Study Guide Answer Key

Flowers for Algernon

1. Describe Daniel Keyes characterization of Charlie in Flowers for Algernon. See Charlie Chart

2. List the themes in FFA. Be able to support the themes with text evidence.
-All people deserve respect. How strange it is that people of honest feelings and sensibility, who would
not take advantage of a man born without arms or legs or eyes-how such people think nothing of
abusing a man born with low intelligence. It infuriated me to think that not too long ago I, like this boy,
had foolishly played the clown.
-Never give up. Im taking a cuple of books along and even if I cant reed them Ill practise hard and
maybe I wont forget every thing I lerned. If I try reel hard maybe Ill be a little bit smarkter then I was
before the operashun.
-The grass isnt always greener on the other side. Once again now I have the feeling of shame burning
inside me. This intelligence has driven a wedge between me and all the people I once knew and
loved.
-Appreciate what you have. If you ever reed this Miss Kinnian dont be sorry for me Im glad I got a
second chanse to be smart becaus I lerned a lot of things that I never even new were in this world and
Im grateful that I saw it all for a littel bit.
-Ignorance is bliss.


3. Describe the relationship between Charlie and his co-workers. Charlie and Miss Kinnian. Charlie
misinterprets his co-workers who laugh at Charlie. Charlie thinks they are his friends and are
laughing with him, not at him. After surgery, Charlie realizes his coworkers were making fun of him
and he felt lonely and had no friends. When Charlie begins to regress, he goes back to the factory
and his coworkers no longer laugh at him because they hear what he is going through. His friends
now stick up for him. Ms. Kinnian is fond of Charlie and his motivation to learn to read and write.
She recommends the doctors to operate on Charlie. After the surgery, Charlie and Ms. Kinnian go
out to dinner and she realizes that he is too intelligent for her and he feels he cant communicate
her. At the end of the story she comes to visit him but he doesnt want to see her anymore because
he doesnt want her to feel sorry for him or laugh at him the way he was then.

4. What is Charlies reaction to the scene in the diner where the dishwasher boy drops the dishes?
What is the significance of his reaction? Charlie starts to laugh at the boy with the others in the
restaurant until he realizes he sees himself in the boy. This is the turning point where he realizes he
was just like him and people made fun of him. He decides to pursue the research to help others in
the same predicament.






5. How does Charlie change throughout the story?
Pre-Surgery Post-Surgery Deterioration
He has low intelligence and
simple learning skills.
Charlies IQ triples and he pushes
himself to keep learning.
Charlie begins to forget things,
he is regressing quickly and
forgetting the last things he has
learned first.

6. Why do the doctors choose Charlie for the operation? They choose Charlie because he shows great
motivation- motivation to learn and improve. The doctors say that he has a good nature, hes
interested and eager to please.

7. What is the point of view of FFA? How does the author, Daniel Keyes, develop this point of view?
Point of view is First Person. Keyes develops this point of view by showing Charlies eagerness to
please others and determination and motivation to become smart.
8. What are the main internal and external conflicts in FFA? How are these conflicts resolved? Main
internal conflict- Charlie struggles with his low intelligence and his desire to become smart. It is
eventually resolved when he decides to move away knowing that he did something important for
science. He doesnt know what that something is but understands that he tried and contributed to
the experiment they best he could. Main external conflict- Charlie

9. What is the tone of FFA? Admiration


Life in Letters and Travels with Charley
1. What is Steinbecks purpose in both Life in Letters and Travels with Charley? Is his purpose
different? To entertain and inform, Purpose is different.
2. How does Steinbeck develop his style? Does his word choice and sentence structure change?
He develops his style by using figurative language and sensory details and he varies his
sentences lengths and tone. Style does change between the different experts. Letters is
conversational and a conscious stream of thought (informal) while Travels with Charlie is
formal.
3. What is the tone of Steinbecks pieces? Positive in both; Letters-loving towards his wife.
Travels-changes throughout, starts ominous and uneasy, towards the end becomes peaceful
and content. He uses some humor.
4. What is the significance of Steinbecks interactions with Charley in both of the texts? He is
reflecting his own thoughts with the dialogue with Charley.
5. What short story elements does Steinbeck use and not use in the texts? Uses figurative
language. Does not use suspense.
6. List examples of fiction and non-fiction. FFA fiction, Travels with Charlie and Life in
Letters-Non-Fiction.


Subjective/Objective

__S__1. It had become fashionable among alpine cognoscenti to denigrate Everest as a slag heap, a
peak lacking sufficient technical challenge . . . to be a worthy objective for a serious climber, which I
desperately aspired to be.

__S__ 2. To a certain extent, climbers shopping for an Everest expedition get what they pay for.

__O__ 3. I climbed my first mountain in the company of my dad, Unsoeld, and his oldest son, Regon, a
few months before Unsoeld departed for Nepal.

__S__ 4. Even before last seasons calamitous outcome, the proliferation of commercial expeditions was
a touchy issue.

__O__ 5. For a great many climbers, the record shows, stealing time away from the daily grind has not
been an insurmountable obstacle, nor has the hefty outlay of cash.






Punctuating Dialogue
Correct the following sentences by inserting correct punctuation.
1. "What are we supposed to do?" asked the student who had been sleeping in Mrs. Street's
class.
Put quotation marks around direct quotations of words spoken aloud.
Use a comma, a question mark, or an exclamation point (never a period) to separate
a quotation from the rest of the sentence.
2. Steinbeck said that he made the trip across America to get back in touch with America.
Do not use quotation marks for an indirect quotationa rewording of a direct
quotation.
3. Henry David Thoreau humorously said, "Beware of all enterprises that require new
clothes."
Use a comma, a question mark, or an exclamation point (never a period) to separate
a quotation from the rest of the sentence.
Put quotation marks around direct quotations of words spoken aloud.
Begin a quoted sentence with a capital letter.
4. "What is important," said Mr. Robertson to the students helping to build the set for the
school play, "is that it stands up safely throughout the performances."
Put quotation marks around direct quotations of words spoken aloud.
Begin a quoted sentence with a capital letter.
Use a comma, a question mark, or an exclamation point (never a period) to separate
a quotation from the rest of the sentence.
When the expression identifying the speaker interrupts a quoted sentence, the
second part of the quotation begins with a lower case letter.
5. The language arts teachers all said to their students, "Don't forget you have a test on
October 8."
Put quotation marks around direct quotations of words spoken aloud.
Use a comma, a question mark, or an exclamation point (never a period) to separate
a quotation from the rest of the sentence.
Begin a quoted sentence with a capital letter.


Punctuation
Correct the following sentences by inserting commas, semi-colons, and colons.

1. The language arts test next week will cover material that includes these things: Flowers
for Algernon, literary elements, sentence structure, punctuation, Steinbeck: A life in
Letters, and Travels with Charley.
Use a colon before a list of items, especially after expressions like as follows or the
following.
Use commas to separate items in a series. Be sure to insert a comma before the
conjunction that precedes the last item unless your teacher or style manual
specifically tells you to exclude them.
2. Mrs. Gambill says that she wants to use technology to do fun things; therefore, she wants
to develop a robot that can be a combination pet and servant.
Use a semi-colon before the conjunctive adverb (such as however and therefore) that
joins two independent clauses. Be sure to put a comma after the conjunctive adverb.
3. Ms. Sturm asked the class to write an essay on the following theme of the story: The
grass isnt always greener on the other side.
Use a colon before a long, formal statement or quotation.
4. Ms. Irons wants to travel to Morocco, Spain; Rome, Italy; Paris, France; and London,
England.
Use a semi-colon to separate the items in a series when these items contain commas.
Use commas to separate items in a series. Be sure to insert a comma before the
conjunction that precedes the last item unless your teacher or style manual
specifically tells you to exclude them.
5. Mrs. Deal got very wet going to her trailer when it rained last week; she forgot her
umbrella, her raincoat, and her rain boots that day.
Use a semi-colon in place of the comma and conjunction to separate the two
independent clauses in a compound sentence.
Use commas to separate items in a series. Be sure to insert a comma before the
conjunction that precedes the last item unless your teacher or style manual
specifically tells you to exclude them.