thought provoking ideas

A detailed Summary of thought provoking ideas

The best short stories have "thought provoking ideas expressed in interesting ideas"

One thought provoking idea, is expressed clearly in the story The weapon by Fredric Brown. The story suggests many themes, but the main one being the lack of respect humans have with power and their ignorance towards technology. A scientist, Dr James Graham is creating the ultimate weapon. During his study time one night, a guest Mr. Niemand arrives at his doorstep, raising many questions about the weapon that James cannot answer. The ultimate question that James blindly ignores is "is humanity ready for the ultimate weapon?" Meanwhile James son Harry, a mentally disabled boy insists Mr. Niemand reads him "Chicken Little". Dr James later enters Harry's room, discovering that Mr. Niemand left Harry a loaded revolver. Dr James leaves us with his thought " only a madman would give a loaded revolver to an idiot." The last line suggests many ideas, that arouse the readers' thoughts. The last line is the key to the authors meaning- that mankind could destroy itself. There is an obvious and very direct comparison created in the story. Certain symbols stand for things, the gun representing the weapons society creates. The gun is an idea

The story is written in third person, giving the reader, an unbiased perception, and a clearer view of what is happening. The atmosphere was created in the story, through what each character says, and their actions. In the beginning of the story, the reader is introduced to Dr James, whom is studying hard, thinking about his son and his disabilities, the atmosphere is quite tense, and we get a sense that something is about to happen. Mr. Neimand arrives at Dr James door, and more tension is created due to conflict between the two. Near the end, the atmosphere seems almost relaxed, and this is where the climax builds up. When Dr James discovers the revolver MR Neimand has left for his son, he bursts out into anger- all the tension that had been built up throughout the story.

The author includes Chicken Little, as it is a metaphorical comparison between a childhood character that seems so innocent, and an adult scientist. This appears to be quite ironic, and a contrast, but it seems that in the end they are the same, the adult being just as naive and innocent as the child. In this way the ideas are cleverly expressed through irony and metaphors.

Flowers for Algernon is written in first person, in a diary form, by Charlie Gordon, describing his everyday life, as a progress report. This proves to be very effective in conveying themes in this sort of form, as the reader steps in to Charlie's life, understanding how he feels, and his emotions. These themes are expressed through the language used. The author creatively and realistically, wrote the story, in Charlie's shoes, the spelling in the beginning is mispelt, and the language is worded so it appears childish and simple- like a second graders diary. This helps the reader relate to Charlie, to understand his struggles and goals in life.

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Some common words found in the essay are:
Dr James, Chicken Little, Dr Nemur, Charlie Gordon, Adding Charlie's, James Graham, Charlie Gordon's, Foxy Loxy, Fredric Brown, , dr james, chicken little, sky falling, flowers algernon, sky falling acorn, hits head, humans towards, lack respect, charlie gordon, people act, created story, chicken little story, scientist dr james, lack respect humans,

Approximate Word count = 1217
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English