Study Questions

 

  1. What is Charlie's IQ in the beginning of the story?
  1. Why does Charlie go to Miss Kinnian's class?
  2. What does Charlie see the first time he is given the Rorschach Test?
  3. Why is Charlie chosen for the experiment?
  4. Before the operation, what does Charlie think of Joe Carp and Frank Reilly? How do they treat him?
  5. What does it mean to "do a Charlie Gordon"?
  6. What are the differences between the two doctors?
  7. How can the reader tell that Charlie is getting smarter after the operation?
  8. Explain Charlie's feeling toward Algernon before and after the operation.
  9. What is the significance of Charlie' second outing with Joe and Frank?
  10. Why does Charlie lose his job?
  11. How do Charlie's feelings toward Miss Kinnian change throughout the story?
  12. How do Charlie's feelings toward the doctors change after the operation?
  13. Why was Charlie upset about the incident with the dishwasher?
  14. What is the Algernon-Gordon Effect?
  15. What does Charlie do when he realizes he will lose his intelligence?
  16. When Charlie returns to the factory, how do his co-workers react?
  17. How does Miss Kinnian react when Charlie returns to night school? Why?
  18. Who does Charlie blame for his loss of intelligence? Why?
  19. How does Charlie's personality change once he becomes a genius?
  20. Give two examples of how foreshadowing is used in this story. How do Charlie's progress reports change after the operation?