Death of a Salesman Act 2 and Requiem

Act 2

Section 1

1.    Willy goes to see Howard concerning a none travelling job.

2.    Happy music opens the act- Loman optimism- Willy looks relaxed, slept in and wants to buy some seeds for the yard today.Linda has to dress him in his jacket.

3.    Daydreams about a house in the country- relate this to Biff’s dream( which Willy condemns)

4.    Willy is sure things will go his way very positive psyching himself up to meet Howard. Linda adds he needs an advance to clear some outstanding bills- final payment for the mortgage- Linda mending stockings-

5.    Linda tells Willy he is to meet the boys for dinner this evening after the meeting

6.    ‘A little boat looking for a harbour’- very aware of her husband’s failings and weaknesses

Section 2- Willy fails to persuade Howard and loses his job

1.    Howard’s office in New York with the new tape recorder. Greeting??? Totally ignored!

2.    Willy –(people delighted to see him???)

3.    Willy and Howard discuss the chances of another position for Willy and clearly this is not going to happen. (Miller wants Howard has to appear unsympathetic here)

4.    Willy talks of his career- Dave Singleman selling in his 80’s- liked and admired- this is what Willy seeks above all else. What evidence is there that Willy is well liked? Delusional?

5.    Begs for a job and cuts his salary- shouts at Howard- who leaves the office and Willy addresses his father Frank (Howard’s)

6.    Howard was aware of a previous ‘breakdown’ by Willy and tells him he must no-longer work for the company- rely on his son’s to help him now.

7.    Is Howard the only one who will speak the truth to Willy? Echoes of the Depression when jobs just couldn’t be made if the need wasn’t there.

Section 3-Willy dreams of the old days when Biff was a sporting success and Ben appears

1.    Ben comes on to the stage and discusses an opportunity in Alaska but Linda comes in and says Willy has already got a good job with prospects. Linda believes Willy’s boasting. Time is very confused now as it must be the past. Ben accuses him of building nothing substantial but Willy refers to the building on his house (not his career) Play on the word building here

2.    American Dream- pioneers settle down and build their own home- Dave Singleman story again. Ben leaves and Biff and Happy appear

3.    Flashback within the daydream---‘A man can end up with diamonds here on the basis of being well liked’ p.68 Willy say footballers earn more than Ben will in Alaska. Biff is well liked he will do well in business

4.    Charley teases Willy about Ebbet’s Field and the game.

Section 4- Bernard has become a successful lawyer- visiting his father

1.    Charley’s office and Willy comes to borrow money

2.    Bernard’s- successful, married and athletic (tennis racket)

3.    Bernard talks about the maths exam and Biff’s failure to get in the summer school and retake the exam

4.    Bernard describes Biff’s return from visiting his father in Boston and their fight. Willy doesn’t get it and this leads the audience to see how deluded he has become. Willy is unable to face the truth about Boston.

5.    Willy starts to boast an lie about Biff as he realises how successful Bernard is.

6.    Charley gives Willy the money he wants but doesn’t understand why Willy won’t just accept a job from him- says he is worth more dead than alive. Charley says no one is worth anything dead. Actually says Charley is his only friend.

Section 5- Biff tries to talk to Willy in the restaurant but Willy won’t accept the truth and tells his sons that he has been fired.

1.    Restaurant scene in which Happy chats up a pretty girl with terrible chat up lines. She also appears totally insincere- magazine cover- champagne salesman!

2.    Sexual remarks about her appearance

3.    Biff- famous football star from New York Giants- make believe but Biff won’t continue with the lies- who is Happy like?

4.    Biff talks about his failure with Bill Oliver and that he stole a pen off his desk- thief

5.    Happy tells him not to tell Willy- pretend a lunch date tomorrow-

6.    Willy arrives and tells them he has been sacked and wants good news

7.    Biff tries to tell Willy the truth- trumpet blares to emphasise the differences between the characters

Section 6- Willy daydreams of the time Biff failed his math exam

1.    Lighting changes back in time- (leaves) young Bernard on stage- one long list of disasters for the family- played behind the restaurant scene Bernard talks to linda front stage Willy and Biff having a conversation about Bill Oliver

2.    So why this daydream? Is Willy feeling guilty?

Section 7-Willy thinks Biff failed to cut the deal to spite him-violent argument-memory of Boston comes into his mind

1.    Willy notices the pen and blames Biff’s failure on failing his maths exam.

2.    Tannoy heard- Standish Arms Hotel- and Willy starts shouting that he is not in his room-

3.    Willy thinks Biff is worthless but then Biff tries to change his story- Willy is very upset

4.    Willy and Biff continue to discuss Bill Oliver but a woman is herd laughing- ambiguity of this

5.    Willy seems to think that Biff is deliberately spiting him. Guilt for discovered adultery?

6.    Biff tells the girls that Willy ‘is a fine troubled prince’ whilst Happy says- he isn’t his father’

7.    Peter denying Christ biblical allusion- trial of faith and Happy fails. Could Willy be seen as a Christ like figure? Gives his life for others?

8.    Willy refuses to listen to Biff and typical male turns to violence

9.    Sexual desire makes all the men feel guilty too.

Section 8-The full recollection of the scene in Boston

1.    The woman accuses Willy of ‘ruining’ her(Happy Act 1)

2.    Knocking at the door- bathroom- and Biff enters to explain the maths situation

3.    Making fun of the teacher- the woman begins to laugh too

4.    She comes out- stockings- Biff begins to cry as realisation hits him about Willy

5.    Woman’s laugh is very ambiguous throughout the play- laughing at Willy-appreciative laugh of lover- impending doom

Section 9-Willy left alone at the restaurant and becomes increasingly disturbed

1.    Stanley the waiter comes to collect Willy from the bathroom- the boys have gone and he is a pathetic old man here

2.    He asks Stanley where he can buy seeds-symbolic- the future

Section 10-Boys return home- furious Linda

1.    Linda greets the boys and makes to throw them out of the house.

2.    Tells Happy to pick up the flowers she had thrown on the floor

3.    Happy doesn’t understand Linda however Biff acknowledges his faults.

4.    Willy is banging around in the yard

Section 11- Willy in a very disturbed mind discusses the pros and cons of suicide

1.    Willy uses a torch in the dimmed yard area to read the seed packets- he is not making any sense

2.    His life insurance policy of 20,000 dollars would help Linda and he discusses this with Ben.

3.    Ben- dead brother debates the pros and cons. It may not be honoured (if it is proven that it was suicide)

4.    Who is right? Ben says its tangible and Willy says its better than ‘ringing up a zero’

5.    Willy sees his funeral on a par with David Singleman’s and that his family would finally understand that he was well liked!

Section 12- Biff tries to talk to Willy who is consumed with anger over Biff’s ‘spite’ of Willy. Biff tells him to stop trying to build dreams that Biff can’t make come true. Biff tells Willy that he loves him. Willy kills himself to leave the money to Biff.

1.    Biff tries to make his peace with Willy and get him to accept that Biff is a bum.

2.    Biff appreciates how ordinary he is as is Willy- never destined for great things

3.    Willy denies this- he sees all the opportunities for Biff

4.    Biff crying asks Willy to ‘discard his phony dream’- Willy is beyond understanding saying that Biff ‘is going to be magnificent’p.106

5.    Ben reappears and talks to Willy and they continue to discuss the money and the death- he wants to achieve the American Dream by giving Biff money to live the dream

6.    Happy talks about his future

7.    Willy talks to Ben then is back to a coaching scene - Willy goes out and drives the car away….

Requiem-Family and friends at the funeral

1.    Celebration to honour the dead=requiem

2.    Only family and Charley and Bernard there- delusional idea of being well liked

3.    Happy wants to stay in his job to beat the system for his father

4.    Biff despairs of Happy’s views and of his father’s dreams

5.    Charley’s line- definition of ‘a salesman is got to dream- it is the nature of the job’

6.    Linda’s ambiguous phrase: ’we’re free’

Death of a Salesman Notes- Act 1

Act 1 Death of a Salesman:

Section 1

1.    Willy returns home extreme weariness and Linda is obviously worried about him; the audience is faced with several possibilities- tired or going mad? Later he kills himself while driving so is this just setting up the final action.Is he just setting Linda up by saying how badly he has been driving lately?

2.    Willy’s first line,’It’s alright I came back’. Ambiguity of this line- one day he won’t?

3.    He appears to be a pathetic old man- arch supports and Linda mothers him- shoes and jacket.

4.    One hand he talks about selling to Brown and Morrison and the next he is resolved to control his life.

5.    Willy shifts his anger to the loss of greenery around his house.

6.    The audience is introduced to the constant contradictions he makes ‘ mountains out of molehills- Is Willy inventing his own difficulties or is he the VICTIM of a terrible fate(tragedy of the common man.

Section 2

1.    Biff and Happy awake to overhear the conversation between Willy and Linda.

2.    They are aware of his forgetfulness-but are aware that Willy is beginning to live in his own distorted world.

3.    Biff and Happy show that their attitude to women is extremely lacking in maturity and that they are openly sexist.

4.    Biff loves his life in the open country

5.    Happy’s life doesn’t seem so good even though he has the trimmings of the American Dream. Neither married

6.    Happy’s conquests with engaged girls ‘ruining them before their weddings’ cruel and unethical – what other sexist attitudes come through this conversation?

7.    Bill Oliver an ex-employer is mentioned and Biff unrealistically sees himself able to get a business loan from him-American Dream

8.    Boys are heard even though Willy is continuing a conversation with himself and expresses his concern for Biff. He loves Biff

9.    Can the boys prevent themselves making the same mistakes and ending up like Willy?

10.  Biff’s farmwork equates to Willy’s DIY projects. Happy has gone for a whitecollar job but is still unhappy.

Section 3

1.    Willy is lost in a daydream and the lighting changes along with the music. Dreamstate- characters enter through the walls.

2.    Willy watches Biff polish the car and condones the theft of the football.

3.    Willy hopes to have his own business- he is well liked where ever he goes- the importance of popularity and looks over hardwork and study- (Bernard and Charley)

4.    Linda tots up the commission and Willy’s exaggeration is noted.

5.    Willy contradicts himself-well liked to not liked – appearance is not conducive to sales.

6.    Woman’s laughter off stage. Whenever this occurs the ambiguity of the words/ meaning on stage are highlighted here.

7.    Willy has increasing difficulty in differentiating between reality and dream and the past and the present. Miller interleaves the use of time to add to the drama and tensions on stage.

8.    Willy’s belief that his son’s looks and popularity will help them succeed in business.

9.    Willy ‘s boastfulness is undermined by the fact that he has not earned enough money to pay his bills.

Section 4-Willy remembers his lover in Boston.

1.    Willy continues to talk as if to Linda but it is clearly the secretary in Boston. Lighting changes and Willy returns to this scene in Boston.(Changed location from the house)

2.    Willy talks of loneliness on the road and the woman tells him that she had singled him out of all the salesmen. This shows Willy’s lack of integrity as he cannot stay faithful to the one truly loyal character of Linda.

3.    Willy is still talking about his wife and her understanding of him whilst the woman thanks him for the stockings.

4.    Lighting changes and Linda is mending her stockings- guilt demonstrated here. Unsuccessful as she is wearing mended stockings.

5.    Willy throws these out in a temper.

Section Five- Willy remembers Biff being unsuccessful in school

1.    Bernard and the Regent’s exam- Willy’s recollections are no longer idyllic as before

2.    Petty theft and failure to study maths

3.    Willy pushes Biff’s sporting success above all things

4.    Willy seems oblivious to the unethical behaviour he condones – his self deception is obvious here

Section 6

Willy daydreams about following Ben and his life-Charley plays cards with Willy

1.    Willy discusses achievement in life- laments not going to Alaska with Ben(American Dream)

2.    Willy rejects financial help from Happy and rejects the job offer from Charley.(pride)

3.    Discusses handling tools- Willy identifies tools and physical work with being a man-masculinity

4.    ‘The world is an oyster but you cannot crack it open on a mattress’. You have to work to succeed/going to bed with people is not the way to economic and social success.

5.    ‘The woods are burning’ –seen as a metaphor for the jungle disappearing and the elm trees which were cut down in the garden-the very land of opportunity is going up in smoke.

Section 7

Willy plays cards with Charley but talks to Ben

1.    Ben’s entrance is made through the walls to ensure that audience realise Ben is the dead brother and its imagined- unreal event

2.    Charley leaves as Willy talks to Ben and argues with Charley over the aces

3.    Ben is the only one who had all the answers- flute- connected to Willy’s father rather than Ben-Linda and Willy have a conversation with dead Ben

4.    Biff and Ben spar but Ben trips him up-never fight fair with a stranger-why?

5.    Willy wants to rebuild part of the property and sends the boys off to steal some building material- Ben and Willy agree how manly it is to steal- Charley and Bernard – can’t hammer a nail- despised for this

6.    Willy feels: ’kind of temporary about myself’-reveals Willy’s insecurity about himself.

7.    Ben and Willy are positioned at opposite sides of the stage- they are opposites in life- Ben confident- Willy not

8.    Willy cannot distinguish truth from imagination- Ben is imagined not a remembered character.- Is Ben arrogant and scathing about Willy’s behaviour?

9.    Willy comes across as naive- Ben substitute father figure?

10.  When I walked into the jungle, I was seventeen. When I walked out I was twenty-one.

Section 8

Willy’s plans to commit suicide are discovered and the Loman brothers decide on a business plan.

1.    Linda talks about Willy to Biff and Happy. Very pertinent quotes in this section

2.    Biff’s lines; ’spewing out that vomit from his mind’.

3.    Linda; ’Attention must be finally paid to such a person.’(The common man).Is he potentially a tragic figure a fallen hero? Could he have changed this fate?

4.    ‘he’s a human being and a terrible thing is happening to him

5.    Her conversation with her sons  ’and one a philandering bum.’ p.45

6.    The fake accidents and the length of hose/piping to connect to the gas in the cellar- suicide

7.    Is it true that the son’s have been responsible for the way Willy behaves? Do you agree or disagree?

8.    Happy and Biff review Biff’s work patterns and his whistling in the lift

9.    Willy blames Biff for never growing up but the conversation moves to Bill Oliver and the business proposition to enable Biff to ‘stay home’

10.  Willy gives advise but it is again contradictory in nature- to joke-to be serious etc.

11.  Happy relates commercial success with sexual success

12.  Willy loses himself in the memory of Biff’s football achievements-golden glow bathes Biff on the stage to show the warmth and idealised memory of Biff- totally unrealistic.

13.  Biff calls Willy a fake, which worries Linda but it is not explained.

14.  Biff discovers the pipe behind the gas heater in the cellar and realises that Linda has been speaking the truth that Willy is a suicide risk

15.  Willy failed to recall that he had pawned the diamond Ben had given him for Biff’s course- Willy’s memory is also failing him and his grip on reality is surely going.

16.  Biff decides to start a business to appease the family- but this will not help Biff

17.  Biff is being altruistic here yet Willy blames him for never growing up

18.  Biff does take responsibility for his father- moves the piping.

19.  Willy originally mocked Bernard and encouraged Biff to do the same- now he says he is childish- whistling in the lift. Difficult to know what Willy wants from Biff

poetic terms with thanks to Ms Minaz

Poetry Checklist

Structure:  (number of stanzas, line length, enjambment, run-on lines, tercets, sestets, octaves, couplets)_________________________________

Form: (sonnet/ode/curtal)  ______________________________________________

Diction: (choice of words [notice the connotation of words]) _______________________________________________

Tone: (usually, the diction leads to the tone) (reflective, exuberant, sad) __________

Mood: (this is created by the tone) (one of anxiety, sorrow, reflection)_______________

Imagery: (visual, auditory, gustatory [taste], olfactory [smell], kinesthetic [movement],  tactile [touch] 

Emotion: _____________________________________________________________

Themes: (war, loss, betrayal) ____________________________________________

Style: (scientific, ornate, plain, emotive) ____________________________________

Tension: __________________________________________________________

Rhythm: (determines the mood) ________________________________________

Rhyme: (eye-rhyme, half rhyme, internal rhyme) ___________________________________

Tempo: (pace) (quick, slow, galloping [through the anapaest]) ________________

Impact: (dramatic, understated, impersonal) ______________________________

Texture: (smooth/ coarse) (through the use of pleasant/unpleasant ideas or words) ___

Point of view: (first person/ third person)___________________________________

Persona: (speaker, the unnamed ‘I’) ________________________________________

Figures of speech: (simile, metaphor, personification, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, repetition, alliteration, consonance, assonance, sibilance, onomatopoeia, apostrophe, transferred epithet, paradox, antithesis, oxymoron, euphemism, tautology)_____________________________________________

Symbols: ________________________________________________________

Motifs: __________________________________________________________

Juxtaposition: ____________________________________________________

Voice: (do we hear only one voice? )__________________________________________________________

Literary devices:  (cacophony, euphony, anaphora, epistrophe, parallelism, epizeuxis, asyndeton, polysyndeton, inversion, ellipsis […], elision [th’ expense of spirit], syncope [o’er the hills])

Contrasts and colour: _________________________________________________________

paper 2 sl questions

Paper 2 questions for class discussion in Grade 12 SL1 and SL3  Jan-Apr 2014 with thanks to Ms Minaz

1.      “In drama there are more interesting roles for men than for women.” Discuss to what extent you agree with this statement and what it is that makes a role interesting. Refer closely to at least two plays you have studied.

2.      “Hope springs eternal.” How is hope or the lack of hope important in at least two literary works you have studied?

3.      “Drama at its best investigates the problems that beset ordinary individuals.” In light of this statement consider the ways in which two or three dramatists you have studied explore the problems that affect individuals.

4.      Compare the presentation and functions of the openings in two or three plays you have

            studied.

5.      How do characters and the choices they make contribute to meaning in two or three plays you have studied?

6.      What can a writer accomplish through the use of repetition? Respond with reference to two or three works you have studied.

7.      “Drama explains individuals, not relationships.” Paying close attention to how individuals and relationships are presented in two or three plays you have studied, say how far you find this statement to be true.

8.      How and to what effect is conflict used in two or three works you have studied?

9.      In what ways and to what effect have your writers focused on either the darker or lighter side of life in two or three works you have studied?

10.  There are many ways of achieving a memorable ending to a work of literature. In two or three of the works you have studied, how have your chosen authors made endings memorable?

11.  People often act first and reflect afterwards. In what ways have the connections between action and reflection been more and less important to the plays you have studied?

12.  Compare the importance of dreams or aspirations or ambitions to the impact of works you have studied.

13.  “Drama has to do with both conflicts and denials.” How have dramatists in your study used either of these, or both together, to create plays that provoke or interest or disturb the audience?

14.  “Some works challenge us more than others.” Discuss elements contributing to challenges for the reader in works you have studied, considering why the writers may have included such difficulties.

15.  “Tension is a necessity in all works of art.” Saying what you mean by “tension” in literature, discuss how far you agree with this view.

16.  With reference to two or three plays you have studied, examine the dramatic significance of

            failures in communication.

17.  Consider the ways in which scene changes may highlight the development of the characters and

            their relationships in two or three plays you have studied.

18.  Many works of literature deal with a sense of longing. How, and to what effect, have two or

            three writers you have studied made use of a sense of longing in their works?

19.   Fear and hope are significant in any person’s life. How have two or three writers you have

            studied presented these emotions in a convincing way, and what role have they played in the

            works concerned?

20.  “Literary works persuade us that human beings are worth caring for and writing about, no

             matter what their circumstances or condition.” To what extent is this evident in two or three

             works you have studied?

21.  To what extent do at least two plays you have studied explore the relationship and tension between

             rational and irrational behaviour as a means to further the action of the drama?

22.  Compare the ways in which at least two works you have studied handle the issue of closure

             and/or resolution.

23.  With reference to at least two plays by different dramatists, consider in what ways and to what

             extent they present life as being difficult to understand.

24.   Dramatists introduce their main characters in different ways and with differing effects. Compare or

             contrast the ways in which characters have been introduced in at least two plays you have studied,

             and consider what dramatic use is made of these introductions

25.  In what ways, and to what effect, have physical and/or spiritual journeys been presented in works

             by at least two writers?

26.   Hunger, thirst, physical deprivation – all of these have featured in literature. Consider the role of one

            or more of these elements and how they have been presented in works by at least two writers.

27.   Consider the presentation and effects of ignorance or lack of awareness in works by at least two

             writers.

28.   Sounds and noises feature in many works of literature. How have at least two writers included

             sounds and/or noises in their work and in what way have they been made significant?

29.  How do guilt and/or blame contribute to conflict and the overall effect in at least two of the

             plays you have studied?

30.  Structure and sequence are important elements in works of literature. How and to what effect

             have writers of at least two of the works you have studied used these elements to shape

             their works?

31.  Some writers establish precisely the time and/or place in which their works unfold; others are

             less precise. Discuss the effects and effectiveness of the techniques used to establish time and

             place in at least two of the works you have studied.

32.  Powerful emotion is the raw material of literature. To what extent and to what end is emotion

             employed in at least two of the works you have studied?

33.  The immediate setting of plays often has a larger historical or sociological context of which the

            audience is made aware. In what ways have playwrights in at least two works you have studied

             included or emphasized any of these settings and to what effect?

      34.  “Plays have their fair share of inspiring trumpet calls, though what they inspire is often terror –

             the trumpet of doom.” To what extent and in what ways have at least two works you have studied

            inspired terror or feelings of impending doom?

      35.    Economic circumstances can be critical elements of the way a writer presents the world through

              literary forms. In what way have economic factors been included in the works of at least two writers

              you have studied?

      36.   “I always start with a visual image,” is the way one writer describes the beginning of his work.

               In at least two works you have studied, identify one of the earliest visual images you recall from the

               work and explain how the writer uses it to engage the reader in a part or the whole of the work.

        37. All characters in a play are mouthpieces for their author. From a consideration of some

              characters from the plays you have studied, say how far you agree.

        38.   A necessary part of drama is not only to present conflict between the characters in a play

                but also to create conflicts within each member of the audience. Compare and contrast

                two or three plays you have studied in the light of this comment.

         39. Comment on the techniques of characterisation employed by the playwrights you have studied.

         40. A change in status of the characters in a play (a success, for example, a loss or exposure) helps

               to convey the ideas and/or values of the dramatist. How and to what extent has change in status

               contributed in this way to at least two of the plays you have studied?

41. ‘In plays, no one arrives on or leaves from the stage without contributing in some way to the complexity

      of the play.’ Considering two or three plays you have studied, compare the impact on meaning of some arrivals

      and departures from the stage.

42. What dramatic techniques have playwrights used to convey ideas/beliefs in two or three plays you have 

      studied and how effective have they been?

43. In plays, a character who appears briefly, or does not appear at all, can be a significant presence, contributing to      

       action, developing other characters or conveying ideas. To what extent have you found this to be true of at least

       two works you have studied?

44. “We are often puzzled by the things people do, uncertain as to their motives.” In the light of this

      statement, consider ways in which character motivation is presented in works by at least two

      dramatists you have studied.

45. ‘What we aspire to and what we achieve are not always the same.’ In what ways and to what effect have at

       least two playwrights you have studied explored this human experience? 

46. ‘Although doubt is not a pleasant condition, certainty is an absurd one.’ In the light of this statement, explore the

        impressions of doubt and/or certainty conveyed in at least two works you have studied.

47. ‘Memory feeds imagination.’ To what effect has memory been used in two or three works you have studied?

48. In what ways and to what effect have writers made use of anecdotes, analogies and allusions in their works?

49. Compare and contrast the ways in which writers have explored the relationship between experience and

       understanding.

50. Compare how writers have explored the themes of judgement and punishment.

51. ‘Life is a game played against chaos and death.’ How far, and in what ways, does this statement apply

        to two different works by two different writers?

52. Urban settings are often portrayed as ‘spiritual wastelands.’ To what extent and by what means have

        playwrights presented urban settings in such a way?

53. Awakenings or changes in consciousness are often explored in literature. Discuss how and to what effects

       playwrights have explored such phenomena.

54. How have playwrights used pace to produce interesting effects?

55. How are verbal disputes used by playwrights and how do these verbal disputes influence your response to

       characters and the unfolding of the action?

56. Discuss the role and significance of deceit.

57. Explore the role of the unexpected.

58. Compare the dramatic effectiveness of the relationship between plot and setting.

59. In what ways has the structure of plays you have studied seemed to impose some recognizable order on human

       behavior and the human events of the play?

60. Drama can be said to contain something of the ritual – something to be repeated in front of an audience for a   

      significant occasion, event or purpose, or simply everyday routines and patterns of behavior. In what ways have

      plays made use of the notion of ritual in this way and to what effect?