1. Introducing the Play & a Script Analysis Approach

2. The Author

3. Remember him? The author of The Crucible?
Arthur Miller
Remember him? The author of The Crucible?

4. Listen to this story done right after Miller’s death.
A Basic Biography
Born in 1915: died in 2005
Miller is most famous for two plays: Death of a Salesman & The Crucible
Both won five Tony Awards
Death of a Salesman won a Pulitzer Prize
His first success, and the play he is most known for, was Death of a Salesman
The Crucible is his best selling and most often performed play (mainly because it is a mainstay in high school literature courses)
He had a colorful public life
Marriage to Marilyn Monroe
He refused to cooperate with the House of Un- American Activities Committee during the McCarthy era
He was married three times and had two children
Listen to this story done right after Miller’s death.

5. The Play

6. Famous Performances
In 1984, Dustin Hoffman played Willy (the protagonist):
It won a Tony Award
This version was later made into a film
In 1999, Brian Dennehy played Willy
This production won four Tony Awards
This production was filmed and later aired on Showtime
In 2012, Philip Seymour Hoffman played Willy
Hoffman was nominated for a Tony
This production won two Tony Awards
This was his last play before his death

7. Meet the Lomans Willy Loman Salesman, husband, father of two
Linda Loman
Wife, home-maker, mother of two
Biff Loman
The oldest of the two sons; had been a football stud in high school
Harold (‘Happy’) Loman
The youngest of the two sons: has grown up in the shadow of Biff

8. The Script Analysis Tool

9. Analyzing the Play Turn to page 29½ in your AP Lit. Survival Guide
read Death of a Salesman
try annotating as you read to help you stay engaged with the text
analyze the play in your R.J. using this analysis tool:
many find it easiest to quickly read the play through first (or listen to it: there’s an audio version on the website) but then go back and read it again more closely, this time doing the Script Analysis

10. Let’s Read! : Death of a Salesman
Assign the following parts and begin reading (or, if you & the students prefer, you can listen to it here:
Linda
Willy
Biff
Happy
Tomorrow there is a slight chance you’ll get to (shortened schedule, so I doubt it…):
Bernard
Charley
: Death of a Salesman