Unit 12
Text A
T he Monsters Are Due on Maple Street
Rod Serling
山参的功效和作用
I Introduction
1 Background
1. Genre
This text is written in the tradition of science fiction. Science fiction usually describes imaginary future developments in science. But unlike Round the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne, today’s science fict ion often tries to give a moral message. Therefore, they are more “fiction” than “science”. The prent text is a good example.
2. Elements of drama
This is a short two-act play. In reading a play, first we should learn about the tting or background, and get to know the characters and their relations to each other; then we must find out what is happening (the plot and the dramatic conflict), and understand how the drama leads to the climax or how the dramatic conflict is resolved.
3. Language
Plays are particularly good for learning spoken English. Students should pay particular attention to the pronunciation and intonation, as well as such special features of oral English as contractions, ellips and colloquial expressions. Students are strongly advid to act out the whole play.
4. Theme and thesis
In the title of the play, the “monsters” em to refer to tho ETs (extraterrestrial beings) who are out to destroy us human beings on earth (the earthlings or earth people). When we finish the play, however, we realize that monsters actually live in our own hearts. Becau of our weakness or wicked ways, we tend to destroy each other or ek our own destruction. This, and not the ETs, is our real enemy and real danger.
In this play, the author ems to emphasize three fatal human weakness: our deep suspicion and distrust of one another, our eagerness to find a scapegoat, and our readiness to turn into a mob. It implies that if we human beings want to be really safe, we must kill tho monsters in our hearts: we should try to understand and trust each other, to be less eager to assign blame, and to resist the kind of group (mob) mentality
which too often results in violence and tragedy.
2 Structure
The teleplay can be divided into five parts on the basis of plot development, most of which can be further divided into veral ctions.
Part I The introduction/exposition: The residents on Maple Street desperately try to understand what is happening in the neighborhood. (paras. 1–29)
A. One late afternoon the residents on Maple Street hear a tremendous roar and e a flash of light cross the sky. (paras. 1–2)
B. Strange things begin to happen and the residents try to figure out what is happening and some of
them decide to go downtown to find out. (paras. 3–29)
Part II The rising action: The conflict develops into one between the residents of Maple Street. (paras. 30–102)
A. Tommy stops them saying all the strange things have been caud by monsters from outer space. (paras. 30–56)
B. Les Goodman is suspected of being an alien nt from outer space earlier, and when people move in on Goodman’s hou for action, they turn into a mob. (paras. 57–86)
C. Steve Brand begins to be suspected for trying to speak for Goodman. (paras. 87–102)
Part III The crisis/climax: The conflict further intensifies when they u a shotgun. (paras. 103–111)
A. An approaching figure frightens the residents. (paras. 103–107)
B. Charlie fires and he shoots a neighbor dead. (paras. 108–111)
Part IV Falling action: The residents begin to quarrel and accu each other. (paras. 112–134)
A.Suspicion falls on Charlie, who puts all the blame on Tommy. (paras. 112–121)
B. People start to accu each other. (paras. 122–134)
Part V Resolution: The two creatures in the spacecraft forecast the destruction of the people on Maple Street, not by the monsters, but by themlves. (paras. 135–141)
3 Teaching Tips
1. Oral work
1) Have the students summarize the teleplay.
2) Ask them to make a character analysis of one of the following characters: Charlie, Steve, Tommy, or any other character.
3) Here are a few topics for discussion.
■What message do you think Rod Serling intends to get across to the audience?
■What destroys the people of Maple Street?
■What do you think is the most dangerous human weakness?
2. Follow-up activities
电怎么组词
1) Ask the students to perform the whole play or act out major events.
爱国主义的诗歌■Have a play reading ssion in the class.
II Detailed Discussion of the Text
骆驼祥子读书笔记摘抄1. The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (title)
市场换技术Question: Who are the monsters? Are they really responsible for all the troubles that happen on Maple Street? Where are the real monsters?
are due: to be expected to happen or arrive at a particular time
eg The train is due in exactly 25 minutes.
Their baby is due in October.
She is due to arrive at 5:30.
The meeting is due to start in 5 minutes.
2. porch (para. 1)
(AmE) a structure attached to the entrance of a hou that has a roof and that may or may not have walls
Collocations: a front/back porch, an enclod porch (=a porch that has walls)
童年回忆
3. Steve Brand polishes his car parked in front of his hou. (para. 1)
波罗蜜多parked in front of his hou: past participle phra ud as an attributive qualifier More examples:
a book written by Mark Twain
memory sticks made in Canada
an IMAX cinema opened last week
a 3-D movie produced in the US
4. A Good Humor man (para. 1)
a man who lls Good Humor products
Good Humor: an American brand of ice cream sold from ice cream trucks as well as stores. The Good Humor Company started in Youngstown, Ohio during the early 1920s and covered most of the country by the mid 1930s. At its peak in the 1950s, the company operated 2,000 “sales cars”.
5. ... and is just stopping to ll (para. 1)
stop to do sth: to stop (doing what you are doing in order ) to do sth el
More examples:
She was working. When she saw me, she stopped to talk to me.
I worked the whole day. I only stopped to eat my meals.
I had to stop to ask direction many times.
6. a couple of (para. 1)
two of the same kind or a small number of
More examples:
a couple of days/weeks/months/years, a couple of people, another/first/next/last couple of hours/weeks, etc
7. gossip (para. 1)
to spend time talking to somebody about other people’s behavior and privat e lives or about other things that do not concern onelf
8. Another man waters his lawn. (para. 1)
Like “water”, the following nouns can also be ud as verbs:
land, screw, face, back, grade, score, question, fish, book, ship, paper, truck, bike, dust, etc
More examples:
The workers are loading goods from a ship.
She slowly backed the car into the garage.
Before we move in we have to paper the room first.
Would you plea book a ticket for me?
9. a tremendous roar (para. 2)
a terrible continuous loud noi, especially made by animals like lions, or by a man or
a machine
10. A flash of light plays on (para. 2)
A flash of light shines on and moves about on
11. ... stands there speechless. (para. 2)
“Speechless” here is ud as the subject complement denoting the state “the man” is in. It is not ud to modify the verb “stands”.
More examples:
The sun was burning hot.
He was lying there, fast asleep.
Three months later, she came back home, penniless.
12. from across the street (para. 2)
The preposition “from” can be followed by another preposition. Draw students’ attention to the u of such double prepositions.
More examples:
He jumped from behind the tree.
She drew a gun from inside the drawer.
I came from beyond the mountains.
13. Guess it was a meteor, honey. Came awful clo, didn’t it? (para. 7)
Ellipsis is common in speaking. In both of the ntences above, the subject is dropped. “Guess ” should be “” and “Came ” should be “It came ”
14. We e a man screwing in a light bulb on a (para. 8)
Let students imagine themlves reporting to the police what they have en or heard in a rious fight which finally led to a murder ca.
They may u the following expressions:
I saw sb do/doing sth
I heard sb do/doing sth
I found sb doing sth
15. ... finding that nothing happens. (para. 8)
... finding that the light is not on.
孔子拜师
nothing happens:ud to say that what you do does not bring about a result you expect
More examples:
I knocked at the door for five minutes, but nothing happened. (=There was no answer.)
I shut my eyes and was ready for a good beating, but nothing happened.
16. A Man working on an electric power mower plugs in the plug. (para. 8)
A Man who’s going to mow his lawn put the plug of an electric power mower into the socket.
work on: (phrasal verb) to be in the process of doing sth
More examples:
