The+Portable+Phonograph

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: The Portable Phonograph

Point of View: 3rd person, not all knowing. limited omniscient

Protagonist: The Doctor

What type of character is the Protagonist? The Doctor is a Round and Dynamic character.

Antagonist: The Musician and the war are the antagonists.

Describe the setting The story takes place in a bunker underground in a prairie type environment with a Alder forest nearby. The time of day is around dusk and in fall/winter. The year could possibly be in the 1940's and written to take place at the end of World War Two. I say this because the writer wrote it in 1941 which was during the war and could have wrote it as a sort of worst case scenario prediction.

Type of Conflict: Man vs Man because one of the Doctor's obstacles was the Musician. Man vs Self because the Musician was fighting against his self while the music was playing. Man vs Environment because the war torn environment made all of them struggle.

Describe the main conflict: The main conflict was between all the men and the environment and the Musician and the Doctor. One conflict was after a war had destroyed civilization and caused a post-apocalyptic like world which caused trouble with everybody. The other was between the musician. He had listened to the Doctor's phonograph and it caused him to almost break down. While others were listening to the music and thinking back to what they had went through, the Musician was listening to every note. He listened for parts he played, for what he used to play before the war. This drove him mad with want for that phonograph and he did not care about the Doctor's and how it was the Doctor's. When the three men left the Doctor stood outside the bunker and listened. He heard a suppressed cough and saw some shadows move among the Alders. The Musician had been coughing during the time he was in the bunker with the Doctor so the Doctor assumed that the Musician was coming back for the phonograph. He then laid down facing the canvas door and held a lead pipe in his hand.

Describe the Climax of the Story: The Climax was when the narrator described the Doctor feeling the lead pipe in his hand. This is the climax because no new information is given after this point and is the readers pinnacle of interest. The climax in this story could be confused to be when the Musician was breaking down or when the Doctor hears a cough and sees the shadows in the Alders. Those are points of action but not the climax. New information that relates to the plot is given after that point so they both are not the climax.

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? The protagonist changes from a kind, calm, and giving man to a protective, nervous, and scared man. At the beginning he is very open and trusting of the three men, but after he sees the Musicians reaction, he suspects he might take the phonograph by force. He then becomes protective of his books and the phonograph and then becomes nervous. He moves so he sleeps facing the door and holds a lead pipe in his hand because he is nervous and scared.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. In the story the theme is humans greed. The phonograph is what the Musician wanted and was showing greed for. The title of the story is The Portable Phonograph, which in the story, was the main object of want and greed for.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? The main conflict shows in a discrete, but powerful way, one of human's cursing traits, which is greed. Since the theme is human's greed the conflict shows an example of how in a bad situation, we are worse. Without the conflict there would be no theme. One cannot write about greed without conflict because greed itself is a conflict to humanity.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? The climax is of the man protecting what is his. This illustrates a sort of positive and negative conflict. The Musician will fight to get what he wants while the Doctor will fight to keep what is his. If the Doctor did not intend retaliation it would just be taking what you want, not greed. Same if the Musician offered a trade for the Phonograph.

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

Simile: "black cloud strips like threats across it,"

Metaphor: "They were the scars of gigantic bombs"

Personification: "My brain becomes thick like my hands"

Symbol: The Portable Phonograph itself is a symbol. It is a symbol of a light in the darkness. It shows hope through music in such a hopeless time. The four stars the Doctor sees symbolize the four men. One of the stars is covered by a cloud symbolizing the musician losing it, or losing his light.

Foreshadowing (give both elements): When the Doctor heres the cough and then hurries inside, the reader predicts that the musician might come to attack the Doctor for the phonograph.

Irony: The men where saying how machines are bad and destroyed their kind, even though what they treasure the most is a machine.

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 cold, and it settled the mue darkness and greater cold of night. High in the air here was wind, for through the veil of the dusk the clouds could be seen gliding rapidly south and changing shapes."

Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. The story points out some characteristic of humans that many do not think of. Greed is depicted, but everyone knows about it. I, however, think that most people do not realize how greedy and horrid we become in a disastrous time. Not only how bad though, but how down-to-earth we become. Simple things are important to them, music is important to them. These are all part of humanity that we either hide or try to show.

1)The story is set around the late 1940's. A war has recently happened that has wiped out civilization, the evidence for this is the holes in the ground caused by explosive shells along with the frozen tank tire tracks left in the mud.

2)The purpose of the men's meeting is to look at these pieces of art, of humanity, so they themselves can stay in touch with their own.

3)All of the books they took showed a big part of literature. Moby Dick showed adventure, Shakespeare showed our poetry and is really a classic english literature. The Divine Comedy was also a great poem and important to showing the old ages. The bible could have been brought by the Doctor because he was a religious man and gave him hope, or because it was one of the first books massively published and had huge symbolism.

4) a) Dr. Jenkins clutching the lead pipes shows that he is willing to fight for his safety and for the phonograph. This has huge significance on depicting what type of character Dr. Jenkins is. b) I think that the writer was pointing towards the musician trying to steal the phonograph from the Doctor. The musician acting strangely during the playing of the music and the Doctor hearing the musician cough points towards such outcome. I do see in my head a crazed, anger filled musician barging into the bunker only to be hit and fought against the Doctor, his on foolishness and greed causing him to not think out a strategy.

Completion 5/5 Effort 5/5 Content 5/5 Questions 8/8 total 23/23

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