Fiction Unit – Horror & Suspense
For this unit you will read some horror and suspense literature.
- The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs
- The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Hitchhiker by Shirley Jackson – text not available online
- The Third Wish by Joan Aiken
- The Lady or the Tiger by Frank R. Stockton
In my classroom, we like to begin with the end in mind when it comes to what we hope to master as we come out of a unit of study. You will work to answer these core questions; the projects you choose MUST illustrate a crystal clear understanding of the concepts questioned.
- How do different authors build suspense? (Pick 2 stories/authors) (Compare/Contrast)
- How do the decisions we make reflect upon our view of the world and ourselves? Explain your decision and what it says about you. Use details from the story to support your explanation. (Pick 1 story)
- Write to explain how different authors establish mood differently (writers’ styles) for varying purposes. (Pick 2 stories not used for any other question) (Compare/Contrast)
- Justify why you agree or disagree with the end result of the story. How well do you understand Justice & Fairness? What do you consider JUSTICE and FAIRNESS? (Pick 2 stories not used for any other question)
- Pick three literary techniques used in the selections. Explain how using those techniques served the author’s purpose. (Pick 1 story not used in any other question)
Ultimately, you will be measured on how high you score in each of the Six Facets of Understanding as well. You can look at the rubrics for this (and any project relative to the Six Facets of Understanding HERE (being built).
For this unit, several project options are offered that, when completed will help students gain enduring understandings beyond the goals and objectives mentioned for this unit.
Students have to pick a TAC (straight line) on a THINK-TAC-TOE menu such as the winning line in a game of Tic-Tac-Toe. Here are the Fiction Unit – Horror & Suspense Menu Options; your choices must connect Tic-Tac-Toe Style.
1. Complete Book Dust Jacket with Review
Write a book review and incorporate it into a book jacket based on one of the stories in the unit of study. It should be colorful and look professional, as well as state your opinion on the book, story, poem, etc. and why others should/should not read it. You will have to provide proof of the writing/creative process. Here’s the Dust Jacket Creator at ReadWriteThink. Use it if you like to create a ROUGH DRAFT of your Dust Jacket. Your final product needs to be completely original artwork done by hand. You must have completed each stage of this creation process: (1) Penciled & Shaded, (2) Inked Lines & Letters, (3) Colored.
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2. Persuasive Essay or Moral Argument
A moral lesson states the main message or lesson one is supposed to have learned after reading or interacting with a piece of artwork be it written, stage performed, painted, whatever. For instance, the idea that people should be careful of what they wish for, as they might get their wish in the stories “The Third Wish” and “The Monkey’s Paw”. You will create an organized argument. You will have to provide proof that you have taken this through the writing process: Brainstorming, Planning, Drafting, Proofing, Final Drafting. This will go in your cumulative writing portfolio. What you will turn in: A typed 5 (or more) paragraph essay with a clear position statement, evidence and support of that position, and a conclusion. Below are some rubrics to choose from. |
3. Comic Strip or Editorial Cartoon
Here are a couple of comic creator sites you can use to create ROUGH DRAFTS for any comic or editorial cartoon. Your final product needs to be completely original artwork done by hand. You must have completed each stage of this creation process: (1) Penciled & Shaded, (2) Inked Lines & Letters, (3) Colored. Editorial Cartoons are not easy to pull off. I suggest you read about them before you decide to do one of these.
RUBRICS |
4. TV Commercial/Cinema Style Preview/Trailer;Book Trailer/Movie Trailer
Pretend that you turned one of the stories you’ve read into a movie.Create a preview that will advertise your film.This may be presented as a trailer, or as a storyboard, or as a power point. Be creative.You will have to provide proof of the writing/creative process. What you will turn in:
See rubrics for more details. |
5. STUDENT CHOICE
Students may complete a self-designed project based on the unit theme.Teacher approval required |
6. Create a Test
Your test must include
Your test MUST NOT include
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7. A Movie Poster w/ Warning Label and Movie Trailer Scirpt
Imagine you are an artist working in Hollywood. Your job is to create the movie poster for an upcoming smash hit “Insert the name of your novel/short story/narrative poem here”. The movie poster will need to include all of the following information:
You may create this poster manually or use any website or software application you wish to use. I must alert you, though, to the fact that there is an excellent tool available online at BigHugeLabs.com . |
8. Stage or Video Production Adaptation
There are many ways one could adapt a text for a performance. Here are some rubrics to choose from.
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9. Inspired Game
Imagine you are a game inventor working for MosheBro Toys. Create a game built around the central theme or conflict of the story/novel/poem you are creating it for. The game must be COMPLETELY CREATED including packaging, all game parts, rules, etc. Here are some suggestions – HERE. The game can be modeled after a well known established game such as (but not limited to): Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Monopoly, Are you Smarter Than Who?, The Weakest Link. Here are some rubrics to choose from. |
For this unit you will read some horror and suspense literature.
- The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs
- LISTEN
- The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
- LISTEN
- The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
- LISTEN
- The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe
- LISTEN
- The Hitchhiker by Shirley Jackson – text not available online
- LISTEN
- The Third Wish by Joan Aiken
- LISTEN
- The Lady or the Tiger by Frank R. Stockton
- LISTEN
Below, you’ll find resources I use as part of this unit of study. Included here are links to eTexts of the various selections and impressive amateur and professional quality embedded video performances/creations of full-length and abbreviated adaptations and movie trailers.
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The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs
- This document incorporates prereading prediction & vocabulary, guided reading questions, not-so-rigorous follow up questions, and a culminating essay – The Monkeys Paw Start to Finish Study Guide.
- Complete a Plot Diagram as well.
- OR
- While reading the Monkey’s Paw, answer these guided reading questions: The Monkey’s Paw Guided Reading Questions.
- After reading, complete these questions: The Monkey’s Paw Rigorous Follow Up Questions.
- Complete a Plot Diagram as well.
OH! and you can watch the film too.
—- The Monkey’ Paw Halloween Special – An Adapted Stage Performance —–
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The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
—- The Tell-Tale Heart adaptation on VIMEO —–
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart Extended Cut from Ryan Shovey on Vimeo.
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The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
The Raven read by Christopher Lee.
The Raven read by James Earl Jones.
Lenore & The Raven read and dramatized by Aaron Quinn
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The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe
- Complete these 14 questions – The Black Cat Guided Reading Questions
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The Hitchhiker by Shirley Jackson
This must be read in class.
Movie Trailers . . .This trailer was created using iMovie by Eric B. (2013-2014). Besides being a rad movie trailer producer, he is also a skilled percussionist.
Twilight Zone S01E16 – The HitchHiker – We will watch either clips from or the entire episode to further deepen our background in this important literary genre.
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The Third Wish by Joan Aiken
Here is a sample movie trailer for The Third Wish.
I’m hoping that after this year, I will have a quality sample adaptation of this story to post.
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The Lady or the Tiger by Frank R. Stockton
Here is a sample movie trailer for The Lady or the Tiger.
Here is another sample movie trailer for The Lady or the Tiger.
Here is a very abbreviated adaptation of The Lady or the Tiger LEGO style.
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Cool Resources at Our English Class (not Mr Moshé’s class) –
You’re going to love what you find here. What if you got the following assignment: Take the the content from a real movie that has actually been made, and create a movie trailer for it as if it were a completely different genre. For instance, what if I asked you to take the horror film, The Shining and create a movie trailer for it as a comedy. Well, this guy actually gives this assignment to his graduate film school students. Here are some of them.
The Shining as a Romantic Comedy called, Shining —–
Mary Poppins as a horror film called Scary Mary —–
Dumb and Dumber as horror film called Lurker —–
Uncle Buck, the comedy, as a horror story called . . . Uncle Buck —–
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Here’s a bonus radio play. The epic original recording of Orson Welles presenting The War Of The Worlds – original Radio Broadcast year, 1938.
Thank you for the fresh approach.
My pleasure. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for further improvement.
This is an amazing unit. Thanks so much for sharing.
My pleasure. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for further improvement.
Fantastic ideas. Thanks for posting and sharing. My students will love it too.
Always updating this…Added a link to the Read Write Think Book Cover Creator this morning.