Flowers for Algernon

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title
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Flowers For Algernon
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author
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Daniel Keyes
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narrator of the book?
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Charlie Gordon, a mentally disabled man who undergoes experimental surgery to increase his intelligence
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what tense is the book written in?
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Past; Charlie is always writing about the days he has just lived through. Charlie experiences numerous flashbacks to his childhood, which are usually narrated in the present tense.
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who is the protagonist?
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Charlie
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what's the climax?
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Charlie asserts his independence by running away from the scientists who are observing him; Alice tells Charlie that his work at the laboratory is more important than his relationship with Fay; Charlie realizes in this moment that he can no longer run from his fate or the seriousness of his emotional journey.
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some themes of the book?
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Mistreatment of the mentally disabled; the tension between intellect and emotion; the persistence of the past in the present
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examples of foreshadowing in the book?
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rofessor Nemur tells Charlie at the outset of the experiment that his gains in intelligence may not be permanent, which turns out to be the case. Later, Charlie has a memory of his young sister, Norma, obnoxiously threatening to lose her own intelligence, another reference to Charlie's eventual downfall. Finally, Algernon's decline, beginning in Progress Report 13, is a reliable predictor of Charlie's impending deterioration.
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how old is charlie at the beginning of the novel?
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32
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why does alice recommend charlie for the experiment?
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because he is eager to learn
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Of what does Nemur accuse Charlie during their argument after the cocktail party?
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being arrogant and self-centered
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