"The Monsters are Due on Maple Street"(p. 246)
by Rod Serling
"Paranoia strikes the residents of Maple Street when they believe human-looking aliens have invaded the neighborhood."
See below for vocabulary and reading/discussion questions.
Before you Read
  1. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." What does this mean? (Extra Credit: Who said this?)
  2. How does fear affect the decisions you make?
  3. What fears might be called "universal"; shared by most almost all humans?
  4. Do you have any "isms" that someone who doesn't know you might consider "weird"? What if you were judged only by your idiosyncrasies?
  5. Do you think life exists on other planets in our universe? What makes you think so? Might this life be friendly or hostile?
  6. If you wanted to take over a town--without killing anyone--how might you weaken the people enough to overcome their resistance?
  7. sun : earth :: earth : ________ (copy)
  8. move : eyes :: _______ : camera (copy)
  9. (2) Draw a (labeled) diagram of what a day and a year are, astronomically speaking.
  10. What's a scapegoat? (Copy the word.)
Vocabulary Pretest. idiosyncrasy, assent, dissent, metamorphosis, insomnia, scapegoat, revelation, fluster, transfixed, persistent, pan

   1. My little boy is very ________ when he wants something, he keeps trying and trying.
   2. Almost everybody has one or more _______________(s) that people who don't them would consider "weird."
   3. The camera should ______ across the scene of the fire showing everything from one end of the building to the other.
   4. Sometimes Les Goodman had _________, and would get up and look at the stars.
   5. The replays of the auto wreck ___________ TV watchers all over the country.
   6. "Let's get it all out. Let's pick out every _______ of every man, woman, and child on this street."
   7. "You're standing here all set to crucify--all set to find a ________--all desperate to point some kind of a finger at a neighbor."
   8. "They'll probably think we're crazy or something. A little power failure and right away we get all ______ (ed) and everything."
   9. "In this brief fraction of a moment, they take the first step toward performing a ____________ that changes people from a group into a mob."
  10. The last book of the Bible is called _____________(s), and it's where the writer reveals visions of the end of the world.
  11. Congress passed the bill unanimously, without ___________.
  12. The Welshman's ___________ about Huck being the real hero was overshadowed by Tom's __________ of the money. (The same word goes in both blanks.)
  13. In professional sports, the coach is often the ________ for a team's bad performance, even if it isn't always his fault.
During:
Discussion/Review Questions.

   1. What do the people of Maple Street think the UFO is at first?
   2. Who gets them thinking it might be something else?
   3. True/False. Always taking the same route to school is a good example of an idiosyncrasy.
   4. So far in the play, who is the scapegoat for all of the fears of the people of Maple Street?
   5. Why?
Try to connect "Poem #435" by Emily Dickinson to "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street." (in a literary way, of course). What message do they both have? (Hint: Look at your answer to #4.)
 



Vocabulary Test:. You might use words more than once; you might not use them all.
idiosyncrasy, assent, dissent, metamorphosis, insomnia, scapegoat, revelation, fluster, transfixed, persistent, pan

   1. "You're standing here all set to crucify--all set to find a ________--all desperate to point some kind of a finger at a neighbor."
   2. "They'll probably think we're crazy or something. A little power failure and right away we get all ______ (ed) and everything."
   3. "In this brief fraction of a moment, they take the first step toward performing a ____________ that changes people from a group into a mob."
   4. Congress passed the bill unanimously, without ___________.
   5. Sometimes Les Goodman had _________, and would get up and look at the stars.
   6. hero : scapegoat :: secret (n) : *____________
   7. "Steve Brand...now stands there __________, staring upwards."
   8. "Let's get it all out. Let's pick out every _______ of every man, woman, and child on this street."
   9. (2) After Les's car starts, the camera directions say, "The camera ______ (s) along the faces of the people as they stare, somehow caught up by this ___________ and somehow...frightened."


After

  1. Why does the friendly group of neighbors turn into a dangerous mob?
  2. Analyzing Literature (p261): Do questions 1 and 2 only.
  3. What is the main conflict of the play? (Hint: Who were the monsters?)
  4. What is ironic about Charlie's statement about going back to the "dark ages"?  (What he meant vs another meaning we could get from his statement.)
  5. Why might the director of the TV version have decided to show us the aliens rather than merely hinting at their form, like the script says to do? (Hint: What did he decide to make them look like?)
  6. Critical Thinking and Reading (p261): Do questions 1 and 2.
  7. What might the scene be like the next morning on Maple Street?
  8. If you were there, what might you have done?
  9. Can you think of an example of a situation (from history) similar to what happened on Maple Street?
  10. What do the people of Maple Street think the UFO is at first?
  11. Who gets them thinking it might be something else?
  12. (3) What 3 things make the neighbors suspect Les Goodman?
Alternative After Quiz:

   1. Les Goodman said he got up to look at the stars because...?
   2. What is ironic about Charlie's statement about going back to the "dark ages"? (What he meant vs. another meaning we could get from his statement.)
   3. (?) What do you think Rod Serling's theme (point) is? Choose all that apply. a) To show that we should be scared of aliens. b) To show that we shouldn't be so suspicious of our neighbors. c) To show that we often judge people by insignificant things. d) That fear of the unknown makes us dumb. e) To show that scared people in a group are even dumber.
   4. Who caused the "power outage"?
   5. Who are the "monsters"?
      Read the narrator's last speech (p260). The next 2 questions refer to that speech.
   6. Name one of the weapons the aliens used on the people of Maple Street.
   7. What does he mean when he says, "and the pity of it is..."?


| Back to Seventh Grade English | |Back to Homework Page | |Back to Latest Work Page
Google