April 21

1.Why doesn't Charlie want to return to work at the factory?

2.How does Charlie feel about being laughed at, right now?

3.Charlie says that he's getting smarter, but what word does he use incorrectly in the second sentence of paragraph three?

4.If “psych” comes from the Greek word for the mind, including behavior, feelings, and learning, and “logy” comes from the Greek word for “a science, explanation, or study,” how would you define the word psychology? Why doesn't Dr. Strauss doesn't want Charlie to study psychology yet, do you think?

5.Make a prediction: How will people feel about and treat Charlie as he gets smarter? Will he have more friends when he's “like everyone else”?

6.Explain the three opinions about what I.Q. tests measure:

1.Dr. Nemur thinks they measure what?

2.Dr. Strauss thinks they measure what?

3.Burt thinks they measure what?

7. “I don't see how if they don't know what it is, or where it is – I don't see how they know how much  of it you've got,” Charlie says. What does this say about his intelligence?

 April 22

1.Explain the internal conflicts that Charlie feels during the test. Can you identify four different ones?

April 25

1.What are the effects of Charlie's new intelligence?  What does it cause at work? With his old friends? To the way he feels?

April 27

1.How does this entry show you that Charlie understands more of what he sees and hears?

2.Considering what Charlie hears, what does the idiom “to ride on his coattails” mean?

April 28

1.What is the “possibility” that Charlie is thinking of when he says, “I didn't want to think of that possibility any more than elderly people want to think of death?”

2.What is Miss Kinnian is afraid of when she says, “I hope . . . I just hope to God -”

3.What might become a source of conflict in their relationship?

April 30

1.Why do the people at Donnegan's Plastic Box Company want Charlie to leave?

May 15

1.What does Charlie mean when he says that Dr. Nemur “has a very good mind, but it struggles under the spectre of self-doubt?

2.How do you know that Charlie can see deeply into people's motivations now?  Do you remember when he didn't know the meaning of the word motivation? Contrast Charlie's current understanding of people to the way he understood people before the surgery.  What did he use to assume about people's motivations?  How has that changed?

3.Why might Dr. Nemur feel uncomfortable around Charlie now?

4.What does Charlie think is “normal” intelligence, now?

May 18

1.What external conflict has developed between Charlie and Miss Kinnian?

May 20

1.This last entry is so well-developed that it isn't simply a journal entry, it's what I would call a narrative essay.  Charlie tells a story of an interesting series of events (in chronological order, with descriptive details and dialogue), explains how the events made him feel, and then reflects upon his feelings. He next explains what he learned about himself and what he learned about human people in general, especially people who feel different or disabled or dumb.  He concludes with a decision and calls himself to take action, persuading himself that he can do something to make the world a better place.  

1.Summarize the main events of his story, focusing on the conflicts that arise.

2.Point out one descriptive image that Charlie uses to bring his story to life.

3.Explain how the events made Charlie feel.

4.Explain what Charlie learned from reflecting on his feelings.

5.Answer me this: Do you think that Charlie's plan, to perfect the technique of boosting people's intelligence, would actually make life better? Will mentally retarded people, like the boy in the story, be better off if Charlie succeeds?  Using details from the story, persuade me of your opinion.

1.Think of an event that made a big impression on you, one that made you think about the child you used to be and the person that you are becoming.  Maybe it made you want to do something in particular with your life as an adult. Write down some of your memories of this event in preparation for writing a narrative essay of your own.

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