The Monkey's Paw

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What horror movies scare you the most? What makes a movie scary? 

Teaching Suggestion: You can start by giving a few examples of modern horror films or classic stories such as Frankenstein or Dracula. To help students understand what makes a story scary, you can mention the ideas of suspense, death, or gore to connect them to the theme of The Finality of Death.

• This article explains what makes something suspenseful and gives examples from popular movies to analyze different elements of suspense.
• The episode “Eye of the Beholder” of the show The Twilight Zone is a horror classic. This clip could serve as an entry point for a discussion about anticipation, suspense, and irony.
• As an alternative to watching the Twilight Zone, the poem “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe is also a classic example of a suspenseful narrative.

2. Can you think of any cautionary tales, myths, or folktales about dangerous wishes? What are some common themes or lessons from these stories?

Teaching Suggestion: Students can research folktales from different cultures to compare and contrast different lessons about wishing. It may be beneficial to discuss situational irony, which features heavily in many cautionary tales about wishes. To engage students, you can start by analyzing clips from the movie Aladdin, which includes similar plot and thematic elements of three wishes and The Dangers of Wishful Thinking. If not all students are familiar with the movie, a plot summary might be necessary before showing the clips.

• This site from the University of Pittsburgh gives examples of short folktales from all over Europe. 
• This clip from the movie Aladdin (1992) shows how the villain Jafar was ultimately defeated because of his wishes. This connects to the theme of The Dangers of Wishful Thinking.
• This article from ThoughtCo is a collection of definitions and examples of situational irony in fiction and nonfiction. It also explains the difference between situational irony and other types of irony. Here is another page on irony with examples from literature.

Differentiation Suggestion: Using a chart or Venn diagram may be useful to help students compare and contrast lessons or plot elements from different stories. To extend the lesson further for advanced learners, consider having students write their own cautionary tale involving wishes.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the story.

If you had the opportunity to make three wishes, what would you wish for? Consider the potential consequences of each wish. Could there be any negative impacts or unintended consequences that you should be aware of? How might you ensure that your wishes bring you joy without harming yourself or others? In your response, think deeply about what you truly desire and why. Are your wishes selfish or selfless? Would they improve the lives of others, or just your own? Are there alternative ways to achieve your goals, or are your wishes truly unattainable without supernatural intervention?

Teaching Suggestion: By asking students to consider what they would wish for if they had the power of the monkey’s paw, you can help them engage more deeply with the theme of The Dangers of Wishful Thinking. This will help them understand how wishes can have unforeseen consequences and apply it to their own desires. One way to structure the discussion is to have the students share their wishes with a partner or small group, then come together as a class to share their top wishes and discuss the potential consequences of each one. 

Differentiation Suggestion: For English Learners or students who benefit from writing adaptations, consider having students give oral responses instead of written responses. Students may also benefit from additional processing time to brainstorm their responses.