FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON

By the end of this unit, students will be able to: support major themes in the novel with evidence from the text (e.g., a tension exists between the emotions and intellect, the past has the power to affect the present society mistreats and misunderstands the mentally challenged); identify significant incidents and comments that signal the author’s themes; analyze Keyes’s techniques of character’s development; examine the use of narrative techniques and devices, including the journal format, the changes in Charlie’s use of language, and flashbacks; explain changes in tone in the novel; discuss Keyes’s use of sexuality to reflect emotional growth; analyze the use of foreshadowing, irony, simile, metaphor, and allusion in the book; trace the development and evolution of symbols in the text, particularly the window and the knife; and trace the development of the connection between Charlie and Algernon and explain how it contributes to the text as a whole. 175 pages. ©2009.