Mr. Nick
8th Grade Language Arts
Team 842
“The Monkey’s Paw”
Name:_______________________________________
1. Describe the setting as the story begins: ________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Literary Element: How does the setting help set the mood for the story? _________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. How long had Sergeant Major Morris been on his adventures? ________________________________
Literary Element: What does this tell you about him? _________________________________________
3. Why did the old fakir put a spell on the monkey’s paw? ______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4. How do the Whites react when Major Morris throws the monkey's paw onto the fire?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
5. What assumption could we make about the paw from the comment that the sergeant major made,
“I threw it on the fire. If you keep it, don’t blame me for what happens.”
_________________________________________________________________________________ ___
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Literary Element: This assumption we can make (above) is an example of _________________________
6. How was Mr. White’s first wish fulfilled? _________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
7. How did Mr. White phrase his second wish? _______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Why is Mrs. White overjoyed at the knocking on the door?? Why is Mr. White horrified?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Literary Element: What are two conflicts in "The Monkey's Paw"? What types of conflict (physical, moral,
intellectual, or emotional) did you notice in this story? Explain each.(Hint: the conflicts belong to the main
characters).
Type__________________
__________________________________________________________
Type__________________
__________________________________________________________
10. Literary Element: What are some themes in the story? How do they relate to the plot and characters?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
11. Literary Element: What could the monkey’s paw be a symbol for?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph Response
Do you think Sergeant Major Morris is to blame for what happened to the Whites? Or are the Whites
themselves to blame? Write a paragraph stating your choice and then explaining clearly why you are correct.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________