Name: ________________________________________
Date: ___________________________________
Advanced English Period: ______
Due: Fri., Nov. 4, 2016
#:_____
Section: UNITS
“The Monkey’s Paw” PACKET
Directions: Answer the following questions about “The Monkey’s Paw.” Please be detailed in your answers, but
do not write an essay; a sentence or two is just fine, but you must include detail. You can use bulleted lists when
appropriate.
1. Atmosphere or mood is the feeling of the reader which is created by the author in a literary work. Writers
use many devices to create mood, such as images, dialogue, setting, and the plot itself. Sometimes an
author creates a mood at the beginning of a story and sustains the mood throughout. At other times,
however, the mood of a work may change dramatically. A few examples of mood included suspenseful,
happy, confident, frightening, tense, humorous, positive, and so forth.
(a.)
What is the mood or atmosphere of “The Monkey’s Paw” at the beginning of the story?
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(b.)
What was the tone that led you to your answer? Be specific!
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(c.)
What is the mood or atmosphere of “The Monkey’s Paw” at the end of the story?
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(d.)
What was the tone that led you to your answer? Be specific
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2. Complete the indirect characterization chart below for Mr. White. Choose one “advanced” character
trait to describe Mr. White and provide one example for each section of the chart (if possible) to
support the character trait.
Advanced character trait to describe Mr. White: ____________________________
Speech
Thoughts
Effects on
others
Actions
Looks
3. What is foreshadowed by Morris’s statement, “’I don’t know what the first two were, but the third was
for death?’“ ____________________________________________________________________________
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3a. Find another example of foreshadowing in the story; tell what this example foreshadowed.
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4. What do the following items symbolize?
a. GAME OF CHESS
Meaning
What theme could this
symbol support?
What does the game
possibly foreshadow?
b. MONKEY’S PAW
Meaning
What theme could this
symbol support?
5. Find one other possible symbol in the story? Remember, symbols can be characters, objects, or even
actions.
What is the symbol?______________________________________________________________________
What does the symbol possibly represent? ___________________________________________________
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What is the purpose of the symbol? _________________________________________________________
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6. What were the wishes made by the Whites? Why does Mrs. White want the second wish?
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7. How have the wishes affected Mrs. White? How have they affected Mr. White? Fill in the chart below
with your responses. Then, determine who has been most affected by the conflict?
Mrs. White
Mr. White
Who was most affected by the conflict?
8. What is the mood in the house the morning after Sgt. Morris leaves the Whites (before Herbert leaves
for work)? _____________________________________________________________________________
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9. What is ironic (if you don’t know the meaning of the word, look it up in the dictionary) about the
amount of money given to the Whites following the accident? __________________________________
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10. From what point of view is this story written? How do you know this?
Point of View
How do you know?
11. If this story were written from Mr. White’s point of view, how would the ending be different for the
reader? _______________________________________________________________________________
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12. What is the mood in the house after Sergeant-Major Morris tells the family how he acquired the paw?
How did the author use tone to develop this mood?
Mood
How tone was used to develop mood
13. After Herbert goes to bed, how does the author create an unnerving mood in the reader?
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14. How is the mood in “The Monkey’s Paw” similar to the mood in the novel The Name of the Game was
Murder? __________________________________________________________________________________
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15. How is the relevance of the setting in both stories different?
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16. Plot the events on the story on the plot mountain on the next page. Make sure you really think about
the central conflict and match it with the correct resolution!
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