Monthly Archives: October 2018

Literature Photo Project

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group: Liam and Deshawn

In the short story “A Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber there is a lot of changes from realism to expressionism. Walter tries to escape reality with his insane dangerous and adventurous dreams, and the dreams trigger through the event in his real life. The story also has situational irony, this shows when Walter is dreaming about being a famous doctor who wrote a book on streptothricosis and who is asked to take over difficult surgeries. In reality however Walter is anything but that and when he wakes from his fantasy he realizes that he parked in the wrong spot. The point of view is third person limited omniscient, this plays a big part in this irony example and in the whole story because most of the story is in his head. The project helps to show an understanding of the character and the story’s plot by us making photos ourselves and making us find particular literary element. Then have an explanation on why each quote fits that particular literary element, lastly write the formal paragraph.

a) Exposition
– Quote: The crew, bending to their various tasks in the huge, hurling eight-engine navy hydroplane, looked at each other and grinned.

Explanation: They are on a hydroplane. Working very hard to pilot it but it is hard while in a dog fight with the Germans and the Red baron. Walter is forced to take things into his own hands. This was also bad because when Walter thought he pushing high speed in the hydro plane he was pushing the gas pedal in his car causing his wife to worry.
b) Rising Action Example #1
– Quote: “You’re tensed up again,” said Mrs. Mitty. “it’s one of your days. I wish you’d let Dr. Renshaw look you over.”

Explanation: it shows that he has a problem with dreaming and his wife knows, it also shows how Walter is stubborn with going to the doctor about his dreaming. But Walter enjoys his dreams more that the reality that he lived in.

c) Rising Action Example #2
– Quote: “I don’t need overshoes,” Said Mitty. She put her mirror back into her bag. “We’ve been through that, “she said, getting out of the car. “You’re not a young man any longer .”

Explanation: because he stood up to his wife, and although they already has constant arguments before he wouldn’t listen to Mrs. Mitty when she asked him to please put on his overshoes and he lashed back saying I don’t even need them why do I have to wear them which started the conflict.

d) Rising Action Example #3
– Quote: “in the operating room there were whispered introductions: Dr. Remington, Dr. Mitty.”

Mitty is a surgeon in a hospital about to perform a procedure but it is a bad idea because he isn’t a real doctor. Walter is in a dream and turns out to be a surgeon performing a procedure on somebody without any knowledge of being a doctor. He also tries to say long and random words to play the role as a doctor.

e) Climax
– Quote: “where’s the what’s-its-name?” she would ask. “don’t tell me you forgot the what’s-its-name.”

Explanation: it shows the relationship between him and his wife, it shows that they are not always on the same page with everything they do, it also tells us that he is pretty absent minded with things that his wife tells him or ask him to do, but it seems as though he is absent minded on purpose because she doesn’t let him have freedom.

f) Falling Action                                                                                                                                                                                                                             – Quote: he said evenly, “I could have killed Gregory Fitzhurst at three hundred feet with my left hand”

Explanation: because he got the death penalty for admitting to kill the guy with the gun. because they were not suspecting after they said it would be impossible to shoot him with his non-dominate hand. But Since Walter Pointed out the fact that he could have shot the guy it instantly brought trouble.

g) Denouement
– Quote: “then, with that faint, fleeting smile playing about his lips, he faced the firing squad”

Explanation:  he is up against a wall with a firing squad aiming at him, Although we know he is facing the firing squad we do not know what happened to him and we don’t know if he died in the dream or not, which leaves us with the thought of what happened to Walter Mitty is he dead or alive.

h) Physical Setting
– Quote: “ Walter Mitty drove on towards Waterbury in silence”

Explanation: because it explains that he lives in Waterbury, Kineticist and this is physical setting because this shows where he lives in the story and where the story takes place. This is good because the readers can visualize where the characters are in the story.

I) Emotional Setting
– Quote: “you know I don’t like to go more than forty. You were up to fifty-five.”

Explanation: it shows that the relationship with his wife is not good and he is sad because he has no freedom and he is getting older causing him to not be able to adventure like he may have been able to do when he was younger it also shows that Mrs. Mitty is highly controlling over Walter and does not want him to do things on his own free will.

j) Conflict Type
– Quote: “I’ve been looking all over the hotel for you,” Said Mrs. Mitty. “Why do you have to hide in this old chair?”

Explanation- this shows another example of how Walter Mitty continues to avoid Mrs. Mitty. This is a main conflict because it shows how Walter and his wife do not seem compatible together. Walter’s wife is the one to tell Walter what to wear and do, because of this Walter feels like he is getting to old not to have any freedom and just makes him not want to listen to her anymore.

k) Ending type
– Quote: “then, with that faint, fleeting smile playing about his lips, he faced the firing squad; erect and motionless, proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the undefeated, inscrutable to the last”

Explanation: cliff hanger, unresolved. This ending type is cliff hanger unresolved because we as reader do no know what happened to Walter Mitty and it does not tell us if the firing squad really shoots or not. If Walter Mitty was not shot, then what happened, that is why this is unresolved because we don’t know what happened to him.

l) Irony Example
– Quote: “I’ve read your book on streptothricosis,” said Pritchard-Mitford, shaking hands”

Explanation:  Walter imagines himself as being a famous doctor who is praised by his peers and who is asked to take over difficult surgeries. In reality however Walter is anything but that and when he wakes from his fantasy he realizes that he parked in the wrong spot.

m) Suspense                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    – Quote: the district attorney suddenly thrust a heavy automatic at the quiet figure on the witness stand.

Explanation: They are in a district court, and there is a witness on the stand, that has something to do with Walter, and a gun. This relates to suspense because you don’t know what is going to happen, did Walter kill someone, did Walter get shot, we don’t know.

Walter Mitty Daydream Six

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The short story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” written by James Thurber. Shifts frequently from expressionism to realism, this plays a big part of the story and is pretty much what the story is about, him being bored of his whole life and escaping from it by dreaming about him having an insane adventurous and dangerous life. Expressionism is mental concepts which are displayed as, flash backs, memories, dreams, thoughts, pause of life time, this would be Walter Mitty in his dreams throughout the story. Realism is seeking to reproduce the effect of actuality, real-life people and situations, the description of what is happening in the present, this would be when he is not in his dreams but in reality. The sixth dream created, which is the continuation of the story, was about him on the side walk after waking up from the fifth dream and seeing police officers causing him to think about being a police officer, waking into a store and getting in to a bad situation, with a cliff hanger/unresolved ending.

…sirens blast through the air piercing Walters ears. Walter looks up and sees three police cars come screaming down the street, they come to a hard stop right down the street from Walter. The smell of cigarettes in the air turns to burnt rubber from the tires. Police rushing out of their cars in to a store yelling. Five minutes later they come out from an alley way with two men in hand cuffs, and they put the men in to the police cars. Walter walks over to the scene of the crime to see what caused such a kerfuffle, when he arrives he talks to some of the people standing around watching. He finds out that there was a hostage in the back of the store but the police found a secret way in to get to the man before he did anything to the hostage. Walter starts to walk back to the store his wife is still in. He leans back on to the window but then he turns around to see what is taking his wife so long in the store, he notices that a customer is arguing with one of the employees in the front of the line, his wife is next in line but after the customer and employee arguing…

Walter walks into the store, the blue of his uniform gleaming off the reflection in the window, the tapping of his police boots against the ground silences the whole room, the people arguing at the front stop and look at Walter. He tells them to “stop arguing and let the kind, beautiful lady waiting in line buy her stuff”, his wife comes and gives him a big hug. Both the people at the front apologise and the lady pays for her stuff. As Walter starts to leave he hears a scream coming from in the back of the store. He sprints into the back bursting through the doors to see a women tied up in a chair. But she was all alone, no one else to be seen. The Lady is trying to warn Walter of something but he cannot understand because of the fabric around her mouth muffling the sound of her voice. Walter removes the fabric, “behind you” she says.

 

 

The Butterfly Effect in “A Sound of Thunder”

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The story, “A Sound of Thunder” written by Rae Bradbury, is a short story, about a man named Eckels who wants to shoot a tyrannosaurus rex. This short story has many decisions that create butterfly effects, and displays well that one small thing can have drastically consequences. The first mistake Eckels made was even going into the time machine, or even going to the time safari Inc. Next Eckels was very scared and nervous when he saw the T-rex, this causes him to run off the path, which causes him stepping on the butterfly without noticing. When the whole group gets home Eckels and the group realize everything is different, the language they speak, and the presidential election results have changed. This all ends with Eckels being killed by Mr. Travis. this story is a great example and really shows how Eckels and the whole safari’s decisions impacted them and how they had such a domino effect, or butterfly effect.