Literary Conflict in The Monsters are Due on Maple Street

Literary conflicts are often taught during ELA units. Building on prior knowledge to achieve mastery level with our students is important. An excellent way to focus on the various types of literary conflict is through storyboarding. Having students choose an example of each literary conflict and depict it using the storyboard creator is a great way to reinforce your lesson!

Conflict is not only present, but is also an important recurring element in this story. Much of the conflict stems from the paranoia and hysteria the people create while they are searching to blame someone.

MAN vs. SELF

The residents of Maple St. are unable to control their fear. This leads to Charlie shooting Peter Van Horn.

MAN vs. SOCIETY

It seems the only person not joining the mob, was Steve. Throughout the story, he manages to keep a level head, and tries not to jump to accusing anyone. He remains logical and rational, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation. This runs very counter to the rest of the neighborhood.

MAN vs. MAN

Paranoia causes neighbors to turn on each other. A perfect example of this is how Charlie turned on Les when his car mysteriously started!

Student Instructions

Create a storyboard that shows at least three forms of literary conflict in The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.

1. Click "Start Assignment".
2. Identify conflicts in The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.
3. Categorize each conflict as Character vs. Character, Character vs. Self, Character vs. Society, Character vs. Nature, or Character vs. Technology.
4. Illustrate conflicts in the cells, using characters from the play.
5. Write a short description of the conflict below the cell.