The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street

1. Physical and Atmospheric Setting before the aliens come Saturday afternoon, Maple Street, October Picket fences, football game on, lawns being mowed, sprinklers rotating Good Humor man selling ice cream Atmospheric Peaceful, idyllic small town life

2. Physical setting after the aliens come A bedlam An outdoor asylum for the insane Dark Bodies draped over porch railings Windows broken Street lights smashed Screams and shouts of anger Atmospheric setting = horrifying

3. Events that caused the setting to change 1. “meteor” flies overhead 2. everything stops 3. Tommy mentions Martians 4. Ned Rosen’s car starts by itself 5. Darkness falls 6. Killing of Pete Van Horn 7. lights begin to go on and off

1. Characters Steve Brand – leader and thinker/ruled by logic ex-marine, take charge kind of guy p. 286 Charley Farnsworth – accuser and bully/ruled by passions/instinct fat, dumpy, wears loud Hawaiian sport shirt, easily scared, selfish, wants to save his own skin, compared to animals p. 282

Characters continued Tommy Bishop – unintentional instigator Ned Rosen – scapegoat, feels like an animal at bay (feels hunted and trapped) Mrs. Sharp – accuser/gossip impatient, short tempered, loud mouth p. 281

1. Complication? Occurs when the “meteor” flies overhead and everything stops.

2. Conflict? Man vs himself – townspeople try to control their own fears but eventually fear gets the best of them and they turn on one another. Their uncontrolled fear leads to the next conflict. Man vs man – illogical suspicion of others leads the townspeople to turn against one another

3. Crisis? Shooting of Pete Van Horn – crossed the line into violence – people released their emotions and now can’t stop fear from spiraling out of control

4. Climax? Occurs when everyone turns on each other and kills each other

5. Falling action? Resolution? Falling Action – occurs when the aliens discuss how they take over the world. Take away their machines and plunge them into darkness and watch fear overtake them. P. 301 Resolution – Wednesday afternoon new residents move in – ones with two heads p. 302

6. Evidence A person’s idiosyncrasy Cars starting by themselves Looking at the sky – Ned Rosen Working on ham radios – Steve Brand Liking Martian stories – Tommy Bishop Cars starting by themselves Lights going on and off

1. Gain control Take away things we think are necessary – like machines, phones, tv’s, etc., let darkness set in, and watch fear take over. Let mankind’s fears motivate them to turn on one another.

2. Theme Fear and suspicion can cause peaceful people to turn on one another. Mankind is its own worst enemy. Prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy, and the thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own.

12. Historical times Japanese Internment Camps Post 911 profiling McCarthyism Salem witch trials

13. Figurative language Maple Street was a bedlam. It was an outdoor asylum for the insane. – metaphor A 12 year old boy had planted a seed. And something (Fear) was growing out of the street with invisible branches that began to wrap themselves around the men and women and pull them apart. Metaphor p. 287 A fever had taken hold now, a hot burning virus that twisted faces and forced out words… implied metaphor p. 300

The nail on the coffin…one dumb, ordinary, simple idiosyncrasy of a human being – and that was probably all it would take. Metaphor He (Ned Rosen) was an animal at bay. – Metaphor p. 292 Charlie Farnsworth’s piggish little eyes flapped open. Implied metaphor Charley squealed. Implied metaphor

Charley whinnied. Implied metaphor Charley’s horse whinny. Implied metaphor Charley trots over. Implied metaphor

Like a hippopotamus in a circus simile p. 299 A hundred yards away the figure (Pete Van Horn) collapsed like a piece of clothing blown off a line by the wind. – simile p. 297 Why, it’s like going back into the Dark Ages or something! Simile p. 293 Charley…looked like a piece of uncooked dough, quivering and shaking in the light of the lantern… simile p. 297

They blinked foolishly at the lights and their mouths gaped like fishes simile p.28 People stopped as motionless as statues simile p. 299

Fear whipped at the back of his brain. = personification p. 300 Sick engine was getting deeper and hoarser personification p. 287 Feeling the suspicion that flowed from the people – personification p. 292 The dull, dumb, blind prejudice of the man personification p. 294

No clickety-click – onomatopoeia p. 281 Everyone on the street looked up at the sound of the whoosh – onomatopoeia p. 281