Portable+Phonograph

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: Portable Phonograph

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Point of View:, Omniscient Third Person

Protagonist: The old man who had the phonograph and the 4 books.

What type of character is the Protagonist? Dynamic Round

Antagonist: Mainly the coughing musician, who planned to attempt to take the phonograph. Round static character

Describe the setting: The story is set in a scarred, post war prairie, just starting to recover and regrow. It is late fall or early winter; the geese are going south but the hard cold hasn't quite set in yet. At the beginning the sun sets, and the story continues into the night. The mood is peaceful as it describes the prairie, but when it describes the war wounds on the land it feels abandoned and lonely. When they are reading, it feels mysterious.

Type of Conflict: Man vs man and man vs himself and a small part of man vs environment

Describe the main conflict: The main conflict is Man vs Man, the old protagonist an the coughing musician who possibly was going to steal the relics of civilization ( a phonograph and some books). Also, there is some Man vs Himself ( themselves) because the men struggle to remember their humanity and civilization.

Describe the Climax of the Story: The climax is when the old man hides the phonograph and books from the coughing man, because that is when you mainly realize that even within the few survivors, it isn't safe for man or memory.

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? The protagonist starts letting the other 3 survivors listen to the phonograph and hear the books being read, and he doesn't mind. He know the others need to listen too.At the end, though, he becomes aware that someone may not be content with listening as often as he let them, and would steal the phonograph and books. Because there are so few people, a stolen object would be immediatly found. That means that to steal something, you would have to kill the person you stole something from. That is why the old man had the lead pipe, and he doesn't just hide the objects. The consequences of his kindness and letting them listen made the others addicted to it, and they were even willing to steal it.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. The title is the 'Portable phonograph', a (once) common object of minimal importance, but it is placed in an environment and setting where is is the most important thing left. The view on the phonograph is changed when the situation differs. The theme is that perspective changes how you view things and react to them.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? The main conflict is man vs man, trying to remember their humanity an what is/was important to them. The theme is that things and people's views on them change when the situation changes. The phonograph wouldn't have been that important unless the situation was as it was, where it was an important link to memories of humanity.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? When the musician was possibly going to steal the phonograph, the phonograph was illustrated as important. Before the war, if wouldn't have been worth that much trouble. The situation changed, and so did the perspectives on the phonograph.

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

Simile: 'bowed it agin, strainingly, as if he were suffering from a pain he might not endure.'


 * Metaphor: **

Personification: 'the wolf cry lamenting', 'blizzards paraded for days'

Symbol: I think the Phonograph itself is a symbol. The men aren't just interested in music, but the music reminds them of life before the war, and the people they knew. The portal is like a portal back to life prewar.

Foreshadowing (give both elements): When the old man listens for, and hears, the 'sound of suppressed coughing'. Then he knows the sick musician is waiting to take the phonograph. He goes to bed facing the door and holding the pipe, foreshadowing for something after the story ends ( the young man come for the phonograph...)

Irony: The fact that the weapon the old man uses to have ready if the coughing man comes is a lead pipe, which is something from civilization that isn't valued, and so is used to protect the valued objects.

Imagery: 'frozen mud still bore the toothed impress of great tanks', 'wuthering arch of the high wind'

Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. In the 'Portable phonograph', the men struggle to remain focused on the humanity, though they know they will have to fight to survive. The old protagonist knew that the coughing antagonist wanted the phonograph for it's music, and would try to steal it. This insight into what others are thinking and planning is humanity. Also, they want to remember for the others that aren't there in the prairie with them, the ones that didn't survive. The know they would have wanted to be remembered.The men use the small moments of reading and record playing to stay human, and not become people run by instinct.

1. The story is set after a catastrophic war that actually ends nearly all civilization. In the beginning, the prairie is described with marks from tanks, sections of barbed wire, and scars from bombs. 2. The men meet to remember the world how it was before the war by reading and listening to the phonograph. The unwrapping of the books is the beginning of their memory trip back, and it is very important then. 3. The books are all important, and represent a wide variety of literature, and therefore a wide variety of memories. The Bible is from ancient history and represents that time,Shakespeare is from a long time ago, Moby Dick is a little more modern, and the comedy the most recent. 4. a) The significance of Dr Jenkins clutching the lead pipe is that he plans to protect the phonograph and books at the cost of, possibly, the musicians life. This shows just how important the phonograph has become. b) I think that the musician would try to take the phonograph (that is more important to him than the books) but then Dr Jenkins would protect his stuff with the lead pipe. Then, the mood between the men would completely change. No more listening together, no more companionship between them. They would become people who valued their own survival and not humanity.

COMPLETION 5/5 EFFORT 5/5 CONTENT 5/5 QUESTIONS 8/8 TOTAL 23/23