Death Of A Salesman Essays (844 words) - English-language Films

Death Of A Salesman Essays (844 words) - English-language Films Death Of A Salesman Analysis of Death of a Salesman The tragedy of a family The play Death of a Salesman was written by Arthur Miller in 1949. He was born on October 17, 1915 in New York City. Most of Millers works emphasizes the common man struggling through the misconceptions and false illusions that modern society imposes. In the case of Death of a Salesman, Miller uses social realism, which is the attempt to describe human behavior and surroundings or to represent figures and objects exactly as they act or appear in life (Encarta 1). The main themes of this play are the idea of the American dream and what it takes to success, the struggle to distinguish between reality and illusion, and the emotional problems of the family. Death of a Salesman is the story of the Loman family, especially Willy, trying to accomplish the American dream, but with no success. Willy Loman is married to Linda, and his two sons are Biff and Happy. Other characters as Ben, Charley, Bernard, and the women in the hotel play a major role in Willys downfall through the story. Willy has always wanted to be successful and well-liked among people, but he has not accomplished anything. Miller presents a common man, Willy, as the tragic character of the play. In an article Miller states, I think the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing his sense of personal dignity (Miller, 1). In this article Miller clearly conveys that a person will sacrifice anything, even his or her own life, to protect his or her dignity. In Death of a Salesman Willy is willing to sacrifice anything to accomplish his dreams of being successful and known as a powe rful salesman. The play starts with Willy returning home from a sales trip. He is getting old and tired of traveling long distances. His two sons, Biff and Happy, are visiting the family. Willy tells Linda he does not know why Biff is lost, without a job, and no money. Willy expects his two sons, especially Biff, to become successful, but he has not realized that even his two sons are incapable of succeed. Willy has immersed himself into a world of illusions. He is always tormented with the hopes and dreams he had years ago. Throughout the play Willy has flashbacks of his life, which are somehow related to the present events. Biff and Happy discuss in their bedroom about how Willy is becoming senile in his old age. Willy is in the kitchen remembering how Biff used to be popular in high school and the superstar of the football team. Willy has the wrong ideas about life. He believes that all it takes to be successful in life is to be well liked. He tells his sons, Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer. Willy Loman is here! Thats all they have to know, and I go through (DiYanni, 1142). In a sense, Willy is lying to his sons and to himself. He thinks he is well-liked, but in reality he is not. Another influence in Willys downfall through the play is the presence of his brother Ben in his dreams. Ben tells Willy that he became rich when he went to Africa and found a mine of diamonds. One might think Ben is not real, yet to Willy, Ben is very real. Ben is another driving force behind Willys idea of success. As the play continuous, Willy becomes more involved in his dreams. He also remembered when Biff caught him with another women in a hotel during a business trip. Although Biff does not like what his father did, he feels sorry for him. Willy lives a life filled with false hopes. Biff and Happy tell him that they are going to talk with Bill Oliver, Biffs previous employer, to start a sporting good business. The next day, the Loman Family goes to the Franks Chop House where Biff and Happy invited Willy and Linda. In the restaurant Willy

Année

Differences Between French Pairs Like An/Annà ©e The French word pairs an/annà ©e, jour/journà ©e, matin/matinà ©e, and soir/soirà ©e can be confusing to students because each pair has a single English translation. The important thing to understand is that the difference between the words in each pair has to do with two different ways of considering time. The short words an, jour, matin, and soir (note that they are all masculine) indicate a simple amount of time or division of time. For the purposes of this lesson, well call these division words. Je suis en France depuis deux jours. Ive been in France for two days.Il est fatiguà © ce soir. Hes tired this evening. In comparison, the longer words annà ©e, journà ©e, matinà ©e, and soirà ©e (all feminine) indicate a duration of time, usually stressing the actual length of time. Ill call these duration words. Nous avons travaillà © pendant toute la matinà ©e. We worked all morning.Elle est la premià ¨re de son annà ©e.* Shes the first in her year/class. *Though annà ©e is feminine since it begins with a vowel you have to say son annà ©e (not sa annà ©e) Division Words vs. Duration Words Here are some general rules about when to use division words vs. when to use duration words, as well as some important exceptions. But if you consider them carefully, youll see that the exceptions follow the basic differences outlined above. Use division words with: 1. Numbers, except when you want to emphasize the duration or when the word is modified by an adjective. Un homme de trente ans.   A 30-year-old man.Il est arrivà © il y a deux jours. He arrived two days ago.Dans trois ans, jaurai terminà © mes à ©tudes. In three years, Ill have finished my studies.Jà ©tais en Afrique pendant trois annà ©es, pas deux. I was in Africa for three years, not two.Ils ont passà © sept merveilleuses journà ©es Paris.   They spent seven marvelous days in Paris. 2. Temporal adverbs demain matin tomorrow morningtà ´t le matin early in the morninghier soir last night Use duration words with: 1.de a descriptive noun lannà ©e de base base yearune journà ©e de travail de huit heures an eight-hour workdayles soirà ©es dà ©tà © summer evenings 2. with nearly* all adjectives, including: attributive adjectives lannà ©e scolaire the school year indefinite adjectives certaines annà ©es certain years interrogative adjectives preceded by a preposition en quelle annà ©e in which year possessive adjectives ma journà ©e my day However, note that an/annà ©e is far more flexible than the other pairs; for last year you can say lan dernier or lannà ©e dernià ¨re, next year can be lan prochain or lannà ©e prochaine, etc. Except for demonstrative adjectives, which are used with division words: cet an - cet an que jai và ©cu en France that year - that year that I lived in France (But when talking about the current year, say cette annà ©e - this year.) ce jour - ce jour oà ¹ nous sommes allà ©s au musà ©e this/that day - that day we went to the museumce matin, ce soir this/that morning, this/that evening The indefinite word tout has a different meaning with division vs. duration words; it is an indefinite adjective with division words and an indefinite pronoun with duration words. tous les matins, tous les jours every morning, every day vs. toute la matinà ©e, toute la journà ©e all morning, all day Note that when referring to the day of the week, you need the division word: Quel jour est-on? Quel jour sommes-nous? What day is it?Vendredi est le jour de la fà ªte. Friday is the day of the party.