1. Discuss the roles of women in the 1950s as portrayed in the movie. How were they different from the view of Katherine Watson?

The role of women in the 1950's was repressive and constrictive in many ways. Women in the 1950's defined the role of being a wife and a mother. Society placed high importance and a lot of expectations on behavior for women at home and in public.  The "perfect mother" was supposed to stay at home and nurture and take care of her husband's and kid's needs. This can be seen in the movie, "The Mona Lisa Smile." Katherine Watson had an alternative view on the way women should live. She was concerned with individual goals, happiness, and overall well-being. She stressed being independent from societal oppression and independent from a man's constrictive suppositions. She was against being forced into the traditional life of getting married young and supporting and raising a family to find happiness. Instead, she pursued education, which was uncommon for women to do in the 1950's. 

2. Katherine Watson's teaching style was labeled as "unorthodox." Explain and cite examples from the movie. 

Katherine Watson stayed away from teaching by the common/traditional methods. She didn't go by a syllabus, she taught with visual representations of the material, she connected to students personally, and took her teaching outside of the classroom. She got in trouble for not following a strict outline for the class and was even given instructions by the Dean of the university to stop the unorthodox way of teaching and to teach more traditionally. Katherine felt it was important to know her students personally so she could reach them at a different level. At one point, she brought in an abstract painting by Jackson Pollock to show her students different styles of art. She stressed individuality within education as well as in her student's lives.