• Observe students as they work on the written responses for “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” to identify individuals who will need extra support when working alone. [IS.20 - All Students] Also, the group presentations will indicate whether the majority of the class understands the nature of the assignment. If you note a recurring problem, take the time to clarify matters at this point.
• Observe students as they work independently on the analysis of “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” and help students who need additional support.
• Offer students the opportunity to revise their analyses after reading and listening to the observations of others. Provide feedback on each individual’s responses to help students assess their progress toward the goal of the lesson.

[IS.11 - All Students]

Focus Questions: How and why is humor expressed in literature?

Begin by having students work in groups to identify books, television shows, graphic novels, and movies that use humor. Then ask students to decide how each achieves its humor such as through amusing events, characters, word choice, and use of surprise.

Encourage students to present their ideas about the ways in which humor is created in their examples.

Have students identify the possible reasons the author chose to use humor in each, such as to entertain, to make a point, or to criticize, and then share their ideas.

Consolidate students’ findings on the board/interactive whiteboard.

Part 1

Read aloud James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Make sure students understand the story (particularly the use of ellipsis points to signal the beginning and end of daydreams). [IS.12 - All Students] Then have students work in groups to identify examples of humor that Thurber uses. Instruct students to answer the following questions:

• What is humorous about the example?
• How does Thurber create the humor? (through characterization/events/wording, etc.)
• Is the humor effective? Why or why not?

Observe the groups as they are working, both to help them when necessary and to note which students will probably need extra guidance when working alone.

Next, have each group present one example, accompanied by the group’s analysis. Suggested examples include the following:

• the sharp contrast between Mitty’s personality in real life and his personality in his daydreams; the ways in which particular daydreams are linked to what is happening to him or around him; the reasons he is forced to leave his daydreams [IS.13 - All Students]
• Language: Mitty’s misuse of words such as coreopsis and streptothricosis because he has heard them and thinks they sound like serious medical problems that he can use in his surgical daydream; the use of onomatopoeia in the recurring “pocketa-pocketa-pocketa” in his daydreams [IS.14 - All Students]
• Figurative language/symbolism: examples of imagery/figurative language that contrast the Mitty in daydreams to the Mitty in everyday life; Walter Mitty has become a symbol of the ineffective daydreamer. [IS.15 - All Students]

Read aloud “Charles” by Shirley Jackson. Have students identify examples of humor and analyze why they are humorous, how the author creates the humor, and whether it is effective.

Have students compare the use of humor in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and “Charles.” Ask the following questions to guide the discussion:

“Why did Thurber include examples of humor in his story?” Suggested examples include the following:

• to entertain by showing the contrast between Mitty’s life in daydreams and his life that others see
• to present the idea (or theme) that a person like Walter may really be “inscrutable” because his daydream world is unknown to others
• to show the power of the imagination
• to present an enjoyable––and sympathetic––sketch of Mitty

“How is the humor in Jackson’s ‘Charles’ similar to that in Thurber’s story?” Suggested examples include the following:

• Laurie invents a character to hide his own misbehavior.
• The story provides two views of the main character by contrasting Laurie’s actions in school and his parents’ view of their child at home.
• The use of imagination provides an enjoyable sketch of a young child.

Part 2

Tell students they will now have the opportunity to read a story and analyze it independently. [IS.16 - Struggling Learners] Collect their analysis as part of the Performance Assessment for the unit.

Have students read Mark Twain’s “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” (or read it aloud). Then have them complete the following:

• List at least five examples of humor from the text.
• Provide at least one example that shows the author’s use of language (imagery, figurative language, style).
• Write a concluding comment about the author’s purpose for using humor in the story.

Have students return to their groups to share their analyses. Ask each group to select one example of humor to share with the rest of the class. Also, have all the groups share one concluding observation about the author’s purpose for using humor. Suggested purposes include the following:

• to entertain through the description of the nervous, gullible Framton Nuttel and the quick-witted, outrageous Vera
• to entertain through the ironic twist of the last sentence, which rearranges the reader’s thinking about the rest of the story
• to make the point that first impressions can be misleading

If students have changed their thinking after listening to the group and class discussion, encourage them to make changes in their analysis.

Collect the analyses of “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” to use as part of the Performance Assessment for the unit.

Extension:

• Have students who need additional opportunities for learning use a humorous graphic novel, a newspaper comic strip, or a television show to identify ways in which humor is expressed or determine the author’s purpose in the use of humor. Have students work in groups under your supervision. Provide feedback on students’ examples.
• Have students who are ready to go beyond the standard role-play a humorous play or story that incorporates the techniques discussed in the lesson.