Lucille Fletcher Biography RACE Response
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Name ________________________________ Period _____ Points Possible: Lucille Fletcher Biography RACE Response on Canvas +28 “The Hitchhiker” Comprehension Questions____/136 (4 points for each question) Essay Rough Draft ____/14 Essay +38 (on Canvas) Violet Lucille Fletcher was born March 28, 1912, in Brooklyn, New York. She attended Bay Ridge High School where she was president of the honor society and editor of the school newspaper. Fletcher dreamed of becoming a famous author and created goals that included leadership and earning a college degree. Because she loved public speaking, she joined the debate team where she learned grace under pressure, and critical thinking skills. In 1929, as an eleventh grader, she was declared the champion student orator (speaker) at the regional competition sponsored by The New York Times at The Town Hall in Washington, D.C.. Fletcher was the only female finalist in the entire state of New York and received an all-expense paid trip to South America, a gold medal, a cash prize of $1,000 (about $13,000 today) and an opportunity to compete for the national championship. She placed third in the national competition where she was judged by five justices of the United States Supreme Court. After Fletcher graduated high school, she used her prize money to attend Vassar College. She earned a Bachelor of Arts with honors in 1933 and took her first job at CBS typing scripts for plays as well as reading them with other writers. She loved it and decided she wanted to write plays as well. Though television was invented in the 1920’s, most American households did not have TVs until the late 1950’s. Before then, families gathered around the radio to listen to their favorite plays. These plays took the form of dramas, mysteries, or comedies. Actors on the radio station read their lines into a microphone with dramatic flair. Background music help set the mood. Sound effects were an important part of radio plays and were often produced in the radio studio. Sheet metal shaken up and down replaced rolling thunder. A wooden match, broken close to a microphone, sounded like a baseball bat striking a ball. Coconut halves clapped against wood imitated the sound of horses’ hooves. One of Fletcher’s most famous radio plays was, “The Hitchhiker”. She got the idea for it after twice seeing a strange-looking man (first on the Brooklyn Bridge and, again, on the Pulaski Skyway, New Jersey) while driving to Hollywood with her then-husband, Bernard Herrmann. “The Hitchhiker” is about a man who drove across the United States and was shadowed by the same hitchhiker everywhere. In 1941, it debuted (day-bued) on The Orson Welles Show. It was so popular that it was revised as an episode of TV's The Twilight Zone in 1942 where Welles plays the part of Nan Adams. Fletcher wrote more than twenty radio plays and two stage plays. She went on to write ten mystery novels, her last in 1988. Her works were suspenseful, full of mystery and often terrifying. She received the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Lucille died in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, on August 31, 2000, of a stroke at her home. She was 88 years old. 2 Log into Canvas and open RACE Response (Fletcher) to do this assignment. Using the RACE strategy and the 4Cs, cite TWO details from the biography to support this statement: Lucille Fletcher is a celebrated American author. Follow the rubric and sample response below to ensure you meet the requirements. +28 This is graded in Canvas. FOLLOW THIS RECIPE Restate the question Answer the question Cite information (quote) Explain (how does your quote answer the question?) Cite information (quote) Use a sentence starter from the citation list above. Explain (how does your quote answer the question?) Use a sentence starter from the explain list above. Conclusion statement (sum it up) Example – Describe two characteristics that make Tracey Brown a celebrated American author. Tracey Brown is a celebrated American author and there are two characteristics that add to her success. The first characteristic is that she spent years learning how to write. In paragraph three the author states, “Brown took every writing class offered in high school and read over 100 novels her senior year”. This explains how determined she was to learn the craft of writing. The second characteristic of her success is that she did not give up. According the passage , “Brown was rejected by six publishers, but that didn’t stop her. Her seventh submission was picked up by Atlas Press in 2001 where her novel, The Stranger, became a NY Times best seller. This proves that determination is crucial when following one’s dreams. It’s clear after reading this article that Tracey Brown’s success as one of America’s foremost writers didn’t just happen by luck; she worked for it. 3 “The Hitchhiker” Text Dependent Directions: Complete the following Questions questions. Use the 4Cs in ALL responses. 1. Explain what point of view “The Hitchhiker” is told AND how you know? 2. Read these lines and explain how the impact the story. “I’ve got to speak quickly. At any minute the link may break. This may be the last thing I ever tell on earth-the last night I ever see the stars” (94). 3. What can you infer Adams does for a living based on his destination? 5. There are examples of foreshadowing in this story. From the Tic Tac Toe chart, explain what foreshadowing means. Thinking about what Ronald’s mom says to him, explain how this is foreshadowing. Include a citation and page number from the text. 6. Explain the mood at the beginning of the play. 4 7. From the Tic Tac Toe chart, explain what flashback means. Cite text from the story that proves that this story is a flashback (include a page number). 8. Describe the exposition so far: Cite text from the story that tells the reader where the story takes place (include a page number). Describe the weather at the beginning of Ronald’s trip. How does this impact the text? Who is the protagonist? ________________________________________ Who is the antagonist? _________________________________________ 9. A conflict in literature is defined as any struggle between opposing forces. Usually, the protagonist struggles against some other force. This type of conflict is what drives each and every story. Without it, the story would have no point or purpose. At this point in the story, determine the conflict: (Circle the conflict) Man vs Self (internal) Man vs Man (external) Man vs Society (external) Man vs Nature (external) 5 10. Answer these questions about Ronald’s encounter with the gas station attendant: Infer why Adams stops at the first gas station when his gas tank isn’t yet empty. Why does Ronald ask the gas station attendant if it had been raining? Why is this detail included? What is explicitly stated about why there aren’t hitchhikers on the turnpike? 11. There are many examples of figurative language in this story. From the Tic Tac Toe chart, explain what figurative language is AND why authors use it: Determine what type of figurative language these examples are and WHY the author included them: “It was a bright shiny afternoon. The peaceful Ohio fields, brown with the autumn stubble, lay dreaming in golden light…” (4). “I was driving slowly, drinking it all in, when the road suddenly ended in a detour” (4). 6 12. Irony is used in this story as well. From the Tic Tac Toe chart, explain what irony is and WHY authors use it. When Ronald sees the Hitchhiker when he is stopped at a detour in Ohio, the Hitchhiker approaches his vehicle, “Goin’ to California?!” (4)? Cite textual evidence that supports that his response is ironic. 13. Summarize Ronald’s encounter with the storekeeper. What is the purpose of this encounter and how does it impact the text? . 14. Imagery is used throughout this story. From the Tic Tac Toe chart, define imagery. Explain why the following citation qualifies as imagery: “A perfectly airless, dry day. The red clay of Oklahoma was baking under the southwestern sun…yet there were spots of fresh rain on his shoulders” (6). 7 15. Explain what Adams is doing and his motivation for his actions in the following line. What are his actions in response to? “He didn’t even look up at me. He was staring at the ground. I stepped on the gas hard, veering the wheel sharply toward him. I could hear the train in the distance now, but I didn’t care” (6). 16. What does the word “beckoning” mean as using in the line “Now I knew that he was beckoning— beckoning me to my death!” (6)? 17. Why do you think the hitchhiker might be beckoning Ronald to his death? 18. Infer why Adams does not want to be alone in his vehicle anymore based on the line, “I only knew that from now on—I mustn’t let myself alone on the road for one minute” (6)? 19. What type of figurative language is this: “Uh, you mind if I take off my shoes? My feet are killin' me” (6). ______________________ What can you infer why the woman would say this? 8 20. Explain why Adams asks the female hitchhiker about hitchhiking when he says “…I’ll bet you get a good pick up on a fast car, if you did, you could get places faster than, say another person in another car, couldn’t you?” (6).