Your Easter Holiday reading is Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes. It was first written as a classic Hugo-Award-winning short story, then written as a drama for television, then written as both a Nebula-Award-winning novel and Academy-Award-winning film. In a way, it is "science fiction"...but science fiction without aliens, space ships, time travel, or ray guns. The idea is simple: Researchers have developed a brain operation that can increase human intelligence. How many people would line up for an operation like that? In addition to plastic surgery for the nose, liposuction for the stomach, and dye jobs for the hair, people could have "intelligence operations" to increase their brain power. Yet, the novel seems not to be about the many ways society might change if such a medical treatment were possible. In creating Charlie Gordon, the mentally "retarded" narrator of the novel, Mr. Keyes has been able to present, in this particular piece of science fiction, a touching and realistic portrayal of self-discovery, anguish, triumph, longing, and love. It is an exploration of the meaning of intelligence itself, what it means to succeed in life, and how both of those ideas relate to human happiness.



Class Handouts: Internet Resources About the Book & Author: On Intelligence, Rorschach Inkblot Tests, and More:
Some cartoons for your entertainment. Click on one to see it larger:

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