The Devil wears Prada

This film is all about clothes!

What are these clothes? Choose from the list
boots
cardigan
gloves
hat
nightdress
pyjamas
raincoat
scarf
suit
sweater
top
trainers
1

Hes wearing a __________

2
Hes wearing a __________

3
Hes wearing a __________

4
Shes wearing a __________

5
Shes wearing a pair of
__________

6
Hes wearing a pair of __________

7
Shes wearing a __________

8
Shes wearing a pair of _________

9
Shes wearing a __________

10
Hes wearing a pair of __________

11
Shes wearing a __________

12
Shes wearing a __________

Talk about these questions with a classmate

1. What is fashionable in your country at the moment?
2. How long does it take you to get ready in the evening for a night out?
3. How many times a month do you go shopping?
4. What types of fashion do you hate?
5. Ladies, do you like wearing high heels, even though theyre uncomfortable?
6. Gentlemen, beards are fashionable at the moment. Do you like them?
7. The whole fashion industry is a waste of time Do you agree with this statement?

The film
Characters - As you watch the film, choose from the following characteristics which
adjective fits with which character

ambitious
insecure
innocent

hard
creative
hard-working

fashion-conscious
unpleasant
nasty

Miranda

Andrea

Nigel

Emily

unlucky
successful
strict

Exercise 1
Fill the gaps
Andrea "Andy" Sachs (Anne Hathaway), is a journalist who has just left _____ and
is looking for her first _____. She is offered one that "a million girls would kill for":
junior personal assistant to the boss of Runway fashion _____, Miranda Priestly
(Meryl Streep). She has no interest in fashion, but just wants the job so she can
have some experience which will help her in the future. Her _____, who works in a
restaurant, lives happily with her.

Exercise 2
Put the lines in the correct order
_____ Assistant Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt) who loves everything about fashion
and loves yet fears
_____ Miranda. She treats Andy very badly, and also thinks she looks ridiculous
for dressing up in
_____ this. All she wants is to get experienced in journalism. She actually thinks
that the fashion
__1__ At the interview for the job, Miranda looks at her with distaste. Her clothes
are not at all
_____ any clothes, and not following all the latest fashion trends.
_____ industry is a bit ridiculous. She works just outside Mirandas office with
Mirandas Personal
_____ fashionable, and she hasnt got much, if any, make-up on. She is not
interested in things like

Exercise 3
Correct the mistakes
She meets Nigel (Stanley Tucci), who is Mirandas art director, and, although he
also thinks she is stupid for having no interest in sport, he is at least friendly to
her. As she gets used to the job and the constant pressure and stress that
comes with it, she starts to spend less and less time doing jobs for Miranda and
not spending as much time with her boyfriend and her friends as she used to.
Miranda asks her to do something easy, find two copies of an unpublished Harry
Potter book to give to her daughters. The novel has not been published yet, but
Andy manages to find an old and attractive writer Christian Thompson (Simon
Baker), who helps her get the Potter book.
When Andy complains about her job to Nigel, he agrees to help her by giving her
some clothes that cost thousands of dollars to help her have the wrong look for
the job. She walks into work and instantly gains the respect and envy of Emily.
She starts to feel less confident in her job and dealing with Miranda, and one
morning she saves Miranda from social embarrassment at a charity benefit when
Emily doesnt remember who an approaching guest is to warn Miranda. As a
result, Miranda tells Andrea that she will go with her to the important fashion
shows in Milan, rather than Emily who had been looking forward to the trip for
months, but is ill.

Exercise 4
Fill the gaps by answering the questions with one word
(When?) __________ a visit to an art gallery, Andy meets (who?) __________
again. He is attracted to her, and this happens at the same (when?) __________
as her boyfriend and her have a (what size?) __________ argument because he
thinks she has changed and is only interested in her (what?) __________ and not
him or their friends. They (what?) __________ up in the middle of the street the
night before she leaves for (where?) __________.
Exercise 5
Wordbuilding. Fill the gaps by putting a word in the gap. The word in
bold at the end of each line should be a guide for you.
In Paris, Nigel tells Andrea that he has got a job as ________ director with
CREATION
rising fashion star James Holt (Daniel Sunjata), at Miranda's ________,
RECOMMEND
which he is very ________ about. Andrea spends the night with Christian, and also
HAPPINESS
learns that Miranda, who is very hard, has a soft side when it comes to her

________ and a divorce from her husband.

CHILD
In the morning, Andrea finds out about a plan to replace Miranda as Runway
________ with Jacqueline Follet, editor of the magazine's French edition, later
EDIT
that day. She tries to warn Miranda but she does not have time to listen to
her. Later that day, however, Miranda ________ that it is Jacqueline instead
ANNOUNCEMENT
of Nigel who will leave Runway for Holt. Later, when the two are being ________
DRIVE
to a show, she explains to a Andrea that she was ________ for the warning but
THANK
already knew of the plan to replace her and fired Nigel to keep her own
job. Miranda tell Andrea that she likes the way she ________ and acts; Andrea tells
THOUGHT
Miranda that she is too hard in the way she treats other people, especially Nigel.
She tells Miranda that she could never do ________ as bad as that. Miranda replies
SOME
that she has already done it, but going to Paris instead of Emily.
Suddenly, Andrea realises how far she has moved away from the person she
used to be. She walks away from Miranda and her job, throwing away her mobile
phone which is a symbol of her slavery to Miranda.

After you watch -

Talk about these topics with your classmate

1. Who is the nicest character in the film?

2. Do you have to be unpleasant to be successful?
3. Is it worth changing your character to get what you want, even temporarily?
4. Do men have to work as hard as women to get ahead?
5. How can you achieve a perfect work-life balance?

Writing
Choose one of the questions above and write a composition on it.

The devil wears Prada - Answer key

This film is all about clothes!
What are these clothes? Choose from the list
boots
cardigan
gloves
hat
nightdress
pyjamas
raincoat
scarf
suit
sweater
top
trainers
1
Hes wearing a suit

2
Hes wearing a sweater

3
Hes wearing a cardigan

4
Shes wearing a raincoat

5
Shes wearing a pair of gloves

6
Hes wearing a pair of boots

7
Shes wearing a scarf

8
Shes wearing a pair of trainers

9
Shes wearing a top

10
Hes wearing a pair of pyjamas

11
Shes wearing a hat

12
Shes wearing a nightdress

Talk about these questions with a classmate.

1. What is fashionable in your country at the moment?
2. How long does it take you to get ready in the evening for a night out?
3. How many times a month do you go shopping?
4. What types of fashion do you hate?
5. Ladies, do you like wearing high heels, even though theyre uncomfortable?
6. Gentlemen, beards are fashionable at the moment. Do you like them?
7. The whole fashion industry is a waste of time Do you agree with this statement?

The film -

Characters

As you watch the film, choose from the following characteristics which adjective fits
with which character
ambitious
insecure
innocent

hard
creative
hard-working
Miranda

hard, hard-working, fashion-conscious

unpleasant, nasty, strict, successful
Nigel

fashion-conscious
unpleasant
nasty

unlucky
successful
strict

Andrea

insecure, innocent, hard-working,

successful
Emily

Creative, fashion-conscious
ambitious, unpleasant, hard-working
fashion-conscious, unlucky

Exercise 1
Fill the gaps
Andrea "Andy" Sachs (Anne Hathaway), is a journalist who has just left
university and is looking for her first job. She is offered one that "a million girls
would kill for": junior personal assistant to the boss of Runway fashion
magazine, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). She has no interest in fashion, but
just wants the job so she can have some experience which will help her in the
future. Her boyfriend, who works in a restaurant, lives happily with her.

Exercise 2
Put the lines in the correct order
__5__ Assistant Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt) who loves everything about fashion
and loves yet fears

__6__ Miranda. She treats Andy very badly, and also thinks she looks ridiculous
for dressing up in
__3__ this. All she wants is to get experienced in journalism. She actually thinks
that the fashion
__1__ At the interview for the job, Miranda looks at her with distaste. Her clothes
are not at all
__7__ any clothes, and not following all the latest fashion trends.
__4__ industry is a bit ridiculous. She works just outside Mirandas office with
Mirandas Personal
__2__ fashionable, and she hasnt got much, if any, make-up on. She is not
interested in things like
Exercise 3 Correct the mistakes
She meets Nigel (Stanley Tucci), who is Mirandas art director, and, although he
also thinks she is stupid for having no interest in fashion, he is at least friendly
to her. As she gets used to the job and the constant pressure and stress that
comes with it, she starts to spend more and more time doing jobs for Miranda
and not spending as much time with her boyfriend and her friends as she used
to.
Miranda asks her to do something impossible, find two copies of an unpublished
Harry Potter book to give to her daughters. The novel has not been published
yet, but Andy manages to find a young and attractive writer Christian Thompson
(Simon Baker), who helps her get the Potter book.
When Andy complains about her job to Nigel, he agrees to help her by giving her
some clothes that cost thousands of dollars to help her have the right look for
the job. She walks into work and instantly gains the respect and envy of Emily.
She starts to feel more confident in her job and dealing with Miranda, and one
evening she saves Miranda from social embarrassment at a charity benefit
when Emily doesnt remember who an approaching guest is to warn Miranda. As
a result, Miranda tells Andrea that she will go with her to the important fashion
shows in Paris, rather than Emily who had been looking forward to the trip for
months, but is ill.
Exercise 4
Fill the gaps by answering the questions with one word
(When?) During a visit to an art gallery, Andy meets (who?) Christian again.
He is attracted to her, and this happens at the same (when?) time as her
boyfriend and her have a (what size?) big argument because he thinks she has
changed and is only interested in her (what?) job and not him or their friends.
They (what?) split up in the middle of the street the night before she leaves for
(where?) Paris.

Exercise 5
Wordbuilding. Fill the gaps by putting a word in the gap. The word in
bold at the end of each line should be a guide for you.
In Paris, Nigel tells Andrea that he has got a job as creative director with
CREATION
rising fashion star James Holt (Daniel Sunjata), at Miranda's recommendation,
RECOMMEND
which he is very happy about. Andrea spends the night with Christian, and also
HAPPINESS
learns that Miranda, who is very hard, has a soft side when it comes to her
children and a divorce from her husband.
CHILD
In the morning, Andrea finds out about a plan to replace Miranda as Runway
editor with Jacqueline Follet, editor of the magazine's French edition, later
EDIT
that day. She tries to warn Miranda but she does not have time to listen to
her. Later that day, however, Miranda announces that it is Jacqueline instead
ANNOUNCEMENT
of Nigel who will leave Runway for Holt. Later, when the two are being driven
DRIVE
to a show, she explains to a Andrea that she was thankful for the warning but
THANK
already knew of the plan to replace her and fired Nigel to keep her own
job. Miranda tell Andrea that she likes the way she thinks and acts; Andrea tells
THOUGHT
Miranda that she is too hard in the way she treats other people, especially Nigel.
She tells Miranda that she could never do something as bad as that. Miranda
replies
SOME
that she has already done it, but going to Paris instead of Emily.
Suddenly, Andrea realises how far she has moved away from the person she
used to be. She walks away from Miranda and her job, throwing away her mobile
phone which is a symbol of her slavery to Miranda.

After you watch -

Talk about these topics with your partner

1. Who is the nicest character in the film?
2. Do you have to be unpleasant to be successful?
3. Is it worth changing your character to get what you want, even temporarily?
4. Do men have to work as hard as women to get ahead?
5. How can you achieve a perfect work-life balance?

Writing

Choose one of the questions above and write a composition on it.