Transcript The Monsters are Due on Maple Street

The Monsters are Due on Maple
Street
A Twilight Zone Episode
Rod Serling
Rod Serling is probably best known for creating
and hosting The Twilight Zone. This popular
television series, often seen now in reruns, aired
from 1959 to 1965. It featured stories of the
eerie unknown, some of them written by
Serling. Having begun in radio, Serling went on
to write for TV and movies, the most famous of
which was the science-fiction script for The
Planet of the Apes. He won four Emmy awards.
Themes
Prejudice and fear are two recurring themes in
Serling’s work. “I’ve always tried to attack
prejudice more than any other social evil,” he
once said. “I’ve always felt that prejudice is
probably the most damaging, the most
jeopardizing, the most fruitless of human
frailities. I think prejudice is a waste and its
normal end is violence.”
Anticipation Guide
• “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
• Fears exist that are universal for almost all
human beings.
• Life exists on other planets.
• People are more likely to pull together than
turn on each other when they feel threatened.
Narrator’s Voice p. 755
• Read the section and write Trouble Slips.
• Address the Trouble Slips.
• Students write an objective summary of the
section.
Using the words below, write some possible sentences
that could appear in the teleplay
antagonism
defiant
idiosyncrasy
intense
optimistic
contorted
flustered
incriminate
legitimate
persistent
metamorphosis scapegoat
Read & Or Watch the Teleplay
Final Narrator’s Voice
•
•
•
•
Read and create Trouble Slips.
Discuss the Trouble Slips.
Write an objective summary of this section.
How does it relate to the first Narrator’s
Voice?
What is Serling Saying About Us?
Understand the procedure now? Just stop a few
of their machines….one to the other.
Reflection
The comic strip character, Pogo,
said, “We have met the enemy,
and he is us.” How does this
relate to the teleplay?
Application
• The major characters in this
teleplay are men. What about
the women? What was their
role? Does this reflect gender
relationships today?
What happened the next day?
Write the script.
Alternate Assignment
Put Charlie on trial for the murder of Pete Van
Horn. Write the script of his trial.
Examining Mob Mentality
• http://source.southuniversity.edu/examiningthe-mob-mentality-31395.aspx
• Think about a character. What decisions did
your character make that contributed to the
citizens forming a mob?
Mob Mentality
• Define “individuation” as you think the
dictionary does.
• Give a personal example of a time you
experienced or witnessed diffusion of
responsibility.
• How was the Maple Street group typical and
atypical of mobs as described in the article?
Stage Directions and Mood
Read each stage direction and explain what it suggests about the setting or
characters.
Steve: The two of us can go Charlie. (He turns to look back at
the car.) It couldn’t be the meteor. A meteor couldn’t do this.
(He and Charlie exchanged a look. Then they start to walk
away from the group.)
(Fade in on Maple street at night. On the sidewalk, little knots
of people stand around talking in low voices. At the end of
each conversation they look toward Les Goodman’s house.
From the various houses, we can see candlelight but no
electricity.)
Voice Three: Make the kid answer! (The crowd starts to
converge around the mother, who grabs Tommy and starts to
run with him. The crowd starts to follow, at first walking fast,
and then running after him.)
Valid and Invalid Conclusions
Are these valid or invalid?
• We know that the reasons Mr. Grant has given for opposing
the construction of this building are worthless because he
hasn’t paid his rent for two months.
• “I would like to hire Elizabeth Leroy as a babysitter,” Mrs.
Collins told her husband. “I think she’s a reliable person. Last
summer she had a job at the library, and the librarian said
Elizabeth always came to work on time.”
Valid or Invalid?
The coach refused to accept the new boy on the team.
“He missed too many meets in his previous school,” the coach
said.
“But I hear that over the summer he changed a lot,” said
Jim, on of the team members. “Maybe you could give him a
break.”
“The last time I gave a kid like him a break we lost the
championship,” the coach said. “Kids like him never learn.”
Valid or Invalid?
Where in the story do the characters make
invalid conclusions? Were they false inferences
or hasty generalizations?
Participles
A participle is a verb form that can be used as an
adjective. The present participle is formed by
adding –ing to the present tense of a verb. The
past participle of regular verbs is formed by
adding –ed or –d to the present tense.
Sometimes a participle and a helping verb
combine to form the verb in a sentence.
A participle cannot stand alone as the main verb
of a sentence.
Participles
I was walking down Maple Street.
helping verb
Participles
In other cases, a participle modifies a noun or a
pronoun. A participle may come before or after
the word it modifies.
The man walking down the street was a stranger.
The frightened neighbors backed away.
Participles
Underline the participles and draw an arrow to the noun it modifies.
Steve Brand, polishing his car, was in front of his house.
The ringing bell of the ice-cream vendor echoed in the distance.
A screeching roar sounded overhead.
The startled neighbors stared at the sky.
Frightened, Tommy told them about aliens.
Participles
People stood in small groups, conversing in low tones.
Steve suggested that it was only a falling meteor.
They all stood there listening to Tommy.
Suddenly the car started, its frame shaking
gently.
Participles
Two figures on a concealed spaceship watched
from a distance.