Monday, September 22 Composition 2.1 GUM 3.1 Literary Analysis and Composition

Composition 2.1 What are our lesson objectives? Respond as a reader to a literary essay about a character. Identify and use the steps in the writing process: prewriting, writing, and revising. Respond as a writer to a literary essay about a character. Analyze the writer's craft.

Keywords and Pronunciation audience : the intended readers to whom the author is writing characterization : the techniques an author uses to reveal character traits; characters are revealed by their words, thoughts, actions, and what other characters say about them evidence : a specific detail, such as a fact or expert opinion, that supports a reason first-person point of view : narration of a story by one of the characters, using the first-person pronouns I and me paraphrase : to restate information in one's own words point of view : the perspective from which a story is told purpose : the reason for writing

Keywords and Pronunciation style : the words the writer chooses and the way the writer arranges the words into sentences summarize : to restate briefly the main points of a text, omitting minor points theme : the main message that an author wants to communicate to a reader thesis : the most important point, or main idea, of an essay thesis statement : the sentence that states the main idea of an essay third person point of view: narration of a story by an objective outside observer of the action, using the third-person pronouns tone : the writer's attitude toward the topic or subject voice : the way a piece of writing sounds

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Short Story by James Thurber, 1939

The Secret Character of Walter Mitty (student essay) Who is Walter Mitty? He is the main character in James Thurber’s short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” but it’s hard to tell just who he is. Mitty is a brave naval pilot and a great surgeon; he is a trial witness who gets the better of the District Attorney; he is an army captain in World War II; he is a prisoner nobly refusing to wear a blindfold for his execution; and he is a harried husband worrying about buying puppy biscuits. Put them all together, however, and there are two sharply contrasting Walter Mittys: a fantasy Mitty and a real Mitty. By showing these two sides of Walter Mitty’s character, the author suggests that there are two sides to life: what a person dreams of being and who a person actually is.

Throughout the story, Mitty has daydreams of who he would like to be. Then he gets interrupted and is brought back to reality. This pattern repeats throughout the story, and each instance shows the two sides of Mitty’s character. For example, at the beginning of the story, Mitty is “The Commander,” an experienced pilot guiding a hydroplane through a storm. He is cool under pressure, and his men admire and trust him: “‘The Old Man’ll get us through,’ they said to one another. ‘The Old Man ain’t afraid of Hell!’” (114). Suddenly the scene changes. In reality, Mitty is not piloting a hydroplane through a storm but driving his car through an American town at the speed of 55 miles per hour. He is not cool and calm under pressure, but “tensed up again” (115), according to his wife. He is not trusted and admired by his crew, but instead distrusted by his wife. She objects to his driving speed and worries that he may need to consult a physician for his nerves.

Thurber uses Mitty’s daydreams to depict the hero Mitty wants to be. The daydreams are written in a style that emphasizes rapid action and adventurous settings: The crew are “bending to their tasks” in the “huge, hurtling, eight-engined Navy hydroplane” (114). People shout and grin; their voices and gestures are dramatic. When the perspective shifts from Mitty’s thoughts to the real world, the descriptions are written in a quieter style. People speak in everyday voices, and their actions are small ones, such as putting a mirror into a handbag (115). The setting is described without much sensory detail: “Mitty stopped the car in front of the building where his wife went to have her hair done” (115). This dull kind of detail conveys the fact that to Mitty his daydreams are more vivid than the real world, which seems drab by comparison.

Although the daydream scenes and the realistic scenes contrast sharply, they are related to each other through Thurber’s choice of details. Images from Mitty’s heroic fantasies show up again in reality, but they are much more boring. For example, in the hydroplane scene, Mitty pilots a plane skillfully at high speed through a stormy atmosphere. The matching real scene also shows Mitty piloting a vehicle, but it is his family car rather than a hydroplane. Instead of a raging storm in the air, there is some slush on the ground. Instead of skillfulness, his speed is a result of absentmindedness. The reason for the similarity in imagery is that the world around him triggers Mitty’s daydreams. For instance, passing a hospital while his wife urges him to wear gloves, he has a daydream in which he is a great surgeon putting on surgical gloves. The shift from reality to daydream is an element of Mitty’s characterization. It shows how his mind works in response to the events around him.

Because Mitty spends so much time in his imagination, the daydreams help the reader to understand Mitty’s character. However, the characterization of Mitty is achieved through other techniques as well. The reactions of other characters also illustrate who Mitty is. His wife acts as if he needs her constant guidance to make his way through an ordinary day. A traffic cop scolds him for dawdling at a green light (115); a parking-lot attendant displays an “insolent” (117) attitude toward Mitty for using the wrong lane; a garageman once grinned disrespectfully at Mitty for not being able to remove tire chains (117). When Mitty says “Puppy biscuit” to himself aloud, a woman passing by laughs, “That man said ‘Puppy biscuit’ to himself” (119). In others’ views, the real Mitty is the opposite of the strong Commander, the great surgeon, and the fearless wartime pilot.

Mitty’s responses to these snubs are a further indication of his character. He responds almost entirely by lapsing into a daydream, not by taking action in the real world. People say things that make him feel bad, and his response is to launch a movie-like fantasy, as if he were telling them, “You see, I’m not really helpless; I’m a hero.” Outwardly, Mitty shows his feelings about his life only once, toward the end of the story. When Mrs. Mitty scolds him in the hotel lobby, Mitt y responds, “Things close in.…I was thinking.…Does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking?” (120) This speech expresses Mitty’s resentment at the lack of freedom and adventure in his life, but it has no practical result. His wife merely looks at him and says, “I’m going to take your temperature when I get you home” (120). It is both comical and sad that Mitty’s only display of strength is viewed by his wife as a sign of illness.

As the conversation with his wife shows, Mitty doesn’t seem to know how to assert himself outside of a daydream. In the end, the conflict between fantasy and reality comes to a head. Annoyed by his wife’s delay when she says she “won’t be a minute” and then takes “more than a minute” (121), Mitty lights a cigarette as he leans against the wall of a building. This triggers a final fantasy: the fantasy of a heroic death. The cigarette Mitty smokes makes him think of the traditional last smoke that a condemned person requests before he faces a firing squad. (Mitty, the reader assumes, is no ordinary criminal in this daydream, but a heroic prisoner of war.) He refuses a handkerchief to cover his eyes. Taking a last puff, he makes the dashing gesture of snapping away the cigarette, and he faces the firing squad with a “faint, fleeting smile” (121).

At this moment, the story ends with a concluding description of the main character: “proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty, the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last” (121). The contrast between this description of Mitty and Mitty’s outer appearance is jarring. The story has shown him to be humble and ashamed rather than proud in dealing with his wife and other characters. Furthermore, rather than being in a position to scorn others, Mitty is subject to their scorn. Rather than being undefeated, Mitty seems to be permanently defeated by life.

However, there is another side to these descriptions of Mitty; there may be more truth to them than first appears. Perhaps Mitty is undefeated after all, for he still has his daydreams and always will. Mitty really has a skill, but it is not the skill of being a brave warrior or a noble leader; it is the skill of using his imagination. So the story concludes by hinting that Mitty’s fantasies may not be merely useless daydreams. They may be the only way Mitty can express the heroism that is buried somewhere within him. Mitty wants more from life than what he has. He may be beaten down, he may be bored and pestered, but he is not going to give up his precious daydreams. Almost everyone yearns for something he or she doesn’t have. Walter Mitty is no exception. His fantasies are his way of allowing him to step outside of the real world and become the person he wants to be.

Resources 1. Useful Transition Words and Phrases 2. Cause and Effect Mini-lesson 3. Reading Drama 4, Proofreading Symbols 5. Making Inferences Mini-lesson

GUM 3.1 What are our lesson objectives? Punctuate adverb phrases correctly. Distinguish between adjective and adverb phrases in sentences. Identify adverb phrases in sentences. Identify adverb phrases and the words they modify in sentences. Identify adjective phrases in sentences. Identify adjective phrases and the words they modify in sentences.

Keywords and Pronunciation adjective : a word that modifies, or describes, a noun or pronoun adjective phrase : a prepositional phrase that modifies a noun or pronoun adverb : a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb adverb phrase : a prepositional phrase that is used mainly to modify a verb noun : a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea phrase : a group of related words that acts as a single part of speech

Keywords and Pronunciation preposition : a word that shows the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and another word in the sentence prepositional phrase : a group of words that begins with a preposition, ends with a noun or pronoun, and is used as an adjective or adverb pronoun : a word that takes the place of one or more nouns verb : a word used to express an action or a state of being

Let’s Practice! Remember, an adjective phrase describes which one? or What kind? Choose the adjective phrase or phrases in each sentence. 1. The gray cat on the welcome mat is sleeping. A gray cat B on the welcome mat C is sleeping

Let’s Practice! Remember, an adjective phrase describes which one? or What kind? Choose the adjective phrase or phrases in each sentence. 2. Chess is the name of the game store I work at. A Chess is the name B of the game store C I work at

Let’s Practice! Remember, an adjective phrase describes which one? or What kind? Choose the adjective phrase or phrases in each sentence. 3. The orange sweater in the closet is Kevin’s. A orange B in the closet C is Kevin’s

Let’s Practice! Remember, an adjective phrase describes which one? or What kind? Choose the adjective phrase or phrases in each sentence. 4. The sailors told tall tales about faraway places. A The sailors told B told tall tales C about faraway places

Let’s Practice! Remember, an adjective phrase describes which one? or What kind? Choose the adjective phrase or phrases in each sentence. 5. The film on the television was interrupted by a news brief. A on the television B was interrupted C by a news brief

Let’s Practice! Remember, an adverb phrase describes when, where, how, to what extent, or to what degree. Choose the adverb phrase or phrases in each sentence. 1. Stu and Amy will meet at the corner. A will meet B at the corner

Let’s Practice! Remember, an adverb phrase describes when, where, how, to what extent, or to what degree. Choose the adverb phrase or phrases in each sentence. 2. They will meet at noon. A at noon B meet at

Let’s Practice! Remember, an adverb phrase describes when, where, how, to what extent, or to what degree. Choose the adverb phrase or phrases in each sentence. 3. Ken is travelling by train. A by train B travelling by

Let’s Practice! Remember, an adverb phrase describes when, where, how, to what extent, or to what degree. Choose the adverb phrase or phrases in each sentence. 4. Mrs. Ricci drove to the soccer game. A soccer game B to the soccer game

Let’s Practice! Remember, an adverb phrase describes when, where, how, to what extent, or to what degree. Choose the adverb phrase or phrases in each sentence. 5. She drove with great care. A She drove B with great care