Walter Mitty

4 Outubro 2017, 12:00 Cecília Maria Beecher Martins

Finished viewing Ben Stiller's film version of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. 
Discussed the way the following topics are presented in the movie, in preperation for the reading of the short story the film is based on and for the essay that students will have to submit on 16th October on the USA and Walter Mitty:

•1) today's American dream  - the key to your success lies within and is close at hand, it might be just around the corner so you can’t give up. When you do this you not only become successful, you also change physically and become sexy •
2) neo-liberalism – if the key to success lies within, it is you the individual who is responsible for your own future; governments do not have to provide safety nets for their citizens 
 •3) what it means to be a successful American today, – success means being successful at work & play; you can have idiosyncrasies but you must be able to make social connections. 
 •4) role of female characters: mother, sister, love interest. 
Animated reading of Thuber's short story
Students to reread this at home and make notes to prepare for writing a 200-word summary of the short story in the next class.