Transcript The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the

“The Effects of Gamma
Rays on Man-in-theMoon Marigolds”
- Paul Zindel
Introductory Notes
Topics…..
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•
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Triumph in the face of adversity
Self-image
Dreams
The inability to make
meaningful human connections
• Half-life
Style….
Setting
 Set approximately in the 1960’s
 Most of the action takes place in the front
room of the Hunsdorfer house, a wooden
structure that was once a vegetable shop
run by Beatrice’s father
 House is rundown and cluttered
Voiceovers
 the play is framed by Tillie’s voiceovers
 Allows her to speak her true feelings and
dreams
Comic relief
 Used at various times to break the tension
Telephone calls
 Intrusion of the outside world
 Provides a way for the playwright to
expand Beatrice’s character
Terms….
Gamma ray
– a high energy photon emitted after a
nuclear reaction or spontaneously from the
nucleus of a radioactive atom that lowers the
energy level of the nucleus
Half-life
- The time a radioactive substance takes to
lose half its radioactivity through decay
Cobalt 60
- A naturally radioactive isotope of cobalt
that has a mass number of 60,
spontaneously emits strong gamma
radiation and is used in radiotherapy and
in industry
Marigold
- A common garden plan, native to tropical
America, with scented stems and strikingly
rich yellow or orange flowers