Response to Course Materials #3

        I can hardly believe November is nearly half over.  Most of these last few weeks were filled with discussion of Death of a Salesman. I enjoy that we discuss the book for a few days because I, unfortunately, am prone to missing minor details. At the end of the week, we practiced multiple choice questions. The vocabulary has been quite intimidating, and I am hoping I will be better at it by the time the real questions roll around. On another day, we took the class period to work on a mood and atmosphere activity. It was welcomed to mix it up from our typical tone and syntax activities. The most valuable thing I have learned these last few weeks has been the intro/essay practice. We learned that thesis answers the prompt. Everything in our introduction paragraph should answer the prompt completely. The essay then explains the key points used in the introduction. We used our new tools on a practice essay. Practice essays are still proving to be a challenge for me. Hopefully, with diligence, I will get better at them. This past week we began the play, Hamlet. I am challenged by the language, but it is very helpful that we discuss the content after we read each scene. 

Death of a Salesman Analysis

Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, was another unique and compelling play. The main character, Willy Loman, is, without a doubt, mentally unstable. The play begins with Willy arriving home from a work trip exhausted and depleted. His two sons are visiting, Happy and Biff, and they hear Willy yelling at his wife, Linda. They come downstairs to the main floor of their house that does not have corners, or a roof. Willy then has a flashback to when his boys were younger and it is apparent that he is jealous of his neighbor, Charley. He then remembers when he and his mistress were together in his hotel room. He gave her stockings. The present day appears again and Linda is sewing her stockings, because they are unable to afford new ones. Later, Willy is playing cards with Charley, and a memory of his brother appears. He then continues a conversation with both Charley and Ben. The flashback of Ben is when he left to go to Alaska, and Willy asking him not to go. During the night, Linda and Biff notice that Willy is outside conversing with himself. Biff tells his dad his plan to go and talk to an old friend the following day to ask for a loan to start a business, the “Florida deal”. The following day, with convincing from Linda, Willy decides to go and converse with his boss, Howard, about working more local so he does not have to travel as much. When he arrives at the office, Howard is playing with a recording device that he just bought. Willy requests to have a lower paying job, but still working in the area. When Howard rejects this, he does not understand why. Willy believes that if you are well-liked you should be able to get what you want. Howard then fires him and Willy has a flashback involving his brother, Ben. Ben asks Willy to go to Alaska with him, and Willy objects. The next scene is a conversation between Biff and Happy. Happy is talking to a prostitute, and Biff mentions that he waited for many hours to talk to the businessman, who does not even remember him. Happy does not think it would be good to tell Willy that, so he convinces Biff to lie to him saying that he is reviewing the proposal. Willy goes to meet his sons for dinner and Biff tries to explain the whole story to him. Willy then flips out and has a flashback to when Biff caught Willy cheating on him in a hotel room years ago. Later, Biff and Happy come home bringing flowers to their mom. Linda yells at them for leaving their father at the restaurant and tells them to leave the house. Willy is outside plating a garden. There is an argument between Biff, Willy, and Linda. Willy then gets in his car, crashes, and then dies. The last scene is at Willy’s funeral with only his immediate family, Charley, and Bernard present.

Motifs

Regret

Dreams

Entitlement

Weath

Significance of Names

Loman- low-man symbolizing low class

Singleman- salesman, a single-man

Biff- punch

Happy- ironically, he is not happy

Linda- housewive’s name, soft, tender, type of tree= strength of family

The affair woman, did not even have a name

Willy- child’s version of William

Miscellaneous Points
The milk = cheese = Linda being motherly
Linda acts like a mother to Willy, because his was absent.
Howard = flashback Willy

Overall Theme

The sense of entitlement for the idealized American Dream of financial and social prosperity can lead to tragedy.

Important Quotes
"He's liked, but not well liked."
"He has the wrong dreams. All, all wrong."
"Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him"

Close Reading: Brittany Maynard was courageous and right

My last close reading post was about Brittany Maynard and the plan to end her life. The article reflects on her decision to end her life on November 1, 2014. The author, Ronald M. Green, uses diction, syntax, and language to argue that physician-assisted is okay.

The author is explicit that he supports Brittany’s choice. His first sentences states, “I strongly support Brittany Maynard’s impassioned efforts…” By using the word strongly, we know that he feels robustly about Ms. Maynard’s life changing choice. Using the word impassioned shows that we often feel empathetically for those who cope with stressfully horrendous issues.  I believe the author is trying to persuading us to understand why doctor-assisted suicide is acceptance.

Ronald Green writes this article using long, technically written sentences. They are used to examine ideas meticulously. He utilizes these by packing them with opinion and idea. Some of these include, “It may seem strange to say this, but the reason that you and I as free individuals cannot access life-ending drugs is because governments have imposed rules that require prescription approval by physicians for such drugs.” This is a strongly stated sentence used by Green. Another example includes, “But mutual respect here also requires that we allow others who who believe differently to end their lives in the way they see fit, as Brittany Maynard has now courageously done.” This sentence is used to be reflective, really allowing us to think about our own lives. A short sentence would not be as powerful if used here.

Lastly, Green uses language to effectively develop his message. In his second paragraph, he discusses that he does not believe that physicians should be involved in death. When reading phrases such as, “mass killing” and “corps of people”, I visualize death and horrific acts. The writer is communicating that physician-assisted suicide is not comparable to other instances of dying. Another example of this is, “grievous and irreversible pain.” Not only is this useful diction, it creates a feeling and understand of what the person is experiencing.

I believe that Ronald M. Green did a thorough job of explaining his opinion of physician-assisted suicide. He made this possible by using diction, syntax, and language.