Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller

Plot Summarise the plot of the play Use either a timeline or a set of notes to do this Focus on the key events in each act Remember that plot refers only to the actual events

Characterisation It is important to understand the development of each of the main characters in the play Create an extensive set of notes for: Willy Linda Biff Happy You must provide quotations from throughout the text and detailed analysis which shows the development of each character throughout the whole text

Past versus Present It is crucial to understand the tension between the past and the present in the play Explore this feature, making notes about each and the way in which they interact Remember: “…there are no flashbacks in this play but only a mobile concurrency of past and present…because in his desperation to justify his life Willy Loman has destroyed the boundaries between now and then.”

Theme Comment on the themes explored in the play Try to summarise your understanding of the theme(s) with supporting evidence from the text Remember to focus on the way in which the theme(s) develops throughout the play Be able to explain how the conclusion to the play contributes to the theme(s)

The American Dream What is it? How is it portrayed in other literature? How is it explored in the play? You will need to do some research to fully understand this, and should consider reading ‘Of Mice and Men’ and ‘Revolutionary Road’.

Conflict Conflict is perhaps THE key driving force in drama It manifests in a range of ways, and is not always immediately apparent You must understand the role conflict plays in this play, especially: Conflict between characters and their views Conflict between dreams and reality