*Stage Directors 1, 2, and 3 (SD1, SD2, SD3)
SFX: sound effects, to be read or created by a group
Characters
Choose the character you will play.
*Starred characters have large speaking parts.
Illustrations by Sam Ward
The Fall of the House of Usher
Is this house haunted—or is something else going on?
By Jennifer Dignan | Based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe
From the October 2024 Issue
Learning Objective: to produce a scene from the play, maintaining the eerie mood created by the playwright
Complexity Factors
Lexile: 890L (captions only)
Featured Skill:
Author's Craft,
Other Key Skills: mood, text structure, key ideas and details, critical thinking
Common Core Standards
TEKS Standards
Scene 1
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SD1: Two teens, Jordyn and Parker, sit in a front corner of the stage. They are roasting marshmallows over a backyard firepit.
SD2: Alex emerges from the darkness of the yard.
Alex: Hey y’all! Sorry I’m late. I hope you didn’t eat all the s’mores.
Parker: Nope—not yet!
SD3: Parker hands Alex a stick as she sets down her backpack.
Alex: There’s something I have to show you.
Jordyn: What?
Alex: When we were in Massachusetts last weekend, my parents bought a desk at an antique shop. I found a secret compartment at the back of one of the drawers, and . . .
SD1: Alex reaches into her backpack and pulls out a red leather journal.
Alex: Voilà!
Jordyn: I was kind of hoping for a skull.
Parker: What is that?
Alex: It’s a journal from 1834. It belonged to a guy named Charlie Nelson. I’m guessing he never planned on anyone else reading it.
Jordyn: Why, did he kill someone or something?
Alex: What? No! Just listen. Charlie gets a letter from a childhood friend he hasn’t seen in years, Roderick Usher. Roderick says he’s suffering from some kind of sickness and asks Charlie to come visit to cheer him up. And y’all—
SD2: Alex leans forward, her eyes wide.
Alex: —what happens is crazy.
Jordyn: So grab a marshmallow and tell us about it.
Scene 2
SD3: The teens sit by the firepit. The rest of the stage is dark.
Alex: There was something about Roderick’s house that disturbed Charlie from the moment he saw it.
SD1: Behind them, the lights come up to reveal a run-down stone mansion in the middle of a bog.
SD2: A short causeway leads to the front door, providing a path through the spongy ground and dark, silent waters of the bog.
SD3: A sickly green vapor hovers around the house.
SD1: Charlie Nelson enters the stage on horseback.
SFX: Clop-clop, clop-clop.
Charlie Nelson: Whoa there, girl.
SD2: Horse and rider stare at the mansion. The horse whinnies nervously.
Charlie: I know, girl, I know. The windows . . . they are like empty, staring eyes. . . .
SD3: Charlie waits another moment. Then he signals his horse, and they begin to move slowly toward the house.
SFX: Clop-clop, clop-clop.
Scene 3
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SD1: The stage has transformed into a parlor.
SD2: A suit of armor stands guard in one corner. Books and musical instruments are strewn across the floor.
SD3: A thin, pale man—Roderick Usher—lies on a worn velvet sofa. He is talking quietly with Dr. Taylor.
SD1: Mr. Burke enters the room with Charlie.
SD2: Mr. Burke speaks in a strange, halting whisper.
Mr. Burke: Mr. Charlie . . . Nelson . . . is here to see you, sir.
SD3: Roderick rises and rushes across the room. He grasps Charlie’s hand.
Roderick Usher: Charlie! How wonderful to see you!
Charlie: It’s wonderful to see you too, Roderick. You look—
SD1: Charlie pauses, taking in his friend’s sickly appearance, his sunken eyes and the wispy hair floating around his skull.
Charlie: That is, I’m glad I was able to come.
SD2: Charlie turns to Dr. Taylor.
Charlie: I’m Charlie Nelson, an old friend of Roderick’s.
Dr. Taylor: Ah, I see. I hope you will not . . . Well, good day.
SD3: Dr. Taylor hurries out of the room.
Mr. Burke: Will there . . . be anything else?
Roderick: No, thank you, Mr. Burke.
SD1: As Mr. Burke leaves, Charlie accidentally knocks over a stack of books.
SD2: Roderick’s hands fly to cover his ears.
Roderick: Aaaargh!
Charlie: I’m sorry, I—
Roderick: Oh Charlie, I am as jumpy as a cat. My senses have become unnaturally acute.
SD3: Roderick closes his eyes.
Roderick: A spider crawling across its web sounds like an orchestra—playing the most harsh, unpleasant music.
Charlie: How awful!
Roderick: It’s not just that. I can eat only the blandest food. I can stand only the softest fabrics against my skin. The smell of flowers makes me ill, and I am tormented by even the faintest light.
Charlie: Is there nothing you can do?
Roderick: This condition has cursed my family for generations. I’ve tried everything to cure it; nothing has helped.
SD1: Roderick’s large eyes seem to grow even larger.
Roderick: And the worst part of it is that I am at all times overcome with terror.
Charlie: Are you in some sort of danger?
Roderick: It is not danger that troubles me, except for the fear it leads to.
Charlie: I do not understand.
Roderick: How can I explain? Fear is my enemy—and someday soon it will defeat me.
Charlie: It is awful to see you suffering this way, Roderick.
Roderick (quietly, half to himself): It is to be expected after so many years in this house.
SD2: Just then, a young woman, every bit as pale as Roderick, shuffles past the open door. She sings in a quiet voice, her eyes fixed on some spot in the distance.
Madeline Usher: La-la-la, la-la-la . . .
Charlie: I say, was that your sister, Lady Madeline?
SD3: Roderick buries his face in his hands.
Roderick: Oh, my poor, poor Madeline. She is very ill, often falling into trancelike states where she cannot move a muscle. I fear you will not see her again—at least not alive.
Scene 4
SD1: In his parlor, Roderick stands at an easel, painting.
Charlie: Roderick, I have enjoyed these past few days, but might it not be good to get some fresh air?
Roderick: The house would not like that.
Charlie: What? Surely you cannot believe that the house has, ah—feelings about what you do.
SD2: Just then, Dr. Taylor steps into the room.
Dr. Taylor: Roderick, I am afraid, well—
Roderick: Madeline is dead, isn’t she?
Dr. Taylor: Yes.
Roderick: Then it is time for you to leave this house.
Dr. Taylor: But—
Roderick: I said GO!
SD3: Startled, Dr. Taylor darts out of the room.
Charlie: Roderick, I am so sorry.
Roderick: Oh Charlie, I feel as though my heart has been wrenched from my chest.
Charlie: Is there anything I can do? Perhaps I can help with the arrangements for her burial.
SD1: Roderick shakes his head furiously.
Roderick: No, no, no. We do not need anyone showing up and asking questions. I will see to it that she is placed in a coffin. You can help me carry her down to one of the tombs in the cellar.
Charlie: Of course, my friend.
Illustrations by Sam Ward
Why Do We Love Scary Stuff?
When we watch or read something scary, we feel a rush of energy. Our hearts beat faster, our breathing quickens, our palms sweat. Not everyone enjoys scary stories, but those of us who do like how we can become focused on the moment, free from the routine and worries of everyday life—while knowing deep down that we are not in any actual danger. A scary story can also boost our confidence: We feel strong and proud for making it through to the end.
Scene 5
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SD2: Charlie and Roderick carry a coffin into a small room with damp stone walls.
Charlie (out of breath): The passageway we just came through—why is it lined with copper?
Roderick (out of breath): It was once used to store explosives. Come, let us set her down.
SD3: They place the coffin on a slab of stone.
Roderick: And now let us bid Madeline farewell.
SD1: Charlie helps Roderick turn the lid of the coffin to reveal Madeline’s face.
Charlie: She looks so much like you!
Roderick: Yes, well, we are twins, after all.
Charlie: I did not know. (pause) Look—her cheeks are flushed.
Roderick: On account of her illness, no doubt.
Charlie: Yes, that must be it. I say, she almost appears to be smiling.
Roderick: Perhaps she is finally at peace.
SD2: Roderick places a hand on his sister’s shoulder.
Roderick: Goodbye, sweet Madeline.
SD3: Together, Charlie and Roderick replace the lid of the coffin and screw it down.
SD1: They leave the tomb, pulling its massive iron door closed behind them.
Scene 6
SD2: Charlie and Roderick sit in the parlor.
Charlie: Roderick, I am worried. You look exhausted.
Roderick: I have hardly slept these past three days.
SD3: Mr. Burke enters the room.
Mr. Burke: Sir, would you care for a cup of . . . tea?
SD1: Ignoring Mr. Burke, Roderick turns his head sharply to the right.
Roderick: Did you hear that?
Charlie: No, I heard nothing.
Roderick: What about you, Mr. Burke? Did you hear that?
Mr. Burke: No sir. I did . . . not.
Charlie: Please, Roderick, let me call a doctor for you.
SD2: Roderick swivels his head toward the hallway.
Roderick: There! That sound—that sound!
SD3: Roderick runs out of the room.
Scene 7
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SD1: It is night. Charlie tosses and turns in bed as a storm rages outside.
SFX: Thump. Thump. Thump.
Charlie (sitting up): What was that?
SFX: Thump!
SD2: Charlie jumps out of bed and puts on his slippers.
SD3: Just then . . .
SFX (softly): Knock, knock, knock.
SD1: Charlie opens the door to find Roderick.
Roderick: Have you not seen it?
Charlie: Seen what?
SD2: Roderick strides across the room and throws a window open to the storm.
SFX: Boom! Whoosh!
SD3: Outside, everything is glowing in a strange green light.
Roderick: There! Do you see?
Charlie: I do . . . but there must be some natural explanation, something to do with the storm or the bog. Come now, out of the wind.
SD1: Charlie closes the window. He leads Roderick to a chair, then sits down and, with shaking hands, picks up a book.
Charlie: The storm has unsettled our nerves. Let us just calm down.
SD2: As Charlie begins to read, Roderick turns to face the closed door.
SFX (as from a distance): R-r-r-r-r-i-p!
Charlie (nervously): My goodness! I just read about a tree falling, and then I heard—I mean, I imagined I heard—that very sound.
SD3: Roderick does not respond. Charlie goes back to reading.
SFX (also as from a distance): S-c-r-e-e-e-e-e-c-h!
Charlie (his voice shaking): Ha! What a coincidence. I was just reading about a dragon shrieking as it was slain and then . . . well, it must have been some animal screaming outside.
SD1: Again, Roderick says nothing, and Charlie goes back to reading.
SFX (again as from a distance): Clang! Clang! Clang!
SD2: Charlie leaps to his feet.
Charlie: Roderick, do you hear something?
Illustrations by Sam Ward
Shutterstock.com
SD3: A bizarre grin stretches across Roderick’s face. He turns to look at Charlie.
Roderick: Hear it? Yes, I hear it, and I have heard it. Long, long, long—many minutes, many hours, many days, have I heard it.
Charlie: You are not making sense, my friend.
Roderick: It is Madeline! We put her in the tomb alive!
Charlie (terrified): What are you talking about?
Roderick: She has been struggling for days, and tonight she has finally broken open her coffin, pushed aside the iron door, and stumbled through the copper-lined passage!
Charlie: Roderick, this is madness!
Roderick: Is she not hurrying to this room as we speak? Have I not heard her footstep on the stair?
SD1: Roderick springs to his feet and points at the door.
Roderick: I TELL YOU THAT SHE NOW STANDS OUTSIDE THE DOOR!
SD2: The bedroom door slowly swings open.
SD3: Madeline stands there. Her fingernails are broken and bloody, and her hair is wild.
Madeline (groaning): Ugggggh . . .
SD1: Madeline shuffles forward, her arms stretching toward Roderick.
SD2: She collapses onto her brother and with a final cry—
Madeline and Roderick: Aaaargh!
SD3: —they both fall to the floor, dead.
SD1: Just then, there is a terrible rumbling and the walls begin to shake.
SFX (very loud): R-r-r-r-r-u-u-u-u-h!
SD2: Books tumble off their shelves.
SFX: Thud!
SD3: Paintings crash to the floor.
SFX: Crash!
SD1: The walls themselves begin to crumble.
Charlie: Aaaaaah!
SD2: Charlie runs out of the room just before the ceiling collapses.
Scene 8
SD3: The three teens are sitting around the firepit.
SD1: Alex is holding the journal. She has her friends’ full attention.
Jordyn: Does Charlie make it out OK?
Alex: He does. And as he’s running away, he turns around and sees this weird, bright light shining out of an enormous crack zigzagging from the base of the house all the way to the roof. Then he watches as the entire house breaks apart and sinks into the bog.
Parker: Whoa.
Jordyn: That’s quite a story. How do you know Charlie didn’t make the whole thing up though?
Alex: I guess there’s no way to say for sure, but I did find this tucked into the journal.
SD2: Alex pulls a yellowed newspaper clipping from the journal and carefully unfolds it.
Alex: This is from a small Massachusetts newspaper. It’s dated November 2, 1834. Jordyn, would you care to read the headline?
SD3: Jordyn looks at the article, her eyes widening.
Jordyn (reading): “The Fall of the House of Usher.”
Prompt
As a group, act out one scene from the play. Include costumes and sound effects. Be sure to create an eerie mood!
This play was originally published in the October 2024 issue.
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Audio
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Activities
(9)
Preparing to Read
Reading and Discussing
Skill-Building Activities
Skills Activities
The Core Skills Workout
Quizzes
(1)
Answer Key
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video
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Audio
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Activities
(9)
Preparing to Read
Reading and Discussing
Skill-Building Activities
Skills Activities
The Core Skills Workout
Quizzes
(1)
Answer Key
(1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Close Reading, Critical Thinking, Skill Building
Essential Questions: Why do we like scary stories? What is fear and how does it affect us? How do writers create mood?
1. Prepare to Read
(15 minutes)
Watch a Video (5 minutes)
Show students the video “The Amazing Life of Edgar Allan Poe” to introduce them to the famous author of the short story on which the play they are about to read is based. After watching, give students a few minutes to share anything they found particularly interesting or surprising, or anything the video made them curious about.
Chat About Scary Stories (5 minutes)
Have a brief discussion with students about scary stories. Ask volunteers to share whether they like scary books and movies and why or why not.
Preview Vocabulary (5 minutes)
Project the Google Slides version of Vocabulary: Definitions and Practice on your whiteboard. Review the definitions and complete the activity as a class. Highlighted words: acute, causeway, wrenched. Audio pronunciations of the words and a read-aloud of the definitions are embedded on the slides. Optionally, print the PDF version or share the slideshow link to your LMS and have students preview the words and complete the activity independently before class.
2. Read and Discuss
(55 minutes)
Invite a volunteer to read aloud the As You Read box on page 19 or at the top of the digital story page. Review the meaning of eerie: strange or mysterious in a way that makes you feel frightened or uneasy; spooky.
Assign parts and read the play aloud as a class. Note: Before reading the play aloud in class—perhaps even a day or more in advance—you might want to assign the roles and give the sound effects team time to plan how they will create the sound effects throughout the play.
Divide students into groups to discuss the following Discussion Questions, which are also located in the Resources tab.
Discussion Questions (30 minutes)
1. Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” was published in 1839. Clearly, the modern-day teens in Jennifer Dignan’s play were not in Poe’s original story. Why do you think Dignan might have added the teens for her adaptation? (author’s craft) Answers will vary. Students might offer that perhaps Dignan added the teens to create characters Scope’s readers could relate to, to modernize the story, or to add a bit of lightness to a seriously creepy story. Dignan also may have added the teens to serve as narrators; the teens’ role in the play is to set up the story and then wrap up what happens at the end.
2. In Scene 2, how does the setting help create an eerie mood? (mood) In Scene 2, Roderick’s house is described as a run-down mansion in the middle of a bog and surrounded by a “sickly green vapor.” All these details help create an eerie mood. That the mansion is run-down suggests that something is wrong—why isn’t anyone taking care of the mansion? Bogs can be creepy; their waters are full of decaying plants, and they threaten to swallow up any creature that steps in the wrong place. The sickly green vapor is strange and mysterious. That the house’s windows are like “empty, staring eyes,” as Charlie describes them, adds even more eeriness.
3. Besides the setting in Scene 2, what is something else in the play that helps create an eerie mood? (mood) This story is filled with eerie details, so answers will vary. Students may name the strange way Mr. Burke speaks, Dr. Taylor’s nervous manner, Roderick’s terrible condition (his acute senses and his fearful manner), the tragedy of Madeline’s illness and apparent death and that she was entombed alive, additional details about the setting (such as the empty suit of armor “standing guard” in Roderick’s parlor or the storm in Scene 7), or the ghastly conclusion when Roderick and Madeline fall to the ground dead and the house falls apart and sinks into the bog!
4. In Scene 3, why is the detail that Madeline’s illness causes her to go into trancelike states important? (text structure) This detail is important because it provides an explanation for why Madeline was taken for dead and placed in a coffin. At the end of the play, you can look back and conclude that Madeline was actually in a trance, not dead.
5. Poe decided to call his story “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and the Usher family house definitely plays a big part in the story. You might even think of it as a character. Describe what the house is like and why it’s so important to the story. (key ideas and details) Students might describe the house as wicked, sinister, evil, or cursed. The weird green vapor that surrounds the house suggests there is something supernatural about it. Perhaps most importantly, the house is closely connected to Roderick and Madeline; there’s even a suggestion that the house might be responsible for their misfortune. In Scene 3, Roderick mutters that his suffering is to be expected after so many years in the house, and in Scene 4 he says that the house would not like it if he were to leave it. In other words, Roderick seems to believe that the house is sentient—capable of thoughts and feelings. Also, although it’s technically Roderick and Charlie who trap Madeline in the cellar, you could think of the house itself as trapping Madeline. Finally, the house cracking apart and sinking into the bog—taking the Ushers with it—provides a dramatic conclusion to the story.
6. What do you think kills Roderick and Madeline at the end? (critical thinking) Answers will vary. Students might say that Madeline dies as a result of having been locked in a coffin for days and that Roderick dies from the shock of seeing her and/or from the mysterious illness that has been plaguing him. Or perhaps the twins die through some supernatural means—the house brings them down along with itself.
3. Go Deeper: Why We Like Scary Stories
(20 minutes)
Draw students’ attention to the sidebar “Why Do We Love Scary Stuff?” Ask them if the information sounds right to them in light of your pre-reading discussion about liking or not liking scary stories.
If students have read this issue’s Short Read, “How Spicy Is Too Spicy?,” ask them what connection they can draw between that article and “Why Do We Love Scary Stuff?” The Short Read explains that some people enjoy eating spicy foods because of the rush it gives them—that eating spicy foods can be similar to being terrified while riding a roller coaster and then wanting to do it again. Eating spicy foods and reading or watching a scary story can both give you an intense experience without really putting you in danger (unless of course you go overboard with the spicy food, which really can be dangerous).
For even more on fear, have students listen to the podcast “The Science of Fear.”
4. Plan and Perform a Scene
(45 minutes)
Have students work in groups to complete the Featured Skill Activity: Prepare Your Scene. This activity will prepare them to respond to the prompt on page 23 in the printed magazine and at the bottom of the digital story page:
As a group, act out one scene from the play. Include costumes and sound effects. Be sure to create an eerie mood!
Make a plan with students for how they will rehearse their scenes and then perform or present them on video for each other.
Alternatively, have students choose a task from the Choice Board, a menu of culminating tasks. Our Choice Board options include the writing prompt from the magazine, differentiated versions of the writing prompt, and additional creative ways for students to demonstrate their understanding of a story or article.
Connected readings from the Scope Archives:
Text-to-Speech