Professor Anderson
ENG 101
Literary Tragedy
For this unit we will be working with the following:
Death of a Salesman (play and film clips) Glengarry Glen Ross (film—optional text)
Aristotle on Tragedy (Blackboard) Tragedy and the Common Man (Blackboard)
1. How does Willy feel about his home now compared to earlier in his life?
2. How do the past and present work in the structure of the play?
3. What is the effect of Willy’s affair on Biff?
4. Who is Dave Singleman? What does it mean to die the “death of a salesman”? What does Willy think of him?
5. Explain the how the metaphor “You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away” connects to the play.
6. Why does Biff say at the end “He had the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong”? How does this differ from Happy?
7. What is significant about how Willy dies (hint: consider the insurance policy)?