The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

​The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

​Literary Analysis: Character

A character is a person or an animal who takes part in the action of a literary work.

•A round character is complex, showing many different qualities—revealing faults as well as virtues. For example, a character might be honest but foolish or dishonest but intelligent. A flat character is one-dimensional, showing only a single trait.

•A dynamic character develops, changes, and learns something during the course of a story, unlike a static character, who remains the same.

The main character of a story is almost always a round character and is usually dynamic.

The main character’s development and growth are often central to a story’s plot and theme. As you read, consider the traits that make characters seem round or flat, dynamic or static.

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Open Ended

Mrs. Mitty: “We’ve been all through that,” she said, getting out of the car. “You’re not a young man any longer.” He raced the engine a little. “Why don’t you wear your gloves? Have you lost your gloves?”

Character traits of Mrs. Mitty

Open Ended

Walter Mitty: Once he had tried to take his chains off [the tires], outside New Milford, and

he had got them wound around the axles. A man had had to come out in a wrecking car

and unwind them, a young, grinning garageman. Since then Mrs. Mitty always made him

drive to a garage to have the chains taken off. The next time, he thought, I’ll wear my right

arm in a sling; they won’t grin at me then.

Character traits of Walter Mitty

Open Ended

Walter Mitty: A woman’s scream rose above the bedlam and suddenly a lovely, dark-haired girl was in Walter Mitty’s arms. The District Attorney struck at her savagely. Without rising from his chair, Mitty let the man have it on the point of the chin. “You miserable cur!” ...

Character traits of Walter Mitty

Open Ended

Mrs. Mitty and Walter Mitty: “Did you get the what’s-its-name? The puppy biscuit? What’s

in that box?” “Overshoes,” said Mitty. “Couldn’t you have put them on in the store?” “I was

thinking,” said Walter Mitty. “Does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking?” She

looked at him. “I’m going to take your temperature when I get you home,” she said.

Character traits of Mrs. Mitty and Walter Mitty

​Reading: Reflect on Details and Events to Determine an Author’s Purpose

​

An author’s purpose is his or her main reason for writing. In fiction, the specific purpose is often to convey the story’s theme, message, or insight. Pause periodically while reading and reflect on the story’s details and events to determine the author’s purpose. Ask questions such as, What significance might this event have? or Why does the author include this detail? Based on your reflections, formulate ideas about what the author’s purpose might be.

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Open Ended

Mrs. Mitty scolds her husband for driving too fast and for not wearing his gloves. He does what she tells him to do.

Open Ended

Walter Mitty daydreams, imagining that he is an important surgeon who repairs a piece of medical equipment and saves a patient’s life.

Open Ended

Walter Mitty tells his wife that he does not need overshoes, but his wife insists that he does. He buys the overshoes.

Open Ended

Walter Mitty daydreams, imagining that he is a heroic air force captain about to fly a two-

man bomber into heavy combat by himself.

Open Ended

Walter Mitty daydreams, imagining himself heroically facing a firing squad—“proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last.”

Multiple Choice

In Walter Mitty’s daydreams, how do the other characters treat him?

• respectfully

• sympathetically

• scornfully

• impatiently

Multiple Choice

Judging from what she says and does, how does Mrs. Mitty feel about her husband?

• She loves and respects him.

• She is proud of him.

• She is irritated and annoyed with him.

• She is frightened of him.

Multiple Choice

Why might you consider Mrs. Mitty a flat character?

• She changes at the end of the story.

• She does not change.

• She has many character traits.

• She has only one main character trait.

Multiple Choice

In his daydreams, which of the following character traits does Walter Mitty imagine that he has?

• humor

• strength

• courage

• patience

Multiple Choice

Why might you consider Walter Mitty a round character?

• He needs to lose twenty-five pounds.

• He is meek on the outside but bold in his daydreams.

• He is athletic.

• He never says what he thinks.

Multiple Choice

Why does Thurber include Walter Mitty’s daydreams in his story?

• They are funny.

• They create suspense.

• They reveal Mitty’s character.

• They reveal Mrs. Mitty’s character.

Multiple Choice

Why do you think Thurber begins his story with the daydream of Mitty commanding a navy seaplane in a storm?

• He introduces Mr. and Mrs. Mitty.

• Walter Mitty is a pilot in real life.

• He wants to grab the reader’s interest.

• The entire story takes place in a storm.

Multiple Choice

In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” what does “spoiling for a hurricane” mean in this sentence?

It’s spoiling for a hurricane, if you ask me.

• We have just been through a hurricane.

• It looks as if a hurricane is coming.

• Being in a hurricane is scary.

• There is no rain or wind in sight.

Multiple Choice

What is the author’s purpose in including this passage in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”?

“Not so fast! You’re driving too fast!” said Mrs. Mitty. “What are you driving so fast for?”

• to show that Walter Mitty is a skillful driver

• to entertain the reader with Mrs. Mitty’s joke

• to create sympathy for Mrs. Mitty

• to show that Mrs. Mitty orders her husband around

Multiple Choice

In this passage from Thurber’s story, why is the garageman grinning when he comes to help Walter Mitty unwind the chains from his tires?

Once he had tried to take his chains off, outside New Milford, and he had got them wound around the axles. A man had had to come out in a wrecking car and unwind

them, a young, grinning garageman.

• Mitty has just told him a joke.

• The garageman is being friendly.

• The garageman is laughing at Mitty.

• The garageman always grins.

Multiple Choice

Why is Walter Mitty a static character, not a dynamic one?

• He has not changed or learned anything by the end of the story.

• At the end of the story, he decides to give up daydreaming.

• He is weak and timid.

• He does not communicate well with Mrs. Mitty.

Match

Match the following

• distraught

• insolent

• insinuatingly

very troubled or confused

boldly disrespectful

suggesting indirectly

• very troubled or confused

• boldly disrespectful

• suggesting indirectly

Match

Match the following

• pandemonium

• derisive

• inscrutable

any place or scene of wild disorder, noise or confusion

showing contempt or ridicule

baffling; mysterious

• any place or scene of wild disorder, noise or confusion

• showing contempt or ridicule

• baffling; mysterious