Anton Chekhov’s The Bet & Twilight Zone’s The Silence, PDF & Google Drive CCSS

When you’re teaching Anton Chekhov’s short story, “The Bet,” you must include a discussion of how Rod Serling touches on the same story elements in his Twilight Zone episode, “The Silence.” While the two stories are different, there’s enough similarities to make these two works the perfect material for a compare/contrast analysis.

This 9-page download will help you lead students through a reading and viewing of the core works. The download includes a suggested lesson procedure with links to online media, a full-text copy of Chekhov’s public domain story (three pages) with links to a high-quality audio version, an 8-question short answer sheet, a compare/contrast worksheet, and a supplemental creative writing assignment. Answer keys and suggested responses are included.

Download includes: 9-page PDF + Google Drive versions of student handouts (uneditable)

Want to expand the lesson? Use a student-led research activity to help your class learn more about these writers. Click here for an author biography research organizer for Rod Serling and here for Anton Chekhov.

Please note: This item is included in my Short Story Unit Plan for Older Teens. To avoid a double-purchase, please do not buy the item on this page if you also intend to buy the budget-priced short story bundle.

Special thanks to teacher/friend Leticia G. who let me know about the connection between Chekhov and Serling.

Thanks for stopping by!

Image credits:
• Rod Serling – CBS Television via the Bureau of Industrial Service, WikiMedia Commons, public domain
• Anton Chekhov – Green-Baldrick, WikiMedia Commons, public domain