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    Methods and Strategies: Submitted By: Arevalo, Monalie C. Iii-M

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    Arevalo Xhien
    The document provides a summary of the plot of the film "Mona Lisa Smile". It describes how in 1953 Katherine Ann Watson takes a position teaching art history at Wellesley College, where she encourages her students to think beyond just becoming wives and mothers. This brings her into conflict with the conservative administration. She inspires some students like Joan to pursue careers, though Joan eventually chooses marriage. The story follows several students, including Betty who resists Katherine's influence, as they make choices about their futures. In the end, Katherine decides to leave Wellesley after restrictions are imposed on her teachings.

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    Methods and Strategies: Submitted By: Arevalo, Monalie C. Iii-M

    Uploaded by

    Arevalo Xhien
    164 views5 pages
    The document provides a summary of the plot of the film "Mona Lisa Smile". It describes how in 1953 Katherine Ann Watson takes a position teaching art history at Wellesley College, where she encourages her students to think beyond just becoming wives and mothers. This brings her into conflict with the conservative administration. She inspires some students like Joan to pursue careers, though Joan eventually chooses marriage. The story follows several students, including Betty who resists Katherine's influence, as they make choices about their futures. In the end, Katherine decides to leave Wellesley after restrictions are imposed on her teachings.

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    Methods and Strategies

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    The document provides a summary of the plot of the film "Mona Lisa Smile". It describes how in 1953 Katherine Ann Watson takes a position teaching art history at Wellesley College, where she encourages her students to think beyond just becoming wives and mothers. This brings her into conflict with the conservative administration. She inspires some students like Joan to pursue careers, though Joan eventually chooses marriage. The story follows several students, including Betty who resists Katherine's influence, as they make choices about their futures. In the end, Katherine decides to leave Wellesley after restrictions are imposed on her teachings.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    164 views5 pages

    Methods and Strategies: Submitted By: Arevalo, Monalie C. Iii-M

    Uploaded by

    Arevalo Xhien
    The document provides a summary of the plot of the film "Mona Lisa Smile". It describes how in 1953 Katherine Ann Watson takes a position teaching art history at Wellesley College, where she encourages her students to think beyond just becoming wives and mothers. This brings her into conflict with the conservative administration. She inspires some students like Joan to pursue careers, though Joan eventually chooses marriage. The story follows several students, including Betty who resists Katherine's influence, as they make choices about their futures. In the end, Katherine decides to leave Wellesley after restrictions are imposed on her teachings.

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    METHODS AND STRATEGIES

    REACTION PAPER
    (Mona Lisa Smile)

    Submitted by:
    Arevalo,Monalie C.
    III-M

    Submitted to:
    Prof. IEM Esteban

    Date:
    March 22, 2011
    MONA LISA SMILE

    THE STORY:

    In 1953, Katherine Ann Watson , a 30 something grad student from California, takes a position
    teaching "History of Art" at Wellesley College, a conservative women's private liberal arts
    college in Massachusetts because she wants to make a difference and influence the next
    generation of women.

    At her first class Katherine discovers that the girls have already memorised the entire syllabus
    from the textbook so she instead uses the classes to introduce them to Modern Art and
    encourages spirited classroom discussions about topics such as what is good art and what does
    the Mona Lisa's smile mean. This brings her into conflict with the conservative College
    President who warns Katherine to stick to the syllabus if she wants to keep her job.

    Katherine comes to know many of the students in her class well and seeks to inspire them to
    seek more than marriage to an eligible young man. Joan Brandwyn dreamt of being a lawyer
    and enrolled as pre-law so Katherine encourages her to apply for Yale, which she gets into.
    Joan, however, elopes with her fiancée Tommy, is very happy and decides she wants to be
    nothing more than a wife and mother after graduation and asks Katherine to respect her
    choice.

    Betty Warren is highly conservative like her mother the head of the Alumnae Association. Betty
    doesn't understand why Katherine is not married and is strident in insisting that there is a
    universal standard for good art. She writes two editorials for the college paper, one which
    exposes the nurse for giving out contraception which gets her fired, and one attacking
    Katherine for advocating that women should seek a career instead of just being wives and
    mothers as intended. Betty can't wait to marry Spenser as their parents have arranged and
    expects to get the traditional exemptions from attending class because she is married, but
    Katherine insists she will be marked on merit.

    Connie Baker is dating Betty's cousin Charlie but Betty persuades her that he is only using her
    since it has been arranged by his parents for him to marry Deb, a girl more of his social
    standing, so they break up. However, Charlie had already decided for himself that that was not
    going to happen and they get back together. Giselle Levey has liberal views and supports
    Katherine because she sees her as having chosen what she wants in her life. Giselle brazenly
    has affairs with a professor and a married man.

    Katherine confides to the girls that she was engaged when young but that they were separated
    by the war and the relationship fizzled out and that she has had several affairs. Katherine
    declines a proposal from her boyfriend in California because she doesn't love him enough. She
    begins seeing the professor of Italian, Bill Dunbar who is charming and full of stories about
    Europe and his heroic actions in Italy during the war. He has also had affairs with many students
    including Giselle so Katherine makes him promise that that will never happen again. However,
    when she discovers that he actually spent the entire war at the Army Languages Centre on Long
    Island she decides he untrustworthy and breaks up with him. Dunbar responds that Katherine
    didn't come to Wellesley to help the students but to try and find herself.

    Betty's marriage fails miserably. Spenser is soon spending as much time as possible away in
    New York on business and is also spotted by Giselle conducting an affair. Betty's mother tries to
    pressure Betty into not divorcing him at least for a while to avoid scandal for the families. Betty
    asks her mother if the Mona Lisa's smile means she is happy. At graduation Betty tells Katherine
    that she is divorcing Spenser and is going to share a flat in Greenwich Village with Giselle and is
    considering applying for law at Yale, which impresses Katherine.

    Katherine's course was highly popular and there is large demand for places the next year so the
    college invites her to return. However, the President and Betty's mother impose conditions on
    Katherine that she must follow the syllabus, submit lesson plans for approval and not talk to the
    girls about anything other than classes. Katherine decides to leave and heads off explore
    Europe for herself.
    REACTION:

    MONA LISA SMILE is a funny, inspiring and uplifting film about an art history professor with a lot
    to teach about life and much to learn about romance. The movie was all about choice. Women
    lived in a world of rules and regulations. Conforming to the ideal was expected being an
    individual was not. Going to a great college was good, but ultimately a woman’s role was in the
    house. She had no major decisions to make… she had no options. In Mona Lisa Smile, these
    women created choices and made them, which was forbidden for that time period.

    In a world that told them how to think, Katherine Ann Watson showed them how to live.”

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