Final Exam—Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

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    English 2 Spring 2016:  Final Exam—Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

     

    Background to the Theme:  American literature is concerned with the desire to break with the past.  For some, the past is ever presenting conflicts.  Time has a central importance for Miller for expressing this conflict:  external and internal conflict.  The inescapable nature of the past or the desire to maintain that link between today and yesterday is the conflict that plays out in the Death of a Salesman.  Miller wanted his plays to have a social impact; we observe how the characters’ lives embrace and resist this influence of past-present time and how time plays out in shaping characters’ lives.

     

    How to Answer the Question:  Directions—Choose (only) three (3) questions.  Each question will have a one paragraph response. Each body paragraph—6-10 sentences–must follow the M- [context sentences] – E-A-L format.  Answer the prompt in your topic sentence, explain it further with the context sentence and then introduce the evidence from the play (quotations).  The quote must logically follow the context sentence and support your answer to the prompt.  Explain how this quote supports your answer to the prompt (topic sentence).  On the last page include a work cited page.  Include the correct source of the play:  the book or the pdf file.  The information in the parenthetical citation must be correct and from the right source.

     

    Evidence: All evidence from the play must be direct quotes.  Do not simply insert one sentence and think this is sufficient.  It is not.  You can include up to three sentences for one quotation in order to sufficiently answer and show how this evidence supports your answer.  Also, you must include analysis:  explain how this one quote supports and proves your topic sentence.    You must use a correct signal phrase and follow the quotation with a citation.   Make sure to include the correct information inside the citation.

     

    Point of View/Purpose:  For this exam, third person point of view should be followed.  DO NOT USE “I” or “you.”  The purpose of this exam is to show how well you analyze and interpret.  I do not want to see plot summary.

     

    MLA Format:  Double-space the paragraph, 1” margins, 12font Times New Roman, indent the first line of the paragraph, and check your spacing:  “Before/After” set at ‘0’ and line spacing set at double—not multiple. Your name should be in the upper left hand corner—1” margin, English 2, Section #, date (day month year).

     

    Evaluation/Submission Requirements:  Follow MLA format, paragraph should be typed, double spaced, include your name at the top, English 2, Final Exam, and the date.  Make sure to include the question number that you answer.  Each question is worth 25 points.  Total for this exam is 75 points.  There is no extra credit.

     

    Rubric is on eCompanion.  Each paragraph response for the question is 25 points.

     

    ***Attached this sheet to the top of your answers.      DUE DATE: 

     

     

    Section 1930:  Thursday, June 9;                 Section 1944:  Saturday,   June 11

     

     

     

     

     

    Questions:  Choose only three (3) questions to answer.  No extra credit.

     

    1. Miller focuses considerable attention on Willy’s occupation as a salesman. What is the importance of the figure of the salesman as the central characters of this play?

     

     

    1. What does Willy believe is the key to success in business? Is this valid? Flawed?  Is the ironic?  Explain.

     

     

    1. Miller uses flashback scenes of the past to reveal the psychological motivations of the characters’ actions in the present. Provide one example of a flashback and explain how this is used to set up Willy’s state of mind.

     

     

    1. Linda is Willy’s wife who plays a crucial role in the play. Describe a position, attitude, or belief she adapts as she interacts with the other characters.  What is her purpose?

     

     

    1. The stage settings are important. Choose one stage setting and explain why it is important in establishing the theme of how the past intercedes in influencing one character in the present.  What does it suggest about the tone of the scene?

     

     

    1. Colors are used and are significant in suggesting a tone throughout the play. Choose a color and explain how it suggests a tone of one of the characters.  Explain why this color is associated with the character and a particular scene.

     

     

    1. What ways has setting: transparent walls, apartment building, the home, indicate a passage of time?

     

     

    1. What is Ben’s role to Willy? What does he suggest?  Why is Ben significant to Willy?

     

     

    1. Death of a Salesman opens and closes in the year 1949. Both acts, Act I and Act II, blend linear time scheme with fragments of past time.  What do these departures from the present suggest about Willy?  Focus on one aspect of Willy.

     

     

    1. Do you believe Willy Loman is an innocent victim of the society of 1949, or do you believe there are flaws in his characters that make him at least partially responsible for his misfortune? Explain.

     

     

    1. How do Willy’s sons, Biff and Hap, embody the flawed American dream of being liked in order to be successful?

     

     

    1. What does Willy’s suicide suggest and how does it embody the conflict of the past and the present?

     

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