Lit.+Doc,+Portable+Phonograph

[] __Short Stories - Literary Devices__ __Title: The Portable Phonograph__ Point of View: 3rd Person Limited Omniscient

Protagonist: Doctor Jenkins

What type of character is the Protagonist? He is a round but static character

Antagonist: The Musician/ Environment

Describe the setting “Time: The future, after a devastating world war. Four Men Have gathered for a special occasion- a ceremonial rite from the past. Before the night is over, these men will come to know the finest and worst instincts of human nature.” The place is somewhere in the Prairie. It’s fall, before the first snowfall but its still quite cold. The story takes place in a cavern like dugout Type of Conflict: Man vs Society/ Man vs. Himself

Describe the main conflict: In opinion the main conflict is the tension and distrust between the main character and the musician.

Describe the Climax of the Story: The climax was at the very end when Dr. Jenkins stood outside listening for the musicians cough before hiding his possessions

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? The protagonist doesn’t really seem to change although towards the end Clarke reveals his distrust: a sad statement about humanity and human nature

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The portable phonograph reflects the main image of the story. It is the symbol of all things lost, and though it should be something that unify the survivors, instead disloyalty and trust show, ( the musician waiting, Dr. Jenkins hiding his stuff and holding the pipe...) <span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? <span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The main conflict illustrates the theme by revealing the tension between the characters and how evn though they may be suspicious of eachother at some level, human contact is important and so Dr. Jenkins continues to invite the group, despite the fact that he has made precautions and is easily ready to turn on any member, if threatened. <span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? <span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #000000; font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The climax is the very end before Dr. Jenkins goes to bed. The explanation of Dr. Jenkins paranoia shows how little he trusts the musician, and also how simple it would be to return to how the world was before the war. It shows how the war was caused by aspects of humanity, that seem to be everlasting. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):__

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Simile: <span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">These pits were such as might have been made by falling meteors, but they were not

<span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Metaphor: The individual delectable presences swept into a sudden tide of unbearably beautiful; dissonance, and then continued fully the swelling and ebbing of that tide- This is a comparison of the music to waves and the sea.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Personification : <span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">crept the narrow and deeply rutted remains of a road.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Symbol: The Dugout that Dr. Jenkins lives in is a symbol for how much the remaining of the human are reverting back to a primal nature, without grand architecture or hedonistic pleasures

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Foreshadowing (give both elements): The discriptive background explained in great detail at the start of the story, telling of the craters in the earth and geese leaving, inn my opinion foreshadows the state of which the surviving humans live.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Irony: I think that the characters use the portable phonograph to escape their horrific memories of war. The main irony I found is that in their group, they have created a micro beginning of a war, with the musician retuning with suspicious intent and Dr. Jenkins being overly paranoid.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Imagery: <span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There was also, just visible, one portion of tangled and multiple barbed wire still erect

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In my opinion the phonograph is a link back to their humanity, as the way that they are living is primitive, and becoming even more so in as shot a time as the story covers. It seems that towards the end of the story the musician returns to steal the phonograph, showing his utter selfishness. Even if he did not return Dr. Jenkins response shows that he is untrusting and paranoid. There is irony in this cataclysm, for aspects of their humanity are those which ignite wars, like the one that they are all trying to forget. ** 1. When is the story set? What has recently happened? Support your opinion with details from the story. ** The story is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, after a massive war. The winter is near and geese are flying down south. Trenches and burrows are dug into the ground, and tracks from tanks are imprinted onto the muddy ground. ** 2. What is the purpose of the men’s meeting? Why does the author compare the unwrapping of the book bundle to ceremonial rite? **  The purpose is to reminisce about days before war took over and destroyed almost everything they had. Dr. Jenkins was sharing his most prized possessions and his knowledge, and unwrapping the books was like a ceremony with trust and faith. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> ** 4.a) What do you think is the significance of Dr. Jenkins clutching the lead pipe at the end?  **    I think that it signifies how paranoid and Dr. Jenkins has become, but at the same time it does make sense, and i would even say that he is right to be paranoid, as it is implied that the musician returns. It also shows a microcosm, as the tension and possible fighting to come is essentially a small scale war, which is exactly hat the men are so against.    **  b) What do you think might happen next? Discuss using inferences from the story. ** I think that Dr. Jenkins and the musician will fight over the phonograph, as it says that Dr. Jenkins hears a cough, and the musician had a cold. The musician also wanted the music to return, as he had forgotten what the music had sounded like. In the end the musician would be wounded or even dead.
 * 3. What is the significance of the books that were saved? ** Why are there no recent works of fiction included? The books that were saved were important because they were the books that were first. They were the books that survived the test of time, with underlying themes that would be cherished for years to come. I think that they were also books that brought hope. A vital component to surviving the long days of cold winter.

<span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4 questions? <span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Completion 3/5Effort 3/5Content 3/5questions 0/8 <span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">total 9/23