Teaching The Monkey’s Paw in ESL can be challenging because the story’s language is much more difficult than its ideas. With the right scaffolds, secondary English learners can still understand the plot, discuss the themes, and analyze literary elements such as suspense, foreshadowing, and irony.
Then you look at the language.
For many English learners, the language of the story can become more difficult than the literary concepts we actually want them to understand.
That creates a problem for ESL teachers.
A student may absolutely be capable of discussing fate, consequences, character motivation, suspense, and irony—but still struggle to follow what is happening in the original text.
The solution is not to remove the literary thinking.
It is to remove some of the language barriers standing between the student and the literary thinking.
This is the same philosophy I use when thinking about how to support ESL students during novel studies: accessible language does not have to mean watered-down ideas.
Here is how I would approach teaching The Monkey’s Paw to secondary ESL students.
Why The Monkey’s Paw Can Be Difficult for English Learners
W. W. Jacobs published The Monkey’s Paw more than a century ago, and even proficient English-speaking students can encounter language that feels unfamiliar.
For English learners, several challenges can pile up at once:
- unfamiliar or older vocabulary
- complicated sentence structures
- descriptive passages that require inference
- cultural and historical background knowledge
- dialogue in which meaning is implied rather than stated
- important details students must remember across the story
- suspense that depends on understanding subtle clues
That distinction matters.
Reading difficulty is not the same thing as thinking ability.
A student who cannot independently decode every sentence of the original story may still be fully capable of understanding why Mr. White makes his choices, predicting the consequences, identifying foreshadowing, or debating whether the story is really about fate or human greed.
This is one reason I am cautious about giving secondary English learners material that is either inaccessible or so simplified that it becomes childish.
Teenagers deserve age-appropriate material.
If that balance is something you also struggle with, I wrote more about it in How to Teach ESL in High School Without Babyish Materials.
Before Reading The Monkey’s Paw: Build Meaning First
Before students encounter difficult language, give them something familiar to think about.
With The Monkey’s Paw, that is surprisingly easy.
Start With Wishes and Consequences
Ask students:
If you could have three wishes, what would you wish for?
Then add the much more interesting question:
What could go wrong?
This gives students access to the central conflict of the story before they ever encounter W. W. Jacobs’s prose.
It also creates an easy opportunity for differentiation.
A newcomer might use:
I would wish for ______ because ______.
A developing English learner might use:
I would wish for ______, but one possible problem is ______.
A more proficient student might respond:
Although ______ seems like a good wish, it could have the unexpected consequence of ______.
Everyone is discussing the same idea.
The difference is the amount of language support they receive.
That is one of the principles I use when differentiating ESL instruction in mixed-level classes: we can change the language demand without necessarily changing the intellectual goal.
Preview the Vocabulary Students Actually Need
Vocabulary support is important, but I would not begin The Monkey’s Paw by handing students a list of 30 unfamiliar words and asking them to copy definitions.
That can create another reading task before the reading has even started.
Instead, think about vocabulary strategically.
Ask:
Will not knowing this word prevent my students from understanding what is happening?
If the answer is yes, it probably deserves support.
If students can understand the scene without knowing the exact meaning—or can reasonably infer it from context—it may not need to be pre-taught.
For English learners, vocabulary instruction is especially effective when students receive more than a dictionary definition.
Consider combining:
word + student-friendly meaning + image + context
Visual support can make an enormous difference when students are trying to process unfamiliar language and follow an unfamiliar setting at the same time.
I have an entire post with additional ideas for ESL vocabulary activities for high school students if vocabulary development is an ongoing challenge in your classroom.
Give Students Just Enough Background Knowledge
Students do not need a lengthy biography of W. W. Jacobs before reading the story.
They do need enough context to understand the world they are entering.
Depending on your students, you may briefly introduce:
- the approximate time period
- the British setting
- the idea of a talisman or supposedly magical object
- the concept of making wishes
- the possibility that interfering with fate can have consequences
Then get into the story.
Background knowledge should make the reading easier to access—not become another lecture students have to survive first.
During Reading: Make The Monkey’s Paw Accessible Without Removing the Suspense
This is where scaffolding becomes especially important.
Once students lose the plot of a suspense story, it is difficult for them to appreciate the suspense.
They are no longer wondering, What is going to happen?
They are wondering, What is happening?
Those are two very different experiences.
Chunk the Story
One of the simplest ways to support English learners is to avoid treating the story as one long reading assignment.
Break it into meaningful sections.
After each chunk, students should be able to answer one basic question:
What just happened?
A simple routine might be:
Read or listen → check comprehension → clarify one important detail → predict → continue
For example:
- Read or listen to a short section.
- Ask students to identify the most important event.
- Clarify a vocabulary word or confusing detail if necessary.
- Ask students what they think will happen next.
- Continue reading.
Prediction is particularly useful with The Monkey’s Paw because the story naturally invites it.
Students begin looking for clues.
And once they start looking for clues, you have a natural bridge into foreshadowing.
Know When an Adapted Version Makes More Sense
There is nothing inherently more rigorous about watching students struggle unsuccessfully through prose they cannot access.
The important question is:
What are you trying to teach?
If your objective is to study Jacobs’s exact syntax or word choice, students obviously need exposure to the original language.
But if your goal is for students to analyze the plot, consequences, foreshadowing, suspense, irony, characterization, or theme, an adapted text can provide access to those concepts.
A good adaptation should not turn the story into a paragraph-long summary.
For The Monkey’s Paw, I would want an adaptation to preserve:
- the sequence of wishes and consequences
- the personalities and motivations of the characters
- the increasingly uneasy mood
- important clues
- the uncertainty surrounding the supernatural
- the emotional weight of the ending
- enough detail for students to make inferences and analyze literary elements
You can also combine approaches.
Students may read an accessible version to understand the complete story and then return to selected passages from the original when you want them to examine Jacobs’s language more closely.
That is an approach that can work particularly well when teaching classic literature. I use the same broader philosophy in my post about how to teach Julius Caesar to ESL students.
A Ready-to-Use Adapted Version
If you do not want to adapt the entire story yourself, I created The Monkey’s Paw Adapted Reading for ESL | Simplified Short Story with Visuals.
It was designed specifically for secondary English learners and includes accessible language, visual supports, vocabulary support, chunked reading, comprehension and discussion opportunities, and before-reading activities.
The important part, though, is that the goal is still to teach The Monkey’s Paw—not replace it with a completely different story.
Pair the Text With Visuals
For English learners, an image should do more than decorate the page.
It should help students understand something.
A useful visual might clarify:
- the setting
- an unfamiliar object
- a character’s action
- an important moment in the plot
- the emotional atmosphere of a scene
Visuals can be particularly helpful when a student understands the individual words in a sentence but does not have enough contextual knowledge to create a mental picture of what is happening.
That support allows students to spend less mental energy reconstructing basic context and more energy actually following the story.
Use Audio as More Than a Read-Aloud
Audio can be especially powerful for English learners when students listen while following the text.
They simultaneously encounter:
- pronunciation
- phrasing
- intonation
- character emotion
- written language
- spoken language
That repeated language exposure can make the story much easier to process.
For more general listening ideas, you can also see my post on ESL listening activities for high school students.
But with The Monkey’s Paw, I would take the audio support one step further.
First Listening: Focus on Comprehension
During the first exposure, students can read and listen together.
Pause periodically and ask:
- What happened?
- Who did what?
- What changed?
- What do you think will happen next?
The objective is understanding.
Second Listening: Focus on Suspense and Mood
Once students already know what is happening, play an important section again.
Now the purpose changes.
Ask students to notice:
- the speaker’s tone
- pauses
- sound
- character emotion
- mood
- rising tension
That second exposure frees students from having to devote all of their attention to figuring out the plot.
Now they can notice how the story feels.
Standard and Dramatic Audio
I created The Monkey’s Paw Audio Reading Slides | ESL Read Aloud with Visuals & Discussion for exactly this kind of multimodal reading experience.
The resource includes both a standard character-voice version and a dramatic version with atmospheric audio and sound effects.
That gives you the option of using one version for initial comprehension and returning to the dramatic version when students are ready to focus more closely on suspense, mood, and character emotion.
Check Comprehension Before Asking for Literary Analysis
One mistake that is easy to make with English learners is moving immediately from reading into an abstract analysis question.
Before students can explain why Jacobs did something, they need to understand what Jacobs actually made happen.
Think of the questions as a staircase.
First: Establish comprehension
What happened after Mr. White made his wish?
Then: Move toward interpretation
Why is that consequence important?
Finally: Analyze the author’s choices
Why does Jacobs make the first wish seem ordinary before revealing its consequence?
That progression helps students move from literal comprehension into deeper analysis.
If reading comprehension is a broader concern in your classroom, you may also find my post about ESL reading comprehension in high school useful.
Teach Literary Analysis Without Lowering the Rigor
Once students understand the story, The Monkey’s Paw offers plenty of opportunities for sophisticated literary thinking.
They may simply need help producing the academic language required to express it.
This is where sentence frames can be extremely useful.
Sentence frames are not answers.
They are language tools.
Foreshadowing
Instead of asking only:
What is an example of foreshadowing?
Give students a way to explain their reasoning:
The detail ______ may foreshadow ______ because ______.
Now they have to identify evidence, make a prediction or connection, and justify it.
That is real literary analysis.
Suspense
Students might use:
The author creates suspense when ______ because the reader expects ______.
Or:
This moment becomes more suspenseful because ______.
Once students understand the pattern, gradually remove the frame.
Characterization
Try:
Mr. White’s decision to ______ suggests that he is ______ because ______.
Students are no longer simply identifying what a character did.
They are making an inference about what the action reveals.
Irony
A simple organizer works well:
| Expectation | What Actually Happens | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| The wish will improve the family’s life. | ______ | ______ |
| The paw will solve a problem. | ______ | ______ |
English learners often understand irony conceptually before they have the language to explain it.
Make the contrast visible first.
Then give them the language.
Fate, Choice, and Theme
Return to the question from before reading.
Students originally considered:
If you could make three wishes, what could go wrong?
Now ask:
After reading The Monkey’s Paw, what do you think the story says about wishes, fate, or human choices?
A developing writer might use:
At first I thought ______. After reading the story, I think ______ because ______.
A more proficient student can move into a claim-evidence-reasoning response.
The thinking remains connected across the entire lesson.
Differentiate The Monkey’s Paw for Newcomers and Mixed-Level ESL Classes
One version of the lesson will not necessarily work for every English learner.
But that does not mean everyone needs a completely different lesson.
You can keep the same central question or literary objective while changing how students access the story and demonstrate understanding.
| Support | Newcomer/Beginning | Intermediate/Developing |
|---|---|---|
| Reading | Adapted chunks + visuals | Adapted text and selected original excerpts |
| Vocabulary | Image + word/phrase + simple meaning | Context + student-friendly definition |
| Listening | Read and listen simultaneously | Listen, then analyze delivery and mood |
| Comprehension | Choice, sequencing, short response | Short constructed response with evidence |
| Speaking | Fixed sentence frame + partner rehearsal | Expandable frame + follow-up questions |
| Literary analysis | Identify, match, predict | Explain, infer, support with evidence |
| Writing | Sentence frames + word bank | Paragraph frame or evidence organizer |
The goal is not to make newcomers do “easy work” while everyone else analyzes literature.
The goal is to create an entry point that allows students at different language proficiency levels to think about the same important ideas.
After Reading: Let Students Talk About the Story
You do not need 25 extension activities.
Three good ones are better than an enormous list.
1. Wish and Consequence Discussion
Have students create a wish and then predict the unintended consequence.
Sentence support might include:
If ______ happened, then ______ could happen because ______.
2. Write an Alternate Ending
Ask students to change one decision made by a character.
Then require them to explain how that choice changes the story.
This encourages cause-and-effect thinking while giving students a creative writing opportunity.
3. Debate Fate Versus Choice
Ask:
Were the Whites victims of fate, or did their own decisions create the tragedy?
Students can prepare with:
I believe ______ was more responsible because ______.
More proficient students can support their position with multiple pieces of evidence.
Partner rehearsal before whole-class discussion can make this much more accessible for students who understand the idea but need additional processing time before speaking.
Is The Monkey’s Paw a Good Halloween Story for ESL Students?
Absolutely—but I would not teach it only because it is spooky.
The supernatural elements, suspense, dark atmosphere, and unsettling ending make The Monkey’s Paw an excellent October or Halloween short story.
But its literary value goes far beyond Halloween.
Students can explore:
- consequences
- greed and desire
- fate versus free will
- family
- grief
- suspense
- foreshadowing
- irony
- character motivation
That makes it useful as both a seasonal story and a serious literature lesson.
If you are planning October instruction, you may also be interested in my Halloween vs. Día de los Muertos ESL lesson.
Frequently Asked Questions About Teaching The Monkey’s Paw to English Learners
Is The Monkey’s Paw appropriate for ESL students?
Yes. The themes and plot are appropriate for many secondary English learners, but the original language may require significant scaffolding. An adapted text, vocabulary support, visuals, audio, chunking, and discussion support can make the story much more accessible.
Should English learners read the original or an adapted version of The Monkey’s Paw?
It depends on their English proficiency and the purpose of the lesson. Students can use an adapted text to understand the complete story and then examine selected original excerpts when analyzing specific literary or language choices.
How can I simplify The Monkey’s Paw without lowering the rigor?
Reduce the language difficulty, not the thinking requirement. Students can read accessible language while still analyzing foreshadowing, suspense, characterization, irony, theme, and evidence.
What vocabulary should I teach before The Monkey’s Paw?
Prioritize vocabulary students need in order to understand important actions, setting details, character choices, and the central conflict. Avoid overwhelming students with a massive word list before reading.
How can audio help ESL students understand The Monkey’s Paw?
Audio allows students to connect written language with pronunciation, phrasing, intonation, and emotion. Repeated listening can also shift the student’s attention from basic comprehension during the first exposure to mood, suspense, and characterization during later listening.
What literary elements are best to teach with The Monkey’s Paw?
Foreshadowing, suspense, irony, characterization, theme, mood, symbolism, and fate versus free will all work especially well with the story.
English Learners Can Handle Complex Literature When We Give Them Access
Teaching The Monkey’s Paw to ESL students does not require choosing between an inaccessible original text and an oversimplified lesson.
There is a middle ground.
We can preserve the story, the tension, the questions, and the literary thinking while providing students with the language support they need to participate.
That might mean:
- adapting difficult language
- previewing essential vocabulary
- using meaningful visuals
- chunking the reading
- reading and listening together
- stopping for comprehension
- giving students opportunities to predict
- using sentence frames for literary analysis
- differentiating the language output
- returning to key passages for deeper analysis
The goal is not to make The Monkey’s Paw easier.
The goal is to make access to The Monkey’s Paw possible.
And once students can access the story, you may be surprised by how much literary thinking they are capable of doing.
If you would like ready-to-use materials, you can use my adapted The Monkey’s Paw reading for ESL students, my audio reading slides with standard and dramatic narration, or combine the strategies in this article with materials you already use.
Either way, the most important thing is that English learners do not have to wait until their English is “good enough” before they are invited into meaningful literature.
