The+Portable+Phonograph


 * The portable phonograph **

The story is written in 3rd person.

The protagonist is Dr. Jenkins. He is a round, dynamic character.

Dr. Jenkins changes over the course of the story by hearing the music. The music causes him to lose most of his worries of the future, the past and the present. He will eventually regain those worries, but has had his mentality changed and filled with hope.

The antagonist is the environment and the Dr.'s conscience.

The environment is forcing them to stay inside shelters for most of the time and is causing them to lose hope and feeling.

His conscience is the antagonist because he is living is a post apocalyptic world and his mind is going mad because he doesn't have anything that he is used to. He doesn't have much company, music, artwork or creative output. The environment he is living in is enough of a problem, without his mind losing feeling and hope.

The setting is in the future after a war. The war has changed the landscape into a barren wasteland pockmarked with craters. There is a cave where the meeting happens and the Dr. lives. The mood is lonely and dark.

The conflict is man vs. the environment and man vs. self.

The main conflict is humanity vs. inhumanity.

The climax is when the phonograph finally plays and the characters are taken by the music.

The theme is that even though it is what got them there, they are still willing to use violence to solve their problems. The theme relates to the title because the phonograph is what is causing the violence, and the title is The Portable Phonograph.

The main conflict helps to illustrate the theme because inhumanity is what causes the musician to want the phonograph. The theme is that even though it is what got them there, they are still willing to use violence to solve their problems. Inhumanity is greed and violence.

The climax helps to illustrate the theme because the phonograph is what causes the musician to want to steal the phonograph, which causes the Dr. to be prepared to use violence against him.

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

Simile:"With a single opening, like the mouth of a mine tunnel." Which is comparing the opening of a cell to the opening of a mine tunnel.

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Metaphor: "There were little islands of an oil pavement in the road, too." This is comparing islands to the remnants of an oil paved road.

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Personification:"The rush of their pinions sounded briefly, and the faint, plaintive notes of their expeditionary talk." It is stating that geese can talk.

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Symbol: A symbol is the lead pipe the Dr. grasps at the end of the story. The lead pipe represents the Dr.'s anxiety and his unwillingness to give up the phonograph.

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Foreshadowing: The foreshadowing in this story is when the Dr, hears a cough outside his house and thinks he sees a shadow. <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">This leads us to believe that the musician (who was the only one who was sick) is going to attempt to steal the phonograph.

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Irony: That the Dr. is saving the steel needles so that they and the records will last, but that they will not last much longer themselves.

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Imagery: "The wet, blue green notes tinkled forth from the old machine, and were individual, delectable presences in the cell.

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story.

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">The relationship between the class theme (humanity) and the story is the phonograph and the books that they save from the apocalypse. These Items are part of their humanity.

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AXefY-2Fwy76ZGZqa3A1cGNfMXhmcHZiaGQ5&pli=1 One of your partners has the breakdown of the rubric score for your presentation.

1. The story is set in the future, recently after a devastating war. I know this because the story describes the scene of a barren landscape scarred by huge bombs. We have never had a war like this before so I can conclude that this happens in the future.

2. The men's meeting was to hear the phonograph play music. I think the author compares the unwrapping of the books to a ceremony because the books are some of the few left in the world and are very important to most people now, so then they could be considered priceless.

3. I think the significance of the books that were saved are that we need to be creative or have some type of creativity in our lives to stay sane, which means that the books are important to our sanity and our humanity.

4. I think the significance of Dr. Jenkins clutching the pipe at the end of the story is that he is anxious and is expecting the musician to come and try to steal the phonograph. I think the musician is going to try to steal the phonograph because before he goes to bed, the Dr. hears a cough outside and sees a shadow; the musician was the only one of the four that was sick. The musician might also want to steal the phonograph because he has a deeper connection to the music than the others.

Completion 5/5 Effort 3.5/5 Content 3.5/5 Questions 6/8

total 18/23