Name ______Period ______

Death of a Salesman

Study Guide

Act I

1. What lie does Willy tell his wife?

2. Why doesn’t she chastise him?

3. How does Willy think Ben got his money?

4. Why is he mean to Charley?

5. What is wrong with Biff and Happy?

6. How might Willy have had a part in that?

7. Why did the business take him off salary?

8. Why might he be thinking of suicide?

Act II:

1. What momentous accomplishment is about to happen?

2. How does this show a bad choice for Willy?

3. Why is Howard more concerned with the machine than Willy?

4. What does the story about Dave Singleman show about Willy?

5. Why doesn’t Willy go with Ben?

6. What is Bernard doing? Why is this such an insult?

7. Why does Willy say he work for Charley?

8. When Biff, Happy, and Willy go to the restaurant, why does the dinner fail?

9. Why don’t the boys stay with their father?

10. Describe what is revealed by Willy’s flashback in the restaurant.

11. What is Willy planting in the garden? Why does he feel the need to do this?

12. Why does Biff want to pronounce himself a failure? Why does he want to blame his father?

13. Willy screams "I am not a Dime a Dozen. I am Willy Loman." Where else have we seen thisphilosophy in literature?

14. What happens at the end of Act II? Why does it happen? Explain

Requiem

1. Where do you predict Biff will be in twenty years?

2. Where do you predict Happy will be in twenty years?

3. Was Willy meant to be a salesman? Explain giving examples from the text to back up your argument.

Critical Questions about the play: Answer FULLY

1. What are Willy Loman’s strengths?

2. How can these “strengths” also be weaknesses?

3. Biff and Happy are both older than you would initially think. What are their weaknesses?

4. Why are they in the house?

5. A tragedy must have a tragic hero, a man who is greater than his fellow man, but has one flaw. How is Willy greater than other men.

6. Linda, his wife, is described in an odd way. She "more than loves him" but represses her disapproval because she "shares the turbulent longings within him."What does this say about their marriage? Explain.

Discuss the following:

(Where they appear, possible meanings, how they contribute to the play, where else we’ve seen it, etc…)

Themes:

Appearance vs. Reality -

The American Dream –

Family –

Motifs:

(ideas or elements that reoccur in the play (dialogue, symbols, situations, etc…)

The Jungle/Woods

Diamonds

Stockings

Stealing

Brand Names

The Garden

The Automobile