The Secret Life of
Walter Mitty
By James Thurber
Have you ever had a daydream?
James Thurber
• 1894-1961 born in Columbus, OH/died
in NYC
• When he was six years old, James stood
with an apple on his head while his
brother aimed a homemade arrow at
the fruit
• The arrow pierced his left eye leaving
him blind in that eye
James Thurber
•
•
•
•
One of America’s most regarded humorists
Wrote essays, short stories, children’s books
Cartoonists
Gift for being funny and serious at the same
time
• Wrote for The New Yorker magazine and
Time magazine
• In the height of patriotism in America
winning WWI and WWII
Ellipsis…
• Known for the use of ellipsis (plural ellipses)
• Used when omitting words or phrases
• Used for quotes when you don’t need the
beginning, middle, or end
• If an ellipsis is being used at the end of the
sentence, you must put four dots (3 for the
ellipsis and 1 for the period)
Humorist
• Captures regular people
trying to cope with
modern life
• Funny and serious at the
same time
Snoopy
Walter Mitty (main character in the story)
was the inspiration for Charles Schultz’s
daydreaming beagle, Snoopy from the
Peanuts comic
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Setting
• Waterbury, Connecticut
• Winter
• After WWI
Walter Mitty
• Daydreams about heroic real life
situations
• The situations are invented
• Makes up his own jargon (the
language or terminology of a
particular trade, profession or
group)
Walter Mitty Syndrome
'Walter Mitty Syndrome' was put forward in a
British medical journal as a clinical condition,
which manifested itself in compulsive
fantasizing. The title character is a meek, mildmannered husband, who escapes his everyday
existence in heroic fantasies.
Vocabulary
Rakishly
• Adverb
• Having a carefree, dashing manner
or appearance
Distraught
• Adjective
• Troubled; anxious; confused;
very upset
Haggard
• Adjective
• Having a very exhausted
appearance; worn or tired
look
Hydroplane
• Noun
• An airplane equipped with floats that
allow it to take off from land or water
Craven
• Adjective
• Very fearful; cowardly
Coreopsis
• Noun
• The name of a daisy-like
flowering plant
Insolent
•Adjective
•Bold in a reckless way
•So rude or proud as to
be offensive
Insinuatingly
• Adverb
• Arousing doubts and
suspicion
• In an indirect way
Disdainful
• Adjective
• Scornful
• Showing scorn for
Something or someone
regarded as unworthy
Pandemonium
• Noun
• Wild noise and disorder
Derisive
• Adjective
• Mocking
Inscrutable
• Adjective
• Mysterious
Cur
• Noun
• A mean, rude person or a mixed
breed dog