The+Portable+Phonograph

[]

Short Stories - Literary DevisesTitle:__The Portable Phonograph____﻿__

__Point of View:__ Third person.

__Protagonist(s):__ Dr. Jenkins and the 3 men

__What type of character is the Protagonist?__ The protagonists were static and round characters. __Antagonist:__ The environment that the men live in, which comes across as an obstcle in the story because of the war.

__Describe the setting:__ The setting is in a weathered away area in the middle of winter. It's a beautiful place that has been destroyed by war, and now small parts of what used to be there are trying to come back. There are little signs of life, for example, there is barely a road. Winter is going to come soon because the geese were flying south and snow was on its way. The story starts off during sunset and gradually progresses into the evening, the mood is calm, at first. Later, the mood changed into despair and hope, as well as pain and longing for what was in the past.

__Type of Conflict:____﻿__ Man vs. Environment

__Describe the main conflict:__ The main conflict was the fact that they were trapped and were limited as to what they had to survive.They couldn't go anywhere or contact anyone for help and all they had to stay in touch with humanity which was each other, music and books. They were all struggling to survive on what they had left.

__Describe the Climax of the Story:__ The climax of the story was between the time where Dr.Jenkins heard the muffled coughing up until he clutched onto the lead pipe. This part of the story built up a lot of suspense and interest, nothing new was revealed and the reader anticipates what is going to happen next.

__How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story?__ They become more appreciative for what they were able to keep from their past life, they are willing to take more risks to get as many sources of humanity as possible. They are more protective over what they have and some of them find that they want something that they don't have. __Describe the relationship between the title and the theme.__ The title "The Portable Phonograph" and the theme preserving humanity are related because the phonograph in the story did preserve humanity, in a way. The phonograph was able to play something from the past for future generations to hear, therefore preserving music. It was also able to keep humanity going for the 4 men, so the portable phonograph had a huge part in keeping their humainty alive.

__How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme?__ The main conflict of the men being trapped and cut off from humanity, and the theme of preserving humanity are related because the men have no choice but to really keep what they have left from their generation. This illustrated preserving humanity because without keeping what they had, they wouldn't have been able to survive for that long. Even if a conflict can arise from some people having more resources for a connection to humanity than others, it was important to establish some sort of connection to keep in touch with their past lives.

__How does the climax help to illustrate the theme?__ The climax, when Dr.Jenkins hears the cough up until where he grips onto the lead pipe, illustrates the theme of preserving humanity because it shows the lengths people would go to, in order to preserve their humanity and save it from getting lost. It shows how much they care about one simple thing and that they wouldn't be able to survive, if they were to lose that.

__Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):__

__Simile:__ "The red sunset, with narrow, black cloud strips like threats..."Compares the black clouds to threats. "He was like a prehistoric priest..." Compares Dr.Jenkin to a prehistoric preist. " 'My brain becomes thick, like my hands' " One character compares his brain to his hands.

Metaphor: "...the violence of the upper air." Air can't literally be violent. "...crept the narrow and deeply rutted remains of the road." The remains of the road can't actually creep. "...expansive blizzards paraded..." Blizzards can't really parade.

Personification: "...where the firelight might fall upon it" Gives firelight the quality of falling. "...notes tinkled forth from..." musical notes cannot tinkle forward. "The individual delectable presences swept into..." The presence of each sound can't sweep.

Symbol: "...mud still bore the toothed impress of great tanks" and "...the darker shadows of young trees trying again" can symbolize an area that has been hit by war but is slowly renewing itself and reconvering. "In the bank above it was a dug out sort of cell..." symbolizes that the men living in the cell must be hiding from something. Foreshadowing (give both elements): Subtle- "The musician rose last, but the abruptly, and went quickly out the door..." Foreshadows that something is going to happen with the musician and that something is wrong. Direct- "he could feel with his hands, the comfortable piece of lead pipe." Foreshadows that he is going to need to defend himself because someone is going to try to break in.

Irony: It's ironic in the story when the musician wants to hear the music the most, for exmaple he says "The young man, however, said anxiously, between supressed coughs, 'oh, please,' like an excited child." which shows his enthusiasm for wanting to hear the music. However, when the music is played, the musician is the one who is most pained by it, for example is says "...he let his head fall back on agony, as if it were drawn there by hair..." showing how affected he was by the music, even though he was the one who wanted to hear it the most.

Imagery: "The red sunset, with narrow, black cloud strips like threats across it, lay on the curved horizon of the prairie. The air was still and cold, and it settled the mute darkness and greater cold of the night." This paints the picture of a quiet, calm sunset, where the sky is slowly turning black.

Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. The relationship between the class theme of "humanity" and the story is that the story shows how important our humanity is to us. The men were willing to do anything to keep that last, small fragment of humanity that they had left. Humanity is what keeps people sane and what makes everyone a part of society. In this story, that was clearly shown because the men were mainly surviving off of the sources of humanity and the outside world that they had kept.

Responding Questions:

1. When is this story set? What has recently happened? Support your opinion with details from the story. __The story was set sometime in the early 1900's because they are using a phonograph to play music. Phonograph's only came out in 1877 an were used to play music until the 1980's. A war has recently happened because you can tell by the description of the environment that they are in. For example, the story says "The frozen mud still bore the toothed impress of great tanks..." and "They were the scars of giganic bombs..." tells the reader that their location has recently been used as a battlefield. __

2. What is the purpose of the men's meeting? Why does the author compare the unwrapping of the book bundle to a ceremonial rite?

__The purpose of the men's meeting is to keep them connected to the only source of humanity that they have left. The author compares the unwrapping of a book budle to a ceremonial rite because the men are watching Dr.Jenkins with such awe and wonder that anyone might think that they could be watching a ceremony.__

3. What is the significance of the books that were saved? Why are there no recent works of fiction included?

__The significance of the saved books is that they are another small tie to what the men have left of their humanity. The books represent the world outside of them and possibly who they once were. No recent works of fiction are included because the story is set in the past and not in the present.__ 4.a) What do you think is the significance of Dr.Jenkins clutching the lead pipe at the end of the end of the story? __When Dr.Jenkins clutches the lead pipe at the end of the story, it shows that he is prepared for what he thinks is going to happen next. He is willing to do anything to keep what he has left of his humanity. It shows his protection over what he cares about and what is keeping him sane.__ b) What do you think might happen next? Use references form the story.__ I think that the musician will come into Dr.Jenkins cell next because the end of the story said "... he heard what he had been listening for, a sound of suppressed coughing." which means he can hear the musician because the musician was sick and kept on coughing. However, i do not think that the musician will try to steal anything or hurt Dr.Jenkins. I feel that he will look around, but won't be tempted to take anything from him, at first. However, he might come back in another time and try to steal things, because he knows that Dr.Jenkins is still inside.

Completion 5/5 Effort 5/5 Content 5/5 Questions 8/8 Total 23/23 ||  ||
 * ||||  ||   ||   || ===Portable Phonograph - Slideshow===

14/16
 * CATEGORY || 4 || 3 || 2 || 1 ||
 * Content ||  All required slides complete with insightful responses and support || All required slides. Responses are adequate but may not be fully supported. || May be missing 1-3 slides and information is cursory and not fully supported. || Missing more than 3 slides and content is inaccurate. ||
 * Citations || All citations are present and in the proper format. ||  All citations are present however there are 1-3 errors in format. || Missing 1-3 citations. || Missing more than 3 citations. ||
 * <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: arial,verdana,tahoma; font-size: 11pt;">Images || <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: arial,verdana,tahoma; font-size: 9pt;">All images are relevant and add significant incite to the meaning of the text. All images are clear and unpixelated. || <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: arial,verdana,tahoma; font-size: 9pt;"> Most images are relevant and add incite into the meaning behind the text. || <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: arial,verdana,tahoma; font-size: 9pt;">1-5 Images have no clear connection to the text and some images are pixelated. || <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: arial,verdana,tahoma; font-size: 9pt;">Several images (more than 5) have no clear connection to the text. ||
 * <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: arial,verdana,tahoma; font-size: 11pt;">Spelling/Grammar || <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: arial,verdana,tahoma; font-size: 9pt;"> No discernible spelling or grammar errors. || <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: arial,verdana,tahoma; font-size: 9pt;">1-3 errors. || <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: arial,verdana,tahoma; font-size: 9pt;">3-6 errors || <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: arial,verdana,tahoma; font-size: 9pt;">More than 6 errors ||   ||   ||   ||

Total 37/39