A common use for Storyboard That is to help students create a plot diagram of the events from a novel. Not only is this a great way to teach the parts of the plot, but it reinforces major events and help students develop greater understanding of literary structures.
Students can create a storyboard capturing the narrative arc in a novel with a six-cell storyboard containing the major parts of the plot diagram. For each cell have students create a scene that follows the story in sequence using Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.
On quiet, suburban Maple Street, somewhere in America, the inhabitants notice a meteor-like object fly overhead. After it passes, all electronics and electricity go dead.
A young boy named Tommy tells a story he read about aliens arriving from outer space. Believing his story, the people start to suspect each other of being secret aliens.
One resident, Pete Van Horn, leaves to check the next block over. Meanwhile, Mr. Goodman's car mysteriously starts. Everyone accuses him of being an alien. Steve tries to talk some sense into the mob, but fails. He becomes a suspect as attention is directed to the radio in his basement!
The mob sees a figure coming towards them. Charlie grabs a gun and accidentally shoots Van Horn, who has returned. Suddenly, Charlie's lights go on, and now he is the prime suspect.
Everyone is hysterical. Charlie screams that the real alien is Tommy, the young boy who knew the events before they happened.
In the end, aliens watch the town as it destroys itself. A simple trick by the aliens turned the residents against each other; they themselves were the monsters, not the aliens.
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a visual plot diagram of The Monsters are Due on Maple Street.
Ask the students to identify the themes present in the story and view them holistically in order to connect them with wider ideas in the narrative. Viewing themes from a broader perspective will help the students to connect them with different ideas and analyze different relationships.
Talk about the connections between the characters' issues and the ideas. Consider how the interior struggles of the characters relate to a topic, like the "struggle for identity," for example. Students can connect these character conflicts to wider themes and topics.
Analyze how the text's symbols and motifs depict or support the topics. Consider how a repeating symbol, such as a bird, may be utilized to represent the subject of "freedom," for instance. Encourage the students to connect these symbols with the characters and how the use of such language is important for the representation of the characters.
Analyze how the themes affect the way the characters interact with one another. Talk about if their interactions support or contradict the theme. Ask the students to draw these relationships visually and analyze the impact of these relationships on the development of the narrative and the characters.
Ask the students to reflect on all the information that they have acquired so far and organize this information in an understandable manner. Students can create theme charts and write critical analysis to support their discussion with the help of facts.
Rising hostility and mistrust among the locals are part of the action. They start to believe that they are the "monsters" behind the weird happenings. Students can analyze the hysteria and mass panic unfolding at this point and connect it with the previous and next parts in the plot diagram.
The conclusion exposes that the real "monsters" are mysterious powers controlling what happens on Maple Street. The narrative concludes by suggesting that same pattern may occur elsewhere. It also suggests that the aliens think that humans might be easy to take over as they are themselves responsible for their own tragedies.
The narrative is used as a means of examining how people react to fear and uncertainty, with the goal of finally conveying a potent message about the dangers of prejudice and the brittleness of societal order.