Matilda
1) Provide a brief (4-6 sentences) summary of the plot of the film in your own words
Matilda is a very smart and brilliant little girl who by the age three has read everything in the house and wants nothing more than a book. So she starts going to the library and increasing her brainpower. Meanwhile at home, her parents are horrible and don't pay her any attention. Matilda’s father is a crooked used car salesman, who meets Agatha Trunchbull, a headmistress of a local school, and he enrolls Matilda in school there. But the Trunchbull is a horrible woman who disciplines her students by throwing them out of windows, over the fence, making them eat huge chocolate cakes, and putting them in the chokey. All the students fear the Trunchbull. As horrible as the Trunchbull is, that's how wonderful Miss Honey, Matilda's classroom teacher, is. All the kids adore her. She recognizes right away that Matilda is a very smart child, and, after an unsuccessful meeting with Matilda's parents, gives Matilda work from the upper grades to do. One day when the Trunchbull is teaching Matilda's class, her friend Lavender puts a newt in the Trunchbull's waterglass. When the Trunchbull is particularily mean to Matilda, she makes the glass tip over with her "special powers" in her eyes. Miss Honey knows Matilda is very sweet but also very lonely, and takes her home for tea when Matilda tries to explain her powers. They form a very special bond, and Miss Honey tells Matilda about growing up with the Trunchbull, and how she had to escape and leave her treasures behind in the house. Matilda rescues Miss Honey’s doll from the house. Miss Honey eventually moves back into her childhood home, and becomes the new headmistress of the school. After Matilda's parents and brother escape the police by moving to Guam, Miss Honey adopts Matilda and all is well in the world.
2) In the space below identify the main characters of the movie. Summarize what each character experienced.
Matilda
Matilda is a very smart and brilliant little girl who by the age three has read everything in the house and wants nothing more than a book. So she starts going to the library and increasing her brainpower. Meanwhile at home, her parents are horrible and don't pay her any attention. Matilda’s father is a crooked used car salesman, who meets Agatha Trunchbull, a headmistress of a local school, and he enrolls Matilda in school there. But the Trunchbull is a horrible woman who disciplines her students by throwing them out of windows, over the fence, making them eat huge chocolate cakes, and putting them in the chokey. All the students fear the Trunchbull. As horrible as the Trunchbull is, that's how wonderful Miss Honey, Matilda's classroom teacher, is. All the kids adore her. She recognizes right away that Matilda is a very smart child, and, after an unsuccessful meeting with Matilda's parents, gives Matilda work from the upper grades to do. One day when the Trunchbull is teaching Matilda's class, her friend Lavender puts a newt in the Trunchbull's waterglass. When the Trunchbull is particularily mean to Matilda, she makes the glass tip over with her "special powers" in her eyes. Miss Honey knows Matilda is very sweet but also very lonely, and takes her home for tea when Matilda tries to explain her powers. They form a very special bond, and Miss Honey tells Matilda about growing up with the Trunchbull, and how she had to escape and leave her treasures behind in the house. Matilda rescues Miss Honey’s doll from the house. Miss Honey eventually moves back into her childhood home, and becomes the new headmistress of the school. After Matilda's parents and brother escape the police by moving to Guam, Miss Honey adopts Matilda and all is well in the world.
2) In the space below identify the main characters of the movie. Summarize what each character experienced.
Matilda