Name_________________________________
Key of the month _______________________
Teacher _____________________ Period____
Date _________________________________
Writing Assignment
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
by James Thurber
Points Possible
1. Complete 4-part heading
5
2. Analyzing the Writing Prompt
 Marking the prompt
 “Responding to a Writing
Prompt” questions
16
8
8
3. Pre-Writing
16
4. Writing Response Template
 One point per blank (content)
20
5. Rewritten or Typed Template
 One point per blank
(content)
 One point per blank
(grammar/spelling)
40
20
TOTAL
97
Grading Scale
A = 97 – 87
B = 86 – 77
C = 76 – 68
D = 67 – 58
F = 57 - below
20
Points Earned
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
by James Thurber
Writing Prompt
Many of us have, at one time or another, wished to be someone else or somewhere else
in order to escape an unwanted feeling or situation. Sometimes we desire this escape
because we are bored or uncomfortable, and sometimes we desire this escape because
we are unhappy. In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, author James Thurber details the
story a man who daydreams in an attempt to escape his uneventful, unfulfilling life.
In a brief essay, contrast two of Walter Mitty's real-life character traits to two character
traits of the men in his daydreams. Be sure to provide examples from the text that
illustrate each trait and explain how the traits of Walter Mitty’s daydream characters
relate to Walter Mitty’s real-life character traits.
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
by James Thurber
Pre-Writing
Daydream #1:
Real-life character trait #1:
______________________________________
_____________________________
Daydream character trait #1:
________________________________
Example from text:
Example from text:
(
).
(
).
How do these traits relate to each other? Why does Walter Mitty’s daydream character have this
particular trait?
Daydream #2:
Real-life character trait #2:
______________________________________
_________________________
Daydream character trait #2:
________________________________
Example from text:
Example from text:
(
).
How do these traits relate to each other? Why does Walter Mitty’s daydream character have this
particular trait?
(
).
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
by James Thurber
Writing Response Template
In the fictional narrative “________________________________________________________”,
author _________________________________ describes a man who ___________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
In reality, Walter Mitty shows ________________________ when _____________________________
(real-life character trait #1)
_______________________________________________________________________________ (
(example from text – real-life trait #1)
).
In contrast, in his _________________________________________ daydream, Mitty’s character
(daydream #1)
displays _________________________ when ______________________________________________
(daydream character trait #1)
(example from text – daydream trait #1)
_______________________________________________________________________________ (
).
This daydream signals that Mitty _________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
In addition, Walter Mitty shows ________________________ when ____________________________
(real-life character trait #2)
_______________________________________________________________________________ (
(example from text – real-life trait #2)
).
In contrast, in his _________________________________________ daydream, Mitty’s character
(daydream #2)
shows _________________________ when ________________________________________________
(daydream character trait #2)
(example from text – daydream trait #2)
_______________________________________________________________________________ (
).
This daydream reveals that Mitty ________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
Overall, Walter Mitty enjoys, and even needs, these daydreams because _________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.