RD of Your TZ Episode

Imagine that Rod Serling has chosen you to write the next episode of the Twilight Zone.  The deadline for your RD is Wednesday, Oct. 30!

To find some TZ links, look to the left side of the page. You can watch full episodes on the Internet; some are free, and some are not.

Try:

• Hulu
• Netflix
• Amazon
• CBS.com

Consider these aspects of your episode:

    Possible TZ  Topics (not Themes!)

• Humans’ and Aliens’ reactions to each other
• The Afterlife/Zombies, etc.
• Dreams/Nightmares
• Hallucinations
• Humans trying to live on other planets
• Inanimate objects coming to life
• Parallel dimensions
• Twins
• Psychic or telekinetic abilities
• Robots
• Technology's effects on humans
• Time travel
• Magic potions
• Curses 

What's your basic story line?

• basic situation
• complications
• climax
• falling action
• resolution

Summarize your plot in one sentence by filling in the blanks:

The main character, _______________________, 

wants _____________________,

but _____________________________________, 

so ____________________________. 

then, in the end, ________________________________.

What's your underlying theme? 

Rod Serling always had a theme to each episode. In other words, he used the storyline to put across

a provocative life lesson or message he wanted the viewer to think about. 

Example: In "Monsters are Due...," he wanted the viewer to consider what happens when people are confronted with situations they're uncomfortable with because they don't understand them. The people began to blame each other, resulting in an unnecessary death of one of the community members. It turns out the aliens didn't have much difficulty whipping the humans into a frenzy because they were easy to manipulate. The question became: Who were the real monsters, after all?

Possible themes: 

• Prejudice and fear can kill because they can lead to physical violence (guns, wars, etc.).
• Avoid pre-judging people based on their idiosyncracies. 

Other themes from various episodes:

• Be careful what you wish for.
• Beauty, or even just "normalcy," is in the eye of the beholder.
• Bad behavior (greed, hate, jealousy) always has negative consequences.
• Ignorance is the root of prejudice.
• Advances in technology are not always positive.
• Too much technology can fracture human relationships.

EPOS Review answers, etc.

1. Make your flashcards! Click on the "MW" tab at the top of the page. Scroll down for #11-20. 

2. Check last night's HW IN COLOR. See below.

3. Investigate the Jeopardy EPOS game. Click on the left side of the page under "Explore these links!" You don't have to write anything, just play the game and test your knowledge.

Answers to last night's EPOS Review (the one currently on the blog from yesterday):
If you did the other one, don't worry about it. Mea culpa (Latin for "my fault"). 

1. around
2. she
3. him
4. eraser
5. lock
6. cream (ice is an adjective describing the cream)
7. older
8. honest
9. kind
10. fast
11. intelligently
12. really
13. down
14. over
15. between
16. ask
17. overcharged
18. eat
19. for
20. and

Thought Questions: "Monsters are Due on Maple Street"

Thought Questions: "Monsters..."

• Thought Questions require higher-order thinking skills. They're more complex than comprehension questions. 
• There's no clear right or wrong answer, so the challenge is to use clear, precise language in your answers. 
• The answers are not in the text; these types of questions require you to make inferences based on what you've read. You should, however, use the text to support your opinions.
• In addition to finishing your vocab worksheet, I'd like you to respond to these questions in JE #16/left and right.

In “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” fear and suspicion motivate the people to suspect their neighbors, causing paranoia and prejudice, ultimately spiraling them down to their own destruction.

• Please refer to your story (teleplay) in your literature book (pg.70). 
• Answer each question in complete sentences. The questions are in italics.
• Try to limit your answers to 50-75 words. 
• In addition to your response, quote one line from the story (teleplay) that supports your answer.

1. FEAR: a distressing emotion aroused by danger, evil, pain, or the unknown, whether the threat is real or imagined. What are the people of Maple Street afraid of, and why?

2. MOTIVE: something that causes a person to act in a certain way, do a certain thing, etc.; incentive; goal or object of a person’s actions. How does FEAR MOTIVATE the characters on Maple Street?

3. SUSPICION: the act of suspecting (to believe to be guilty, false, counterfeit, undesirable, defective, or bad, with little or no proof; to doubt or mistrust for no proven reason). What causes this SUSPICION in the play? How does it “snowball”?

4. PARANOIA: baseless or excessive suspicion of the motives of others. What does the people’s PARANOIA do to the atmosphere of the situation?

5. PREJUDICE: an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed before knowing the truth or the whole story, often without knowledge, thought, or reason (normally directed towards people who are different from yourself). How does this PREJUDICE negatively affect the people of Maple Street? What exactly WAS the aliens’ involvement in this story? Why did their subtle take-over plan work so well? What does this say about human nature?

Monster Words 1-10: HW

HW due Wednesday, October 15:

On 3" x 5" index cards, make flashcards for Monster Words 1-10.

• On the front, write only the word and a picture to trigger the word's definition.
• On the back, write the definition AND the part of speech.
• Feel free to write your words in different styles, color your cards, etc.

Use the flashcards below to guide you.

• In the bottom right, explore the various study modes to play games. 
• Click on the gear wheel to see your options.
• Use the audio function to hear them pronounced!

Are you here yet?

Welcome to our blog! 

Tonight's HW is to finish reading "Three Skeleton Key" (ends of pg. 59 in your LLA book.)
When you finish, play Jeopardy for the story and see how you do!

http://www.superteachertools.com/jeopardy/usergames/Oct201143/game1319817129.php

Journal #1 Table of Contents and Journal Grading Checklist

Congratulations!

 If you've made it here, it tells me you're using 

Zangle to check your HW on Class News! 

Journal #1 Table of Contents

Journal Checklist: Make sure you can answer YES to each of these questions.

Remember: Your Journal is worth 100 points.

• Is each item where it's supposed to be 
• according to the table of contents?
• Is my table of contents neat and complete?
• Is each page titled?
• Is my table of contents EXACTLY like the one below?
• Is every assignment complete?
• Is every single page  numbered (1L/1R, 2L/2R, etc.?
• Did I make corrections and edits in a bright color?
• Does my journal reflect pride of ownership? In other words, am I proud of the work I've done in my journal?