession when I learned that he, at 80 years old, and many of the guys he knew and played with over the years were either dead, getting too old to remember details or were too sick to speak with me regarding past events. Less than two years after beginning this project, I stopped counting the deaths of musicians who simply passed after my initial and sometimes only interview with them. George Jones, Ray Price, Little Jimmy Dickens, Jimmy Young, and Jimmy C. Newman all passed away within a short time of each other. With the passing of each and every soul, the fire under my rear-‐end lit hotter forcing me to chronicle and complete this biography with expediency-‐ after all, if I don’t tell this story, much of the information will be lost forever. Months before finishing this book, tragedy struck. I began experiencing chest pains and recurring heart palpitations. Without going into too many details, my heart had enough and let me know in a rather abrupt way. Already two years into my planned six moth project and six months behind schedule, I had to take a breather and write in my spare time. Often tragedy strikes us at the most inopportune times, but we grind forward and we get the job done. The book you are about to read was written with utmost respect and love, as by the way, it was also a labor of love. There were so many people who offered me stories or advice that I recognized before the book’s completion, I could not possibly write about every story or even every occurrence in Charlie’s long life and career, even if they were the most fascinating tales I had ever heard. So if any stories are excluded from this book, it is probably either intentional or perhaps unintentional and I humbly apologize. Please remember when reading through Charlie’s life story, most everything in this book is the truth, or the truth as a particular individual recalled it. Since many of these stories have never been written about, it was difficult as an author to crosscheck my facts as I simply had few references to check my data with. With that being said, use your judgment and take some of the stories to heart and others with a grain of salt. Many of the “old farts” I interviewed-‐ their words not mine-‐ truly enjoyed telling me their accounts of Charlie and his contribution to the music industry, and whether or not their accounts were wholly accurate, at the very least they told a whopper of a good story and isn’t that after all what makes Texas so great? To this day, I don’t know what really happened at the Alamo; in fact historians still debate it today. I just know the Texans were outgunned, outmanned, struggled, sacrificed and fought like hell in an attempt to defeat Santa Anna and his troops. “Remember the Alamo!” would be the battle cry when Sam Houston and his troops later confronted and defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. “Remember Sugartime!” will be this book’s motto. Any man who can continuously play country, western swing and rockabilly music to adoring audiences for over six decades while simultaneously: recording hundreds of songs, being a number one radio personality, performing on television and radio, performing thousands of live gigs, writing a number one tune and dozens of other songs, winning a gold record, becoming a real estate investor, being loved and admired by countless fans, well, that guy deserves to be remembered. It’s my hope you enjoy reading the story of Charlie’s life as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. Without further ado, I give you a big Texas YeeHaw!
Charlie and Morrie are alike in many ways. Morrie and Charlie are both very kind/nice people. Morrie is friends with everyone and is never rude about anything. The news reporters are always at his house and he constantly has to deal with them. He also finds the good in everything, including death and will talk about absolutely anything and be fine with it. Charlie on the other hand, doesn’t really understand if someone is being rude to him. He is always nice to his co-workers even though they aren’t nice to him. He also is very nice to his doctors. He never gets mad about anything even when he loses to Algernon. In conclusion Charlie and Morrie are both very kind/nice people, because Morrie constantly has to deal with news reporters and caretakers