James Thurber

Watch the following trailer for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

• Write a short plot synopsis of the story, based on the information given in this trailer.
• Read "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber (782 or available here).
  
• How close was your synopsis to the real story? What details were changed?
• Thurber uses the psychological technique of free association, in which words, sounds, and events from Mitty's real life inspire elements of his daydreams. What causes Mitty to lapse into each daydream? What decidedly unheroic event snaps him out of each fantasy?
• Irony involves a discrepancy between what we expect to happen--or what we think is appropriate--and what really does happen. When a firehouse burns down, we sense the irony. When a big dog cowers in front of a mouse, we sense irony. Irony is one of the key elements of modern fiction. What is the central irony of Mitty's life--in other words, how is his actual life different from his daydreams?
• How does "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" demonstrate elements of Modern fiction? (See the list in your notes or on p. 639)
• Watch the following interpretation of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." 

• What elements does this interpretation add to the story to make the storytelling effective?

Creative response: Draw a comic strip interpretation of one of Mitty's daydreams, including the events leading into and out of the daydream.