1. Death of a Salesman

2. Standards and Learning Goals
Students will be able to identify characters in Death of a Salesman
Students will be able to analyze how socialism impacted Arthur Miller’s work
Students will be able to explain the historical background of Death of a Salesman

3. Biography
Characters
Historical Background
Discussion Question
Socialism
Exit Ticket

4. Death of a Salesman

5. Biography
Characters
Historical Background
Discussion Question
Socialism
Exit Ticket

6. Biography Born October 17, 1915
Lived a comfortable middle class life until he was fourteen and the Great Depression hit and his family’s business failed.
Was involved in sports more than academics in high school

7. Biography Admitted to University of Michigan in 1934
Studied journalism, economics and history
Was attracted to the ideas of socialism
In college, he discovered his love of playwriting
Graduated in 1938 with a degree in English
Initially supported himself by writing for the Federal Theater Project
In 1944, his play The Man Who Had All the Luck transferred to Broadway.

8. Biography Spent the next two years writing All My Sons
With Death of a Salesman, his reputation as an outstanding playwright was solidified
Ran for 742 performances
Won Drama Critics’ Circle Awards and the Pulitzer Prize
Despite his fame and success, he continued to focus his writing on the struggles of the common person- social, economic, political and personal.
Died on February 10, 2005

9. Biography
Characters
Historical Background
Discussion Question
Socialism
Exit Ticket

10. Characters Principal Cast The Others The Woman Howard Wagner Stanley
Willy Loman
Biff Loman
Linda Loman
Happy Loman
Charley
Bernard
Ben
The Woman
Howard Wagner
Stanley
Miss Forsythe
Letta
Jenny

11. Biography
Characters
Historical Background
Discussion Question
Socialism
Exit Ticket

12. Historical Context
World War Two ended in 1945, and the United States embarked upon an unforeseen period of economic prosperity. 
Unlike during the Great Depression, Americans now had a surplus of goods and services to choose from, and money to burn.
Despite all of this, the poorest Americans were still hurting, and were actually suffering even more from this economic boom.
Because of the great economy, inflation rates raised and poorer citizens were unable to save their money like they used to be.
It is reported that the lowest-paid workers in the United States were farm workers, and sales clerks and unskilled laborers in the same category. 

13. Biography
Characters
Historical Background
Discussion Question
Socialism
Exit Ticket

14. Discussion Question
What is socialism?

15. Biography
Characters
Historical Background
Discussion Question
Socialism
Exit Ticket

16. Socialism
Socialism is an economic concept that advocates public ownership of all resources
In a socialist economy, workers contribute to society based on their ability and receive according to their needs, rather than being paid wages and using that money to purchase what they want.

17. Socialism
The ideology of socialism developed from the notion that capitalism creates inequality in society.
These elite capitalists can pay workers less than the value that they contribute, so the capitalists can keep larger profits for themselves to accumulate even greater wealth.
The result, socialists say, is a society in which the wealthy are able to oppress the middle and lower classes.

18. Biography
Characters
Historical Background
Discussion Question
Socialism
Exit Ticket

19. Exit Ticket: Making Connections
Why do you think a socialist system would appeal to Arthur Miller?

20. Death of a Salesman

21. Standards and Learning Goals
Students will be able to describe The American Dream
Students will be able to recall the conventions of time and space in Death of a Salesman
Students will be able to explain the themes of Death of a Salesman

22. Journal
The American Dream
The World of Theatre
Themes
Exit Ticket

23. Death of a Salesman

24. Journal
The American Dream
The World of Theatre
Themes
Exit Ticket

25. What is your idea of the American Dream?
Journal
What is your idea of the American Dream?

26. Journal
The American Dream
The World of Theatre
Themes
Exit Ticket

27. The American Dream
The Depression of the 1930s seemed to break the promise of the “American Dream”
And yet the myth of the American Dream was so potent in the national psyche that it may have faded did not really disappear

28. The American Dream
It lingered on and continues to exercise a tremendous hold in American discourse as individuals evaluate the causes of their success or failure.
The American Dream, sometimes in the phrase “Chasing the American Dream,” is widely considered a cornerstone of the national ethos of the United States

29. The American Dream
The phrase American Dream was first expressed by James Truslow Adams
life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement

30. The American Dream
The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the second sentence of the United States Declaration of Independence
…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

31. The American Dream
In the play, Willy Loman, a sixty-three-year-old salesman, who is baffled by his own lack of success, goes back in his memory to the Depression Era, suggesting that personal and national fate were intertwined.
He tells himself that he lives in “the greatest country of the world,” where the American Dream is destined to come true for everyone.
But when he is faced with his own failure, he can blame no one for it and the very basis of his identity is threatened.

32. The American Dream
Having failed to make success for his life himself, he looks desperately to the next generation, to his sons, to give him back his sense of achievement through their success.
Thomas E. Porter writes that Death of a Salesman is an anti-myth, the reverse of a rags-to-riches story so that it becomes the story of failure rather than the story of success.
It is a story of the failure of the American Dream to manifest.
Willy Loman’s history begins at the end of the line

33. The American Dream
The subsequent events show him failing to overcome each obstacle, thus failing to live up to the American Dream.
In the collapse of the salesman, Miller attempted to illustrate the collapse of the myth of the American Dream.
Through the tail of Willy Loman’s final day of life, Miller exposes the hold the collective myth of the American Dream has over the individual imagination

34. Journal
The American Dream
The World of Theatre
Themes
Exit Ticket

35. The World of Theatre
Death of a Salesman can be a challenging play to follow as the flow of time and use of space is quite unconventional
The playwright blends realistic images of modern American life with symbolism and expressionism.
The play does not follow a linear timeflow pattern but moves in an expressionist fashion back and forth between the past and the present
As a playwright, Miller suggests the use of several stage devices to distinguish between time and place.

36. The World of Theatre One such device is lighting.
Another way that Miller suggests to the audience with time shifts is movement
In addition to lighting and movement, Miller creates sound motifs to underscore some of the characters

37. Journal
The American Dream
The World of Theatre
Themes
Exit Ticket

38. Themes
The American Dream
Abandonment
Betrayal

39. Journal
The American Dream
The World of Theatre
Themes
Exit Ticket

40. Do you think the American Dream is an attainable goal? Why or why not?
Exit Ticket
Do you think the American Dream is an attainable goal? Why or why not?

41. Death of a Salesman

42. Discussion Question
Which characters in the play achieved success and which characters failed to do so? Why? Why not? What were some of the factors that impacted their success/failure?