1. Death of a Salesman Body Paragraphs

2. Overview  Between your introduction and conclusion should be three paragraphs that support and prove your thesis statement.  In order to do so, you will need to use specific and thorough examples of situations from the book with explicit textual evidence (quoted passages) and other materials discussed in class.  You must use as least five quotes in your paper.

3. Set-Up  Each body paragraph should include:  Topic Sentence  Two examples from the text that support the topic sentence  Elaborate on these—don’t make the reader guess what you are trying to say  1-2 Quotes from the text/Big Question Packet  A concluding sentence

4. Topic Sentences  The topic sentence should identify the main idea and point of the paragraph  The supporting details in the paragraph (the sentences other than the topic sentence) will develop or explain the topic sentence  The topic sentence should not be too general or too specific  Explains the main idea (not just one detail)  Specific enough that we know what your main idea is

5. Does the pursuit of the American Dream lead to happiness? Sample Big Question:

6. Does the pursuit of the American Dream lead to happiness?  Topic Sentence: Throughout the play, Willy is in constant pursuit of the American Dream but does not find happiness along the way.  Example: He does not measure up as a salesman and is no longer as successful. (Find Quote to support)  Example: He has put more into his house and work with his hands, his true passion in life. (Find Quote to support)  Concluding Sentence: Despite his constant pursuit of the American Dream, Willy Loman dies without finding true happiness.

7. Quotes:  “Oh, I’ll knock ‘em dead next week. I’ll go to Hartford. I’m very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don’t seem to take to me […] I don’t know the reason for it, but they just pass me by. I’m not noticed” (Miller 36).  “No, but it’s a business, kid, and everybody’s gotta pull his own weight” (Miller 80).  Howard to Willy  “When he’d come home from a trip; or on Sundays, making the stoop; finishing the cellar; putting on the new porch; when he built the extra bathroom; and put up the garage. You know something, Charley, there’s more of him in hat front stoop than in all the sales he ever made” (Miller 138).  Biff about Willy after he died.

8. Body Paragraph  Throughout the play, Willy is in constant pursuit of the American Dream but does not find happiness along the way. Throughout his life, Willy is trying to make something of himself as a salesman. He is convinced that being well-liked is the key to success when achieving the American Dream. When he realizes he continuously falls short of this expectation, he has a hard time coping with it. Willy confides to Linda, “Oh, I’ll knock ‘em dead next week. I’ll go to Hartford. I’m very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don’t seem to take to me […] I don’t know the reason for it, but they just pass me by. I’m not noticed” (Miller 36). Despite the deception of success Willy reveals to his sons, he is ultimately very unhappy and struggling with who he is supposed to be. Biff acknowledges Willy’s misplaced dreams as the cause of his unhappiness. After Willy committed suicide, Biff explains, “When he’d come home from a trip; or on Sundays, making the stoop; finishing the cellar; putting on the new porch; when he built the extra bathroom; and put up the garage. You know something, Charley, there’s more of him in hat front stoop than in all the sales he ever made” (Miller 138). Biff is referencing that all his life Willy pursued the American Dream of material success, when he should have realized his own personal dreams of working with his hands. Despite his constant pursuit of the American Dream, Willy Loman dies without finding true happiness.

9. Thesis and Topic Sentences  THESIS: In the play, Death of a Salesman, Willy, Biff, and Happy all pursue the American Dream with varying levels of success, yet by the end of the play not one of these characters is genuinely happy.  BODY P #1: Throughout the play, Willy is in constant pursuit of the American Dream but does not find happiness along the way.  BODY P #2: Biff has tried his whole life to pursue the American Dream but also finds himself off the beaten path because that is not the dream he wants for himself.  BODY P#3: Happy has both pursued and achieved aspects of the American Dream, however, he still finds himself unsatisfied and wanting more for his life.

10. Additional Paragraphs  Topic Sentences:  Body Paragraph #2  Biff has tried his whole life to pursue the American Dream but also finds himself off the beaten path because that is not the dream he wants for himself.  Body Paragraph #3  Happy has both pursued and achieved aspects of the American Dream, however, he still finds himself unsatisfied and wanting more for his life.