Closed Prompt #4

           

Editorial: A gun battle worth fighting 

            I can’t bear to turn on my TV, look something up on the Internet, or flip open the daily newspaper. They are everywhere: heartbreaking stories, powerful villains, and brokenhearted families. Violence is ever-present in our world right now. The crimes, killings, and heartbreak are impossible to ignore. This fact multiplies the debates over guns that are circling through the country. This editorial uses details, diction, and imagery to negate guns and ignite an emotional response in every reader.

            By using real facts that touch the reader’s heart such as “[we live] in a nation where an Oregon mall shooting amid thousands of Christmas shoppers is nearly forgotten just three days later, swallowed into oblivion by another, much larger mass shooting” the author is able to convey their point while evoking emotion. Most everyone agrees, “we don’t [want] to accept children shot on our streets week after week or rampaging gunman terrorizing theaters and schools” and that we should “do more to keep guns from people with a mental illness.” With their use of relatable, true, extreme details, the author makes it close to impossible for the reader not to agree with his or her point. By using such details, the author touches the readers’ heart and starts a fire of anger and sadness inside of them.

            At the same time, the author uses forceful diction to further prove their point. They use words that are very unique and appropriate to the context. For example, they say we are “ [tiptoeing]” around gun laws and call the gun-law “challenge” “insurmountable.” The author does a phenomenal job of using diction to emphasize his or her points and really touch the reader. When talking about the poor victims they use words like “terrorizing” and “swallowed into oblivion.” Every phrase and word about guns and violence has a very powerful, negative connotation.

            While using emotion provoking details and diction, the author uses intense imagery to create vivid pictures in the reader’s mind.  The thought of “a horrific shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that left 27 dead, including 20 children” makes any person cringe with disgust. The vision of “children shot on our streets week after week” and “a rampaging gunman terrorizing theaters and schools” ignites a emotional, angry response. With their use of such powerful imagery, the author hits a sensitive spot in any reader.

            By using details, diction, and imagery to ignite emotion in readers, the author successful negated guns. They were able to target sensitivity in the reader and use that to prove their point. 

Open Prompt #4

2001. One definition of madness is "mental delusion or the eccentric behavior arising from it." But Emily Dickinson wrote

    Much madness is divinest Sense-

    To a discerning Eye-

Novelists and playwrights have often seen madness with a "discerning Eye." Select a novel or play in which a character's apparent madness or irrational behavior plays an important role. Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged reasonable. Explain the significance of the "madness" to the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

            WHAT IS WRONG WITH WHILLY LOMAN? He talks to himself, undoubtedly has anger management, and couldn’t see the truth if it slapped him in the face. But why? What was Miller doing when he created this mindless, irrational character? The answer is simple; Willy’s madness is simply not madness. It is reasonable and is one of the most important aspects of the Death of A Salesman.

         In fact, Willy’s problems are the result from the society he is surrounded by. His craziness was born to represent what happens to the everyday hero when they are placed in a world such as ours. Willy started out a “normal” man. He coped with life’s nasty toile by transforming into this somewhat psychotic being. To one side of the audience, it is completely reasonable and understood.

Willy’s flashbacks, constant rambling, and hallucinations stand as enormous parts of the play. Miller uses his sporadic flashbacks to show the reader the truth of the past. His rambling gives us a clue to what is really wrong with Willy Loman. His hallucinations of his brother represent an important element of Willy’s childhood. Without these important layers, the play just wouldn’t make sense. 

         Miller used Willy’s madness to expose the dysfunction in the Loman household. It is obvious to the reader that there is something wrong in their broken down house. Without Willy’s craziness, this truth would never come out as to what was wrong. His problems make their family what it is and connect all the missing pieces to the Loman family puzzle.

         Willy seems like a madman at first glance, but after digging deep into the pages of Death of A Salesman one sees that he could be judged reasonable. Miller used his sickness to build the play. Without Willy Loman and his erratic, irrational behavior the play would have no significance. 

Death of A Salesman: Summary and Analysis

Author: Arthur Miller- an American playwright. He is famous for many strong, candid works such as The Crucible.

Plot:

ACT 1- The play begins with Willy coming home from an unsuccessful business trip because of car trouble. Immediately, Linda begins to mother him while Willy bickers about Biff. We then meet Biff and Happy speaking about various things in their lives: work, dreams, women, etc.

Willy then begins his first flashback. It is a happy time in the past where the boys admire him. They are speaking about Biff’s upcoming football game. At this time, Biff is a hot-shot football player with offers from numerous colleges. Willy entertains his boys will stories of his travels as they plan trips for the future. Bernard comes over, warns Biff about failing math and that’s when things turn rotten. Willy becomes pessimistic while talking to Linda about money and he then begins a dream within a dream where he is back to the women he had an affair with. As things go bad, he comes out of his flashback. Willy’s mental problems become obvious at this point.  He wakes up to Charley coming over to play cards. While playing, Willy hallucinates his brother. While talking to both Ben and Charley a fight breaks out between Charley and Willy. As Charley leaves, Willy goes into another flashback like the last one.

The family comes downstairs and Linda scolds Biff for leaving his father. She then tells the boys about finding Willy’s rubber pipe. Linda continues to make Biff feel awful for being gone and goes on to blame Willy’s problems on him. Willy and Biff begin arguing but Biff eventually promises to have a meeting with Bill Oliver. 

ACT 2-  Act 2 begins with the Loman family happily at breakfast. Willy goes to talk to his boss, hoping to get a job that allows him not to travel. His boss is the son of his old boss, a man Willy was very close to. This guy though, is very rude and shuts Willy down. From here, Willy goes to Charley’s office where he runs into Bernard. He learns about Bernard’s success. He is married, has two sons, and is  a successful lawyer on his way to fight a Supreme Court case. Charley comes and offers Willy a job. This infuriates Willy. He takes money from Charley and then leaves.

From Charley’s office, Willy goes to meet the boys at a restaurant. Biff tries to follow Happy’s advice to lie to his father about the result of the meeting with Bill Oliver, but Biff just can’t do it. When Biff tells the truth, Willy gets extremely upset and goes to the bathroom where he enters another flashback. He continues the one where he is in the hotel room with the woman. Simultaneously, Biff and Happy leave the restaurant with two women. When Willy comes out of the bathroom, the boys are gone. He frantically asks the waiters where he would find a plant store.

Back at the house, Linda is furious. She is beyond upset at the boys for leaving their father alone. Willy is outside pathetically attempting to plant seeds in the concrete garden. Biff brings him inside and tells him he is leaving to go back out West for good. This begins a climatic argument between Biff and Willy. The confrontation ends in Biff crying to Willy and Wily realizing how much Biff loves him. When the fight is over and the family goes up stairs, Willy stays downstairs to “cool down.” He begins to talk to Ben about the life insurance money and ends up committing suicide in his car.

REQUIM- The play ends at Willy’s funeral. No one is there but Happy, Biff, Linda, Charley, and Bernard. They discuss his life; Biff saying how his dream was all wrong and Happy defending his father’s dream. Linda is confused as to why no one is there and keeps talking about how she paid the last payment on the mortgage. When Linda is saying her goodbyes alone, the other characters exit. Biff stands off to the left while all of the other characters go to the right. The play ends with Linda muttering to Willy about how they were finally free.

Setting: The play takes place in the Loman’s house in Brooklyn, New York. There are scenes at various places downtown, such as Willy’s boss’ office, a local restaurant, and Charley’s office. Scenes of Willy driving and in a hotel with a woman in Boston are also part of the play. It is placed in the 1940’s.

Characters:  

  Willy Loman- A defeated, salesman. Willy has lived his life around the idea that popularity is the key to success. He is a banded by his father and brother at a young age. He has been a salesman dedicated to making a name for himself and his family his whole life. Now, he is an elderly man who has gone psychotic. We never know exactly what his diagnosis is but, we know his failures through life has messed him up.

                   

  Linda Loman- Linda is Willy’s wife; his rock. She is very supportive of Willy and stands as a mother figure to him. She does not work outside of the house. She refuses to admit to Willy that he is suffering and tries to help him by optimistic support. She takes out her anger on their sons, Biff and Happy by blaming Biff’s absence as the cause of Willy’s troubles.

                 

  Biff Loman- Willy’s oldest and favorite son. Biff was a popular football player in high school who loved and admired his father. Once finding his dad in a hotel room with a woman other then Linda, he fled. Biff is a carpenter, a man who loves to work with his hands. He has had a problem with stealing. All his life, his father has pounded his idea of The American Dream into his head: that popularity gets you success. Biff is the only one who understands being a salesman is the wrong dream for both his father and himself. The play takes place right after Biff returns from the West.

                 

  Happy Loman- Happy is the second son in the Loman family. He works in a corporation and is very inappropriate with woman. Happy is begging for attention from his father. He is parallel to Willy as a child: benched while his father and brother went on. Throughout the play, Happy refuse to confront Willy and believe the truth.

                   

  Charley- Charley is the Loman’s lifelong neighbor. He is a successful business man and a man who knew how to raise his children. Every time he tries to help Willy or give him advise, Willy denies is. He even tries to give Willy a job when he is in need. Charley is Willy’s foil. 

                 

  Bernard- Bernard is Charley’s son. He was the “nerd” in high school. He always tried to help Biff with school but the Loman’s were always rude to him. We see him as a grown man in the play; now a successful lawyer with a wife and two sons. He is Biff’s foil.

                

  Ben- Ben is Willy’s older brother. He is the man that Willy always talks to and asks advice from when he is in a crazy mental state. Willy admires Ben and looks to him for advice as to how to become successful. We know Ben as a very successful man; always dressed in a white suit, always having somewhere he needs to go.

Narrative Voice: The tone of this piece is pretty dark. There are not many happy and optimistic moments. I thought the point of view was satisfactory. Since it is a play and the narrative voice is all of the characters talking, there was not an omniscient narrator and therefore a biased point of view. The symbolism was magnificent. Arthur Miller did a phenomenal job layering the book: the depth is incredible. Watching the play, reading the book, discovering its many levels is like a puzzle; a fun, confusing, somewhat depressing novel. Some symbols/motifs include stockings, dairy, flutes, car, seeds, women, stealing, funerals, and directions. The flashbacks were obviously one of the most important components of the play. They not only give us a vision of the past, but they tie together all of the missing strings. The flashbacks help to enhance the average at best imagery so the reader gets a realistic vision of the life of the Lomans’.

Important Quotes:

1. “Because sometimes I’m afraid that I’m not teaching them the right kind of….. Ben, how should I teach them?” – Willy (pg. 37)    This quote highlights a major part of the play. Father- son relationships are ever-present throughout the story. Both negative and positive relationships and lessons are presented. Willy undoubtedly raised his boys wrong. He pounded the wrong idea of success into their heads. This quote shows Willy, in a wrongful mental state, seeking comfort from his brother about how he raised his sons.

2. “To put up a ceiling is a mystery to me. How do you do it?” – Charley (pg. 31)            Charley is a figure of success in the book; a foil to Willy. This quote shows how Willy had the wrong dream. Willy was an amazing carpenter, something that was a foreign language to many men like Charley. This goes to show that if Willy would have followed his passions and strengths instead of conforming to society and being a salesman like everyone else he would have been successful.

Theme: Do not let others dictate your future.

This play revolves around Willy Loman’s failure at success. He has spent his whole life working towards his American Dream. He desperately wanted to support his family, be part of the middle/upper class, and be a revered, accomplished salesman. He taught his boys about how to find success all wrong and ended up ruining their futures as well. If Willy had followed what he was good at instead of conforming to society, he would have lived his American Dream. If his sons would have done what wanted instead of solely listening to heir father, they may have gotten somewhere too. Both Willy and his sons made life changing mistakes by letting others opinions and actions dictate their future. Charley and Bernard, the two successful characters, found success by doing what they were good at and not letting other people control their lives.

*Other Supporting Elements-

Setting- The main stage of the play is the Loman’s house. For one, all of the electronics keep breaking since they keep buying things based off of advertisements; what people are telling them to buy. Also, Willy is constantly complaining about how his home is being surrounded by the city. This shows how other people’s decisions and actions are changing Willy’s home for the worst.

Title- The title, “Death of A Salesman” shows that the book is about “a salesman.” This is a broad term instead of saying “Willy Loman.” This shows that Willy is not an individual. He didn’t follow a path for himself.

Tone- The book leads a depressing, regretful tone. This shows that the characters are not happy and the plot is not optimistic. By allowing others to dictate their futures, the characters do not lead bright, happy lives. 

Response to Course Materials #4

“To be or not to be” and “Oh Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?” are about the only two Shakespeare lines I actually know. Given this pathetic fact, Hamlet has been rough for me. The language, the colloquialism, and the abundance of confusing diction that to me makes zero sense causes a complete lack of brain power while sitting in class. I am trying hard to understand the new type of reading. I have been trying to annotate and write down important things Ms.Holmes points out throughout the course of the book but for some reason I just do not understand it. I really hope my ability to understand Shakespeare’s literature increases since I know it will become a very frustrating obstacle if I don’t.

On an optimistic note, I actually understand Death of A Salesman! After watching the movie, annotation, and participating in group discussions, I have grown to actually enjoy the play. I have found myself enjoying digging through layers and layers of books. As tedious as reading through all the commentaries was, I felt as if it actually was helpful and left me really pondering. Never before have I gotten to actually hear from the author of such a classic book. It was satisfying to hear that all these details and layers aren’t just made up by students, lit teachers, or lit critics but that the author actually intended to present them while writing the book.

 

As the class progresses, all of the basic things we learned at the beginning of the year that seemed like SO MUCH information are slowing becoming comfortable. For example, I see myself finding didls more easily while reading and being able to specify what lit terms are what.

 

I have never written about the tone word challenge on a blog post before but after seeing it on a peer’s blog I realized it is a crucial part of AP Lit. I really feel as if they help. You can never have too many vocabulary words filed away in your brain. The examples I hear and the way Ms.Holmes describes the words, gives them a new dimension that actually sticks in my mind. I noticed we have not been doing syntax challenges lately. I am not complaining. I did enjoy them but I felt like only a few were actually worthwhile.