“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” pgs. 188-192 Name: ______
You are about to read a short story by James Thurber about a man named Walter Mitty. Please look Walter Mitty up in the dictionary. What does it mean?
Wal·ter Mit·ty (wôl t r m t ) Pronunciation Key n. An ordinary, often ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs.
[After the main character in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber.] "walter mitty." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 07 Dec. 2006.
In other words, Walter Mitty is an ordinary man who really doesn’t accomplish much in his own life, but he does have a large imagination.
Synopsis: This story is about a man who is controlled by his henpecking wife. He is taking his wife on a shopping trip, but he keeps leaping out of reality into his daydreams.
Questions:
The last question will be about point-of-view.
1) The story starts with a daydream. What is Walter Mitty imagining himself to be?
2) What type of movie/novel does this daydream parody? Give two examples of how the daydream exaggerates or makes fun of that type. Movie/Novel Parodied:
Two Examples:
3) What punctuation is used to signal the transition from Walter’s imaginary life to his real one? (Look at the top of the left column on p. 189) 4) What snaps him out of his daydream?
5) After reading the left column on page 189, what is your first impression of his wife? Give two specifics from the text to support your impression? What I think about his wife:
Two specific reasons from the text as to WHY:
Is this direct or indirect characterization?
6) At the top right column on page 189, Walter begins to daydream again. What triggers his daydream? What punctuation signals the transition into his daydream?
7) What type of movie/novel does this daydream parody? Give two examples of how the daydream exaggerates or makes fun of that type. Movie/Novel Parodied:
Two Examples:
8) What snaps him out of his daydream?
9) After reading the part about parking attendants and garagemen on p. 190, how do other people treat Walter? Give at least one specific example from the text to support.
10) The right column on page 190 contains Walter’s third daydream. What triggers his daydream? 11) What type of movie/novel does this daydream parody? Give two examples of how the daydream exaggerates or makes fun of that type. Movie/Novel Parodied:
Two Examples: 12) What snaps him out of his daydream?
13) The left column on p. 191 contains Walter’s fourth daydream. What triggers his daydream?
14) What type of movie/novel does this daydream parody? Give two examples of how the daydream exaggerates or makes fun of that type. Movie/Novel Parodied:
Two Examples:
15) What snaps him out of his daydream?
16) The final daydream is in the last paragraph of the story. What triggers his daydream?
15) What type of movie/novel does this daydream parody? Give two examples of how the daydream exaggerates or makes fun of that type. Movie/Novel Parodied:
Two Examples: Compare and contrast Walter Mitty the real man and the imaginary Walter Mitty. What main characteristics do each man have? For example, is he resourceful, humble, weak, ingenious, whipped?
Three Characteristics of the real Three Characteristics of the Walter Mitty with at least one imaginary Walter Mitty with at least example to support each one example to support each characteristic: characteristic: 1) 1)
Direct or Indirect Characterization? Direct or Indirect Characterization?
2) 2)
Direct or Indirect Characterization? Direct or Indirect Characterization? 3) 3)
Direct or Indirect Characterization? Direct or Indirect Characterization?
What point-of-view is this story written in?
Walter Mitty daydreams and shifts in and out of his current reality. Does this make him a reliable or unreliable narrator? Why or why not?