Short Story of the Month
"The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" by Rod Serling
Focus: Mood & Tone
Act 1: Mood and Tone Analysis
Part 1 - Mood
1. What mood is created at the start of Act 1? Read the excerpt below and list three
adjectives to describe the mood.
The CAMERA has begun to PAN DOWN until it passes the horizon and on a sign which
reads, "Maple Street." PAN DOWN until we are shooting down at an angle toward the
street below. It's a tree-lined, quiet residential American street, very typical of the small
MAPLE ST.
town. The houses have front porches on which people sit and swing on gliders, conversing
across from house to house. Steve Brand polishes his car parked in front of his house. His
neighbor, Don Martin, leans against the fender watching him. A Good Humor man rides a
bicycle and is just in the process of stopping to sell some ice cream to a couple of kids. Two
women gossip on the front lawn. Another man waters his lawn.
TYPE HERE
TYPE HERE
TYPE HERE
