The Portable Phonograph Questions and Answers
by Walter Van Tilburg Clark

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• The Portable Phonograph
  Who are the characters in The Portable Phonograph by Walter Van Tilburg Clark? This is a study guide question posted by eNotes Editorial. Please write a separate paragraph of analysis for each key character you discuss.
  Dr. Jenkins The main character of the story is a very old man named Dr. Jenkins. He lives in a cave-like tunnel near a frozen stream in a barren landscape that has been ruined by a catastrophic...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  What are some quotes from The Portable Phonograph by Walter Van Tilburg Clark? This is a study guide question posted by eNotes Editorial. Please identify and analyze at least 3 quotes in your response.
  These pits were such as might have been made by falling meteors, but they were not. They were the scars of gigantic bombs, their rawness already made a little natural by rain, seed and time. Along...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  What are the themes in The Portable Phonograph by Walter Van Tilburg Clark? This is a study guide question posted by eNotes Editorial. Please clearly identify at least 3 themes and devote a separate paragraph to a discussion of each one
  The Significance of Art When Dr. Jenkins realizes that the world is ending around him, he chooses to save what he considers the best efforts of mankind. He saves Shakespeare, Dante, Melville, and...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  Please write an in-depth summary of The Portable Phonograph by Walter Van Tilburg Clark. This is a study guide question posted by eNotes Editorial. Please note that this material is intended to supplement the information presented in our eNotes...
  The story opens at sunset and establishes a dark and desolate setting. We are told that the clouds blacked the sky "like threats," and everything is cold. The air is filled with a "sensation of...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  Please analyze The Portable Phonograph by Walter Van Tilburg Clark. This is a study guide question posted by eNotes Editorial. Your literary analysis may touch on a variety of topics, including (but not limited to) discussions of the author’s...
  In "The Portable Phonograph," Walter Van Tilburg Clark maintains an almost detached tone to narrate a story of the bleak state of humanity in a post-apocalyptic setting. In the opening paragraph,...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  What are the themes in "The Portable Phonograph" by Walter Van Tilburg Clark? How does it connects to our lives?
  Some of what makes Clark's short story so powerful is the theme of defining importance. The fact that the dwellers in the cave hold dear to them literature and artistic expression as few of the...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  In the short story "The Portable Phonograph," why does the author mention or allude to Shakespeare and the Bible? How do Shakespeare and the Bible relate to the story, and what is their significance?
  As the story opens, an old man named Doctor Jenkins is playing host to a small group of men who, like him, are survivors of an unspecified holocaust which destroyed all of human civilization....

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• The Portable Phonograph
  In Walter Van Tilburg Clark's short story "The Portable Phonograph," to what extent do the first three paragraphs establish the tone and atmosphere of the work?
  The tone and atmosphere of Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s story “The Portable Phonograph” are effectively established in the first three paragraphs of the work. Simply in his use of nouns, Clark...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  Discuss the conflict in "The Portable Phonograph."
  The fundamental conflict in the short story goes to art and one's appreciation of it. I think that there is an evident conflict of survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Yet, I think that the...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  What is the atmosphere of "The Portable Phonograph"?
  The atmosphere of the story is a world desolate after a cataclysmic war. There has been a brutal conflict that has taken place and, from what we gather, one side definitely won but it came at such...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  The tone and mood of the setting in "The Portable Phonograph"?
  The setting in "The Portable Phonograph" is bleak and barren. It is a setting of devastation. The landscape in the story has been devastated by conventional warfare. Reading it today we might...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  What is suggested by the quote "We are the doddering remnants of a race of mechanical fools" in "The Portable Phonograph"?
  One of the strongest elements of the short story is its questioning of progress. The story features a setting that has been decimated by world conflict. Technological advancement and progress...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  What is "The Portable Phonograph" about?
  "The Portable Phonograph" is a short story by Walter Van Tillburg Clark. The setting is the desolate nature of the world after some type of cataclysmic ending where little in terms of life and...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  What is the purpose of the men's meeting? Why does the author compare the unwrapping of the book bundle to a ceremonial rite?
  The point of the story is that civilization has been destroyed by an atomic war and the few cultural artifacts the old man named Doctor Jenkins has managed to save are priceless treasures. Once...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  In Walter van Tilburg Clark's short story "The Portable Phonograph," what does the setting reveal about the doctor or the conflict?
  In the short story titled “The Portable Phonograph,” by Walter van Tilburg Clark, the setting implies the aftermath of a horribly destructive war. Details of the setting which imply such a war...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  Why didn't the other characters have any names? Why do you think their names weren't mentioned?
  There could be many explanations for this. One potential reason would be to enhance the universal feel of the work. In writing this story in 1941, Clark is witnessing the effects of the Second...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  What are three significant things the four men brought with them?
  I cannot see that the four men in the story brought anything with them to the setting inside the cave. Three of the men are visitors and evidently brought nothing because they have nothing to...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  Why do the men listen to the music?
  There is an implicit contrast throughout the story between the present and the past. The four men are living in the wasteland created by a great nuclear war. Although the bombs did not kill...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  Why was the value Art important to the men? In the time this book took place, was Art something everybody would value/have?
  In the wake of the desolation and emptiness of the world presented to the reader, the value of art is a powerful one. The role of art in this story is one that soothes and provides entertainment....

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• The Portable Phonograph
  How many times is four of something mentioned in "The Portable Phonograph"?  
  In The Portable Phonograph by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, the exact quantity of various objects is frequently given. Concerning objects which appears in fours: A small red fire is describes as coming...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  The first three descriptive paragraphs of Walter van Tilburg Clark's short story "The Portable Phonograph" are loaded with adjectives. What do most of these adjectives contribute to the establishment of setting and, in turn, mood?
  In his short story “The Portable Phonograph,” Walter van Tilburg Clark uses many adjectives in the first three paragraphs to help create a vivid setting and a memorable mood. Among the adjectives...

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• The Portable Phonograph
  What is the setting?
  Hemingway's Cat in the Rain is most likely set in Italy. We know this from the Italian parts of the dialogue, for instance the hotelkeeper remarks, "Si, si, Signora, brutto tempo..." after the wife...

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