1. The Monkey’s Paw
Short Story by W.W. Jacobs

2. Are you SUPERSTITIOUS? Many people say they aren’t superstitious.
INTRODUCING THE SHORT STORY
Are you SUPERSTITIOUS?
Many people say they aren’t superstitious.
But those same people might own a lucky charm or get nervous on Friday the 13th.

3. INTRODUCING THE SHORT STORY
Are you SUPERSTITIOUS?
Usually these superstitions are harmless, but sometimes they can interfere with a person’s life.
In the selection you are about to read, curiosity about the power of an unusual object brings unexpected consequences. Look for the foreshadowing within the story!

4. INTRODUCING THE SHORT STORY
Are you SUPERSTITIOUS?
DISCUSS
What kind of superstitious behavior do you or people you know believe in?
In a small group, brainstorm a list of common superstitions.
Then discuss which you think are harmless, and which might cause problems or interfere with someone’s life. Share your findings with the class.

5. Meet the Author
Although W.W. Jacobs wrote mostly comic stories, he is best-known for his horrifying tale “The Monkey’s Paw. “
“The Monkey’s Paw” is his most famous tale of suspense and the supernatural.
It was first published in 1902 and made into a one-act play a year later.

6. Jacobs grew up among sailors and dock-workers on the banks of the Thames River in London where he set many of his humorous stories. As an adult, he worked as a bank clerk, a job that bored him, and he wrote in his spare time. He worked at the bank for nearly twenty years before he was able to quit and earn his living as a full-time writer.

7. Story Background
The story was published in The setting of this story takes place in London around the turn of the century.
One of the main characters in the story is a sergeant who has returned from a tour of duty in India. India became a colony of Great Britain in the mid-1800s and did not gain independence until During this time, it was common for British soldiers to serve in India.

8. Mood
Mood is the feeling or atmosphere the writer creates for the reader.
There are as many moods as there are emotions—cheerful, gloomy, anxious.

9. Mood
Writers create mood through
the choice of setting, including
time and place
imagery—descriptions that appeal
to the reader’s senses
conversations between characters
As you read “The Monkey’s Paw,” notice how the story makes you feel and which words or passages make you feel that way.

10. Identify Type of Narrator
You have learned that a narrator is the voice that tells a story.
A third-person narrator is not a character in the story, but, rather, an outside voice.
Now you will learn that a third-person narrator may be objective or subjective.

11. Identify Type of Narrator
An objective narrator reports events in a factual way, without sharing any characters’ hidden thoughts or feelings.
A subjective narrator recounts events with a character’s thoughts, feelings, and observations.

12. Narrator’s Description
Identify Type of Narrator
As you read “The Monkey’s Paw,” try to determine whether it is told by an objective narrator or a subjective one. Use a chart like the one shown below to record the narrator’s observations.
Event
Narrator’s Description

13. compensation
credulity
fate
grimace
peril
resignation
Choose the vocabulary word from the box at right that best completes each sentence below.
1. The old woman’s ________________ allowed the stranger to trick her.
credulity
2. My creepy neighbor wanted ________________ for his broken window.
compensation
3. The sailors faced great _____________ as the storm approached.
peril
4. His ________________ scared the children.
grimace
5. Tom sighed with ________________ upon realizing he was lost.
resignation
6. Had she not been saved, she could have met a terrible ___________.
fate

14. compensation n. something, such as money, received as
payment
credulity n. a disposition to believe too readily
fate n. a power that is thought to determine the course of events
grimace n. a facial expression of pain or disgust
peril n. danger
resignation n. acceptance of something that is inescapable

15.
Full: