Unit 4, Part 2
The Hitchhiker
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Unit 4, Part 2
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(pages 812–826)
Before You Read
Reading the Selection
After You Read
Unit 4, Part 2
For pages 812–826
9.4 Understand, make inferences and draw
conclusions about the structure and elements
of drama and provide evidence from text to
support understanding.
Unit 4, Part 2
Meet Lucille Fletcher
Click the picture to learn
about the author.
Unit 4, Part 2
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Connect to the Drama
What kind of settings do you find spooky or
scary? With a partner, discuss a situation in
which the location or conditions created an
eerie setting.
Unit 4, Part 2
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Build Background
The Hitchhiker was originally performed on the radio
in 1941 as an installment of Orson Welles’ “Mercury
Theater on the Air.” Welles was a pioneering radio and
film star who had a reputation for producing
compelling radio dramas. At the time, television was
just beginning to develop an audience and radio was
still a major source of dramatic entertainment.
Although Fletcher’s drama is mainly dialogue, the
broadcast also used music and sound effects to
develop the story’s atmosphere.
Unit 4, Part 2
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Set Purposes for Reading
Awkward Encounters
As you read, ask yourself, How does the
situation in which you meet someone affect
your impression of the person?
Unit 4, Part 2
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Set Purposes for Reading
Idiom
An idiom is an expression whose meaning is
different from its literal meaning. Although idioms
may be easily understood by a region’s local
speakers, they can be puzzling to outsiders. In
The Hitchhiker, many of the characters use idioms
when they speak. As you read, ask yourself, How
do the idioms add realism to the story?
Unit 4, Part 2
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Set Purposes for Reading
Idiom
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to view the
animation.
Unit 4, Part 2
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Set Purposes for Reading
Make and Verify
Predictions
When reading a drama, you can use what
you read about characters and events to
make and verify predictions about the
plot. As you read, ask yourself, How does
the writer hint at what is going to happen to
the main character?
Unit 4, Part 2
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Set Purposes for Reading
Make and Verify
Predictions
Tip: Take Notes Use a two-column chart
like the one below to list and verify your
predictions.
Unit 4, Part 2
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Set Purposes for Reading
Make and Verify
Predictions
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to view the
animation.
Unit 4, Part 2
Literature and Reading Preview
ominous adj. like an evil omen; threatening.
The sudden appearance of clouds and
thunder was an ominous sign.
beckoning v. signaling or summoning. They
could see their mother on the shore waving her
hands and beckoning them for dinner.
Click a vocabulary term to listen to the definition.
Unit 4, Part 2
Literature and Reading Preview
arid adj. dry; parched. After two months of
drought, the land was completely arid.
prostrated adj. completely exhausted;
helpless; overcome. After hearing the
shocking news, she was prostrated and
couldn’t do anything for days.
Click a vocabulary term to listen to the definition.
Unit 4, Part 2
Literature and Reading Preview
Tip: Word Usage When you encounter a
new word, asking yourself a specific question
about the word can help you to understand it.
For example, when encountering the word
ominous, you might ask yourself: How could I
make a scary setting seem less ominous?
Unit 4, Part 2
Unit 4, Part 2
Idiom Why would this phrase be considered
an idiom?
Answer: Because he is really saying that
people want to feel scared, not that they
literally want something to happen to their
spines.
Unit 4, Part 2
Make and Verify Predictions What do you
already know about what will happen on his
drive?
Answer: We know that he will reach
New Mexico.
Unit 4, Part 2
Make and Verify Predictions Based on
this line of dialogue and the title, what do
you predict will happen?
Answer: Adams will encounter a hitchhiker
and may pick him up. Many will predict that
the hitchhiker will cause problems.
Unit 4, Part 2
Analyze the mood of the photograph and
relate it to the mood of the selection. What
mood does this photograph create?
Answer: ominous, foreboding
Unit 4, Part 2
Which elements create this mood?
Answer: The blurred, dark image and the
dark figure of a person standing alone on a
street
Unit 4, Part 2
Does the mood in the photograph effectively
reflect the mood of the play?
Answer: Answers will vary. You might agree
that both moods are dark and mysterious.
Unit 4, Part 2
Awkward Encounters Why do you think
Adams chooses not to pick up the hitchhiker
here?
Answer: Because he thinks it is strange that
he was able to get ahead of him and it
makes him suspicious.
Unit 4, Part 2
Idiom What does this phrase mean?
Answer: Adams is spooked or nervous.
Unit 4, Part 2
In your opinion, how well does this photo
capture the scene in which Adams talks to
the mechanic?
Answer: You may feel this photo adequately
represents the scene. You may also think the
photo should be more ominous.
Unit 4, Part 2
Awkward Encounters Why do you think
Adams lies to the mechanic?
Answer: Because he is afraid that the
mechanic will think that he’s crazy.
Unit 4, Part 2
Make and Verify Predictions Do you think
Adams will pick him up this time?
Possible Answer: No, I don’t think he’ll pick
him up because he is even more scared of
him now than before.
Unit 4, Part 2
Make and Verify Predictions Do you think
the man will help Adams? Why?
Possible Answer: I don’t think the man will
help him because he is already cranky and
it’s the middle of the night.
Unit 4, Part 2
Awkward Encounters Why does Adams
talk to Henry for such a long time even
though Henry clearly wants Adams to leave?
Answer: He is beginning to get desperate
and wants someone else to be worried about
the suspicious hitchhiker.
Unit 4, Part 2
Make and Verify Predictions In the end,
who do you think the hitchhiker is going to
turn out to be?
Possible Answer: I think he is going to turn
out to be a ghost in the end.
Unit 4, Part 2
Idiom What does the girl mean by “dogs”?
How do you know?
Answer: Context clues from the previous
sentence (“Mind if I take off my shoes”)
suggest that she means her feet hurt.
Unit 4, Part 2
Awkward Encounters How do you think
the girl views Adams at this point?
Answer: She thinks he is a little strange or
not quite right.
Unit 4, Part 2
Make and Verify Predictions Do you think
he is going to make it all the way to
California? Why?
Possible Answer: No, because I think he’ll
go crazy before he reaches California.
Unit 4, Part 2
Awkward Encounters What would you do
if you were in the girl’s situation?
Answer: I would definitely not go with him
and I would get out of his car right away.
Unit 4, Part 2
Awkward Encounters After encountering
the hitchhiker this many times, do you think
Adams should finally pick him up? Why?
Possible Answer: Yes, he should just pick
him up because he should finally find out
what he wants.
Unit 4, Part 2
Make and Verify Predictions What do you
predict will happen on this phone call?
Possible Answer: I think he is going to find
out that someone he loves has just died.
Unit 4, Part 2
How would you describe the overall mood of
this photo? Is this photo appropriate for The
Hitchhiker? Why or why not?
Answer: The mood of the photo is lonely
and isolated. You may note that the desolate
scene is appropriate for the play.
Unit 4, Part 2
Make and Verify Predictions Did you
predict this ending? Explain.
Possible Answer: I thought the hitchhiker
was a ghost, but I didn’t think Adams was
dead.
Unit 4, Part 2
Unit 4, Part 2
Respond and Think Critically
Respond and Interpret
1. What part of the drama did you find most
suspenseful or frightening? Explain.
Answer: Answers will vary.
Unit 4, Part 2
Respond and Think Critically
Respond and Interpret
2. (a) What is Adams’ mother worried about
at the beginning? (b) Why is this important
to the story?
Answer: (a) She is worried that something
will happen to Adams while driving. (b) This
is important because it sets up the ending
of the story and foreshadows what
happens to Adams.
Unit 4, Part 2
Respond and Think Critically
Respond and Interpret
3. (a) What does Adams decide to do about
the hitchhiker when he sees him at the
railroad tracks?
Answer: (a) He asks if it has rained
recently.
Unit 4, Part 2
Respond and Think Critically
Respond and Interpret
3. (b) What does this tell you about Adams’
state of mind?
Answer: (b) It leads him to suspect that
there is something “unreal” about the
hitchhiker; because he had rain on his
shoulders even though it hadn’t rained
recently.
Unit 4, Part 2
Respond and Think Critically
Analyze and Evaluate
4. How does Fletcher slow down the action
and build suspense in the moments
before the drama’s final climax?
Possible answer: She plays out the
entire sequence in which he places the
call with the operator and deposits the
change. With each step of the process,
the suspense builds.
Unit 4, Part 2
Respond and Think Critically
Analyze and Evaluate
5. Fletcher builds her drama around the
repeated appearances of the hitchhiker.
Do you think this repetition lessens the
suspense or adds to it? Explain.
Answer: Answers will vary.
Unit 4, Part 2
Respond and Think Critically
Connect
Awkward Encounters
6. How do the other characters’ reactions
to Adams’ behavior change as the story
progresses?
Answer: As the story progresses, the
characters seem more alarmed by Adams’
behavior. The mechanic in the beginning is
merely puzzled by Adams, and the girl is
terrified by him.
Unit 4, Part 2
Respond and Think Critically
Connect
7. Connect to the Author In addition to
radio plays, Lucille Fletcher also wrote
short stories, novels, and screenplays.
Why do you think The Hitchhiker was
performed as a radio drama?
Answer: Answers will vary.
Unit 4, Part 2
Idiom
An idiom is colorful language that expresses
something in a figurative way. Idioms can be
used in dialogue to help reveal a character’s
personality.
Unit 4, Part 2
Idiom
1. List two examples of idioms in the
drama and explain what they mean.
Possible answer: When Adams says,
“keep your eyes peeled on the road,” he
means keep your eyes open and look
carefully. The phrase “taking a nip” means
he has been drinking.
Unit 4, Part 2
Idiom
2. What do the idioms in this drama
reveal about characters that Adams
encounters?
Answer: The idioms reveal that these are
simple, rural, small-town people.
Unit 4, Part 2
Idiom
3. How do the idioms add to the realism?
Answer: The idioms help the dialogue
mimic the way people talk.
Unit 4, Part 2
Make and Verify
Predictions
Review the predictions you recorded in your
chart, and then answer these questions.
Unit 4, Part 2
Make and Verify
Predictions
1. When Adams first picks up the girl, what
did you think was going to happen? Why?
Answer: Answers will vary.
Unit 4, Part 2
Make and Verify
Predictions
2. What clues about the end were provided at
the beginning of the drama?
Answer: His mother’s tears and warning about
not picking up any strangers are clues to the
ominous nature of the hitchhiker. Also, in Adams’
beginning narration, he says “At any moment the
link with life may break” suggesting that his life is
ending.
Unit 4, Part 2
Practice with Word Usage Answer these
questions to help you explore the meanings
of vocabulary words from the selection.
Unit 4, Part 2
1. What is the difference between an
annoying situation and an ominous
one?
Answer: An annoying situation would
only present a small problem, but an
ominous situation could be serious.
Unit 4, Part 2
2. If someone is beckoning you, what kind
of a response does that person want?
Answer: The person is looking for you to
come over to him or her right away.
Unit 4, Part 2
3. Why would an arid season probably
be harmful to a farm?
Answer: It would be harmful because it
might be too dry for the crops to grow.
Unit 4, Part 2
4. What kind of event might cause someone
to become prostrated?
Answer: A sad or shocking event, like the
loss of a loved one
Unit 4, Part 2
Write a Dramatic Scene What do you think
would happen if Adams were to make it to
California? Write a dramatic scene about his
arrival in Hollywood. In your scene, show how
Adams’ state of mind and his understanding of
his situation have progressed since the auto
camp in New Mexico.
Unit 4, Part 2
Follow Fletcher’s example and write the scene
for a radio broadcast, including directions for
sound effects and music.
Unit 4, Part 2
Unit 4, Part 2
Vocabulary Workshop
Denotation and Connotation
9.1.B Analyze textual context (within a
sentence and in larger sections of text) to
distinguish between the denotative and
connotative meanings of words.
Unit 4, Part 2
Vocabulary Workshop
Denotation and Connotation
Literature Connection In the following quotation,
Lucille Fletcher conveys more than the denotation
(or the literal meaning) of the words; she also
conveys the connotation (or the feelings
suggested) by them.
“He merely stood there, waiting, almost drooping
a little, the cheap overnight bag in his hand.”
—Lucille Fletcher, from “The Hitchhiker”
Unit 4, Part 2
Vocabulary Workshop
Denotation and Connotation
The description of the hitchhiker provides the reader
with an image of a pathetic man. Even his overnight
bag is “cheap.” The denotation of the word cheap is
“inexpensive,” and Fletcher could have used
another word, such as low-priced, to convey that
meaning. However, the connotative sense of the
word cheap—“shabby” or “of poor quality”—adds to
the sad and dismal image of the hitchhiker.
Unit 4, Part 2
Vocabulary Workshop
Denotation and Connotation
A semantic chart like the one below can help you
analyze connotations.
Unit 4, Part 2
Vocabulary Workshop
Denotation and Connotation
 In the first column of the chart, write the words
you will analyze.
 Find the definition of each word in a dictionary
and record it in the denotation column.
 In the third column of the chart, record each word’s
connotations. For example, if one of the words
were frightful, you might associate it with events in a
horror movie or with the screeching sound some
people make when something frightful occurs.
Unit 4, Part 2
Vocabulary Workshop
Denotation and Connotation
Practice
1. Complete the chart on a separate sheet of
paper. Discuss the denotations and
connotations of the three words. Explain why
Fletcher chose finality instead of ending or
completeness.
Unit 4, Part 2
Vocabulary Workshop
Denotation and Connotation
Practice
Answer: finality: (denotation) end, finish,
completeness, entirety; (connotation) ominous
terminality lonely: (denotation) alone;
(connotation) uncomfortably desolate
Fletcher may have chosen the word finality,
rather than ending or completeness, to convey
an ominous connotation.
Unit 4, Part 2
Vocabulary Workshop
Denotation and Connotation
Practice
2. Find another word in “The Hitchhiker” for which
you can name two or three synonyms. Explain
how the connotations help convey shades of
meaning.
Unit 4, Part 2
Vocabulary Workshop
Denotation and Connotation
Practice
Answer: Answers will vary. Sample answer:
drab; synonyms: dull, dingy. Dingy gives a
sense of dirtiness; dull suggests not only
uninteresting, but also worn out; and drab
indicates something depressingly uninteresting.
Unit 4, Part 2
Vocabulary Workshop
Denotation and Connotation
Denotation and Connotation The denotation of
a word is its literal meaning; the connotation of a
word is its implied meanings and associations.
Unit 4, Part 2
Vocabulary Workshop
Denotation and Connotation
Tip If you are asked for the denotation of a word, do
your best to supply its dictionary definition. If asked
for connotations, think of your own associations with
the word, especially positive and negative feelings.
Also consider situations in which you might use the
word and images the word brings to mind.
Unit 4, Part 2
Look at pictures of the headlines of mass
panic following the War of the Worlds
broadcast of 1938. Orson Welles
performed this play so well that several
people took the story as fact and thought
the world was being invaded by aliens.
Do people still mistake fact and fiction
today? What are some examples?
Unit 4, Part 2
When the word wow is used in writing, it is usually
followed by an exclamation point.
Because I wanted to suggest sarcasm, I omitted
the exclamation point.
Although an exclamation point is used to show expression,
it should not be used too frequently.
Unit 4, Part 2
Where does Adams first see the hitchhiker?
A. Brooklyn
B. on the Brooklyn Bridge
C. New Jersey
D. Gallup, New Mexico
Unit 4, Part 2
What does the mechanic in Pennsylvania say about
hitchhikers on the turnpike?
A. The hitchhikers he sees are usually on
business trips.
B. The hitchhikers only take rides in fast cars.
C. Hitchhikers usually travel through
Pennsylvania at night.
D. Hitchhikers rarely travel on the turnpike.
Unit 4, Part 2
What is it about the hitchhiker that irks Adams as he
waits for the train to pass in Oklahoma?
A. the spots of rain on the hitchhiker’s
shoulders
B. the hitchhikers silent brooding
C. his disinterested expression
D. his continual reappearance
Unit 4, Part 2
Why does Adams ask the girl whether she can
hitchhike faster when traveling with a fast driver?
A.
Adams wants there to be a logical explanation for
why he sees the same hitchhiker over and over.
B. Adams is just making polite conversation
with the girl.
C. Adams thinks that the girl is a female
manifestation of his hitchhiker.
D. Adams has started to lose his mind.
Unit 4, Part 2
Why is Adam’s mother in the hospital at the end of
the radio play?
A. She was in a car accident in Brooklyn.
B. She had always been an anxious person
who needed to be hospitalized.
C. She has a nervous breakdown upon
learning that her son Ronald Adams was
killed in a car accident.
D. She is evicted from her home and cannot
cope with the situation.
Unit 4, Part 2
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