Mona Lisa Smile notes

-Catherine Watson is our main character/ takes place 1953
-Art history teacher/beginning a new school year/history of art 100
-She teaches at a all women college
-Watson seems to be very nervous on the first day; warned not to show fear
-Some of her students already understand numerous subjects that Watson had presented/They are all prepared/reading all the text/very opposite to Mr Escalante's class
-Watson is not cut out for the job/the school is beyond her experience
-The faculty is hard on Watson; she is warned they don't like independence.
-She catches the students off guard/presenting a subject they aren't for once familiar with
-Watson is aware of contraceptives
-She begins to drift away from the "normal" curriculum the students are used to
-Watson focuses in on a particular group of students; becoming involved in their lives outside of class
-She teaches the class modern art and goes against the schools traditional teaching methods (free-thinking)
-Similar to Mr. Escalante, Watson goes the extra step to help her students, for example she practically fills out a college application for a student
-Her personal life starts to compromise her job
-Betty gets married and misses a few classes and is told by Ms. Watson to attend class
-Watson gathers with the students outside of class and tells about her life
-Watson splits up with her fiance, she believes life should not revolve around marriage which Betty believes
-A slide show shows women filling the roles society encourages, something Watson would rather see change and see women improve their education.
-Watson becomes angry at the colleges influence on the women
-She wants the students to look beyond the traditional life most women go after
-Watson tries to convince Jonnie to go to school instead of becoming a housewife
-The college invites Watson to return to teach, but only by their rules. Their syllabus
-Betty gets a divorce and moves to NY with Giselle and goes after her own dreams
-Ms. Watson declines the schools invitation to come back and goes to Europe