Fifth Business Summary/Analysis

• Summary: Dunny's story begins with a well-aimed snowball thrown by Percy Boyd Staunton that catches a pregnant Mary Dempster in the back of the head, and, because of a failure of her husband to catch her, leads to the premature birth of Paul Dempster. As someone raised in a strict Presbyterian household with a firery Scottish mother, the guilt from this incident consumes Dunny for the rest of his life. Several years later, Dunny becomes assistant librarian at the town library, and, in his free time there, he teaches Paul magic tricks. This, however, prompts a backlash from Amasa Dempster and his prohibtion from contact with that family. Dunny goes against Mr. Dempster's wishes, and continues to develop a close relationship with the now ostracized Mrs. Dempster. One night, she goes missing, and after sending the whole town in search of her, they find her in the gravel pit, in the "act of copulation". This further increases the isolation of the Dempsters from the town. Dunny's brother, in the meantime, is fighting for his life against a mysterious illness, and the town has turned out to help care for him. When Dunny is watching over him during the county fair, Willie goes into convulsions and dies. Instead of running for the doctor, Dunny gets Mrs. Dempster. She performs her second miracle when she brings Willie back to life. After this incident, Dunny becomes increasingly associated with Mrs. Dempster, and this creates tensions throughout the town as well as in his household. As a response to this stress, Dunny enlists in the army and goes to fight in WWI. During a raid on a machine gun nest, Dunny is hit by shrapnel and as he is being buried by a buring building, a flare lights up a statue of the Virgin Mary, and Dunny imagines that he sees Mary Dempster. Dunny is rescued and recovers in a hospital in England. While in the hospital, he learns that he will be recieving the VC, and also that his parents died in the influenza pandemic of 1918. Dunny becomes romantically involved with Diana, the nurse who helped him regain his health. When it comes time to talk about marriage, however, Dunny backs out of the relationship because of the similarities Diana holds to Dunny's mother. Dunny returns to Deptford to find out that many of the town's citizens died in the pandemic, including Amasa Dempster. Paul ran off with a circus after his father's death. Dunny continues to Toronto to earn various degrees in history, and then finds a job as a schoolmaster. He really begins to delve further into hagiology during this time period, supplementing it with trips to various places around the world, searching for saints and their stories. He contributes to the publications of the Bollandists, and gains an informative friend in Padre Blazon, who gives him advice on Dunny's fool-saint, Mary Dempster. While in Europe, Dunny runs into Paul, who is part of a travelling circus. Many years later, he meets Paul again, this time in Mexico City where Paul seems to be a completely different person. Dunny is reeled into Paul's, now Magnus Eisengrim's, circus. There he sleeps with the "devil" and is told he is fifth business. After ghost writing Paul's fictional autobiography, and by doing so is paralleling his role as fifth business because he did create Paul, just not the way the autobiography says, Dunny returns to Canada. He reconnects with Leola and Boy, and begins to see the complete depth of their marriage issues. Leola attempts to commit suicide, and finally succeeds in contracting pneumonia. After she dies, Dunny finds a note from Leola that confesses her love for him; sadly, he never loved her back. Boy remarries Denyse, an avid politician, who has a daughter liked even less than herself by Boy's kids. When Magnus Eisengrim visits Canada, Boy mysteriously commits suicide by driving his car off a bridge at incredible speeds. After reexamining the scene between him, Boy, and Magnus the night before, Dunny sees that Magnus was involved in Boy's death.
• Basics:
• Author: Robertson Davies
• Setting: Canada, Europe (mainly England), South/Central America; 20th century
• Significant Characters: Dunstable/Dunsten/Dunny Ramsey ("fifth business", hagiographer), Percy "Boy" Staunton (Dunny's "friend" from childhood, very successful (financially), throws the snowball), Paul (christ figure), Mary Dempster (went mad after Boy hit her with the snowball), Diana (Dunny's second mother)
• Narrative voice:
• POV: 5th is written from the first person point of view, specifically, from Dunny's point of view. This allows us to see into the thoughts and emotions of "fifth business".
• Tone: Dunny is a very critical person, and he examines every circumstance that takes place. Therefore, the tone of the book is thoughtful, or analytic.
• Imagery: A very important image in Dunny's life is that of the Virgin Mary. The specific one he saw was when he was losing consciousness after being hit by a flare in WWII. He devotes his life to the study of saints and trying to find this specific image. When he eventually finds it in Salzburg, he is very detached and accepting when he can't obtain a picture of it to keep, because he knows he has been thinking about this image for the majority of his adult life.
• Symbolism:
• The Christ story: Mary Dempster is symbolic of Mary, the mother of God. She is caught in the middle of a deserted town when her labor is induced, and she gives birth to Paul, the symbolic Christ figure. Paul spends his life performing magic tricks (i.e. miracles). Dunny's obsession with saints is incorporated into this motif.
• The twice-born: Both Dunny and Paul are people know as the "twice-born". Their rebirth is signified by a name change; after WWII, Dunny changes his name with the help of Diana (his second mother), and Paul changes his name after coming into his own as a magician.
• Upper-class: The difficulties Boy and the people associated with him experience appear to be a result of his ambition and the success is the product. Leola "fell in love" with Boy before he left Deptford; the success he gained greatly altered his character and led to her extreme dissatisfaction. Her suicide had a serious emotional effect on her children for the rest of their life. This symbolism demonstrates the hypocrisy of the upper class, and its fixation on material things.
• Theme: The changes people experience during life as a result of events experienced have either positive effects, in which they teach the person valuable lessons about life, or, more often than not, negative effects which lead the person on a destructive path. The destructive path is obvious in Boy's life: he fails to realize Leola's dissatisfaction, even after her death. Additionally, his success erased any thought in his mind about his humble beginnings, including the act he committed that ended up consuming Dunny's life. Paul, on the other hand, experiences a very wide variety of circumstances, and is able to adjust and become successful off of them. Dunny's role as fifth business is important because he is the one who connects this story and brings about the life-changing events.

*This blog was completed late and therefore has no peer comment.

Hamlet Summary/Analysis

• Summary: Hamlet begins with the appearance of Old Hamlet's ghost at the gates of Elsinore. Hamlet recieves this news after an encounter with his mother and his uncle/stepdad Claudius, in which they beg him to stay in Denmark rather than going back to Wittenberg to study. Claudius also bades him to stop showing "unmanly grief" over the passing of his father. After a soliloquy contemplating the hasty remarriage of his mother, Hamlet recieves the news of the ghost from Horatio. He resolves to come the next night and confront it. In the next scene, Ophelia is saying good-bye to her brother, Laertes, who is going back to France for school. They are very close and discuss Ophelia's relationship with Hamlet. Polonius comes in to say a very lengthy farewell to Laertes, and after his departure, Polonius strictly orders Ophelia to cut all ties with the Prince of Denmark. Out in front of the castle, Hamlet waits for the ghost, and while doing so, he expresses his disgust towards the traditions his uncle is carrying on. The ghost appears and Hamlet follows it away from the castle where it is revealed that the ghost is Hamlet's father. The entire story of Old Hamlet's murder is revealed, and Hamlet swears to get revenge. After this encounter with the ghost, several individuals around the palace observe Hamlet presenting a type of madness. As an attempt to try and bring him back to normal, the Queen and King send for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (R/G). Polonius and Claudius also formulate a plan to spy on an interaction between Hamlet and Ophelia. R/G meet Hamlet outside and exchange words, but the things Hamlet is saying barely make sense, and suspicion about a madness increases. Before they can delve further into the matter, Hamlet comes across a company of players, and asks them to perform a play that parallels the murder of his father, hoping to catch Claudius in guilt. Ophelia and Hamlet then meet in the hallway and this escalates into quite a shouting match where Hamlet calls for Ophelia to "get thee to a nunnery". After seeing this scene, Polonius and Claudius are convinced Hamlet has gone mad. The time for the play has arrived, and all of the people of importance in the castle are in attendance. As he planned, Hamlet watches as Claudius the play early, clearly flustered. Hamlet is called to his mother's chambers after the play, and this is when he kills Polonius during a tense conversation with Gertrude. After begging his mother to not go to bed with his uncle anymore, Hamlet leaves, and begins to play a sick game of hide-and-go-seek around Elsinore with Polonius' body. Claudius has had enough with Hamlet's madness, and decides to send in along with R/G to England so Hamlet can be executed by the English monarch. The death of Polonius appears to have a similar effect on Ophelia and Hamlet's father's death had on him, however, Hamlet's madness is questionable, while Ophelia's seems legitimate. She confronts the King and Queen, giving them symbolic flowers and punctuating her speech with snippets of folk songs. Her suicide follows. It is also revealed that Hamlet has somehow escaped his ship to England and is travelling back via pirate ship to Denmark. At Ophelia's burial, Hamlet and Laertes fight over her body and it is agreed that a duel will take place between them. At the duel, Claudius attempts to poison Hamlet but instead poisons Gertrude and both Hamlet and Laertes are wounded with a poison sword. As he is dying, Hamlet gets his revenge and stabs Claudius. The tragedy ends with Prince Fortinbras of Norway coming in and taking power, because the entire ruling family of Denmark is now dead.
• Basics:
• Author: William Shakespeare
• Setting: notoriously chronologically inaccurate medieval Denmark
• Plot:
• rising action: Hamlet's promise to get revenge, plot to do so
• climax: murder of Polonius or possibly Ophelia's suicide
• falling action: the death of almost everyone in the last scene
• Significant Characters: Ghost (Old Hamlet), Hamlet, Ophelia (daughter of courtier, romantically involved with Hamlet), King Claudius (Hamlet's uncle/stepdad), Queen Gertrude (married Claudius quickly after Old Hamlet's death, suggesting prior involvement), Polonius (right-hand-man to Claudius)
• Tone: The tone of this revenge tragedy fluctuates throughout, but it is inherently dark and violent. The roles that supernatural powers and death plays in the storyline helps to emphasize this tone.
• Symbolism:
• flowers: when Ophelia gives her flower speech, she hands out flowers that hold special meanings in the Language of Flowers to different peole:
• Laertes-rosemary: remembrance, she wants him to find out how their father was killed.
• Claudius-fennel: flattery, possible symbol of adultery.
• daisy: innocence, does not give this to anyone as everyone is guilty in some way.
• Gertrude-rue: regret, also saves some for herself, but for a different reason (she's pregnant?!)
• Yorik's skull: Hamlet goes into an important discussion of human mortality when he discovers he knows who's grave the clowns are digging  up. He realizes that death is completely unaviodable;everyone must experience it.
• Quotes:
•  "But, O, what form of prayer/Can serve my turn? 'Forgive me my foul murder'?/This cannot be; since I am still possess'd/Of those effect for which I did the murder,/My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen." (III,iii)
•  This quote deals with the thoughts of the guilty Claudius. It is also significant that he states the reasons for committing the murder.
•  "Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven/And his soul may be as damn'd and black/As hell, whereto it goes." (III,iii)
•  This quote is significant because it shows the effect corruption can have on those involved. Hamlet is someone involved, and he happens to be the revengeful one, which in turn sets off another series of events, all stemming from Claudius' corrupt act.
• Theme: Hamlet shows us that a person's identity is influenced by their actions, their history, and their motivations. Hamlet's use of double meanings and long, wordy speeches show us that he is at war with himself. He cannot resolve his very close association with the throne and country of Denmark, or his need to revenge his father. This leads to his failure to act. Various other characters can be analyzed this way. It is the events that are the result of these characters' interactions that give us the tragedy that is Hamlet.

*This version takes into account the peer comment.

Pride and Prejudice Summary/Analysis

• Summary: Pride and Prejudice (P/P) begins with a marriage-obsessed Mrs. Bennet excited over the arrival of a rich new neighbor, Mr. Bingley. After Mr. Bennet intitiates contact with Mr. Bingley, the entire family attends a ball, and among those present is Mr. Bingley and his entourage. The oldest Ms. Bennet, Jane, becomes quite infatuated with Mr. Bingley, as he is with her. Mr. Darcy, however, is seen as proud and arrogant after refusing to dance with Elizabeth. Mr. Bingley and Jane become closer and closer, and when she goes to visit his mansion, she is caught in the rain and catches a cold, much to the pleasure of her mother. Jane remains at Netherfield for several days, and Elizabeth walks there to stay with her, much to the disdain of Miss Bingley. When the girls return home, they are suprised with the visit of Mr. Collins, the one who will inherit their house when Mr. Bennet passes. He clearly is there to find himself a wife among the Bennet sisters. Elizabeth flat out refuses Mr. Collins' proposal, which, while it disappoints her mother, elates her father. At a party, Elizabeth meets Mr. Whickham, who tells a story about his past with Darcy, and the content angers her. Elizabeth then recieves news that her friend Charlotte Lucas is to be married to Mr. Collins. Furthermore, any marriage hopes for Jane disappear when she visits London and is treated poorly by the Bingleys. In the spring, Elizabeth visits Charlotte at her new home, and calls on Mr. Collins' patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Here she encounters Darcy, and afterwards recieves several visits from him at the Collins' home. A marriage proposal follows, and Elizabeth refuses, on the grounds that he is proud and that he ruined Whickham's life (an opinion of which she gained from the story Whickham told her). After this incident, she recieves a letter that explains Darcy's past with Whickham. Elizabeth then returns home and later in the summer, goes on another trip, this time with the Gardiners. When visiting Pemberly, Darcy's estate, Elizabeth encounters Darcy, and before she can fulfill his cordial dinner invitation, a letter arrives from her family saying that Lydia eloped with Whickham. The disgrace that could potentially be brought upon her family is immense, and the family works to strike a deal with Whickham so that he will marry Lydia in exchange for a yearly allowance. He takes this deal, but it is later discovered that the money being given to Whickham comes from Darcy. The couple then disappears to the North of England. Bingley returns to Netherfield and proposes to Jane. Soon afterwards, Darcy proposes to Elizabeth and the two oldest Bennets are happily married.
• Basics:
• Author: Jane Austen
• Setting: England, mainly Longbourn, around 1800
• Significant Characters: Elizabeth (honest, strong-willed), Jane (innocent, kind), Mrs. Bennet (obsessed with getting her daughters suitable husbands), Mr. Bennet (apathetic, favors Elizabeth), Bingley (optimistic, wealthy), Darcy (closed off, often viewed as proud), Miss Bingley (very snobbish, upper class)
• Narrative voice:
• POV: P/P is written from a third person, omniscient POV. This allows for Austen to cover all characters and events in the book, rather than focusing on just one character's experiences.
• Tone: The tone of P/P is light and amused. Austen obviously had fun with writing satirical characters such as Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins, and Miss Bingley.
• Imagery: This book does not utilize imagery; most of the book takes place through social reactions. However, Austen uses nature to parallel Elizabeth's strong, free spirit, such as when she walked by herself to Netherfield, arriving at the mansion with muddy skirts that clearly bothered the snobby Miss Bingley. Elizabeth  feels most comfortable in the natural environment, where she doesn't have to fight societal conventions in order to act how she wants. It is significant that she speaks openly with Darcy on a long walk, and eventually recieves the proposal.
• Symbolism:
• Miss Bingley: represents the social elite. She is ruthless, while at the same time "polite", and never fails to turn her nose up at something she thinks is below her level.
• Pemberly: acts as a symbol of Darcy. Elizabeth is able to formulate new opinions of Darcy when she visits Pemberly. Even though mansions were not as personal as home are today, this house allows Elizabeth to see past the tough, arrogant outer shell of Darcy and reevaluate how she feels about him.
• The social ladder and love: the situations of the Bennet sisters at the end of the book can be represented on a continuum that takes into account both social status and romantic love. Jane, at the top, has true love for Mr. Bingley, as well as an immense fortune. She is followed by Elizabeth, who has a large fortune, but took more time to realize her love for Darcy. The list goes on and ends with Mary, fiercely concerned with her education, so much so that she does not even consider romance.
• Quotes:
• "Miss Bingley's attention was quite as much engaged in watching Mr. Darcy's progress through his book as in reading her own; and she was perpetually either making some inquiry, or looking at his page. She could not win him, however, to any conversation; he merely answered her question and read on." (51)
• This quote shows the comical social desparity of Miss Bingley. It illustrates the obsession women of this time had with marriage and other social relationships, and comments on the lack of investment women took in their education.
• " 'Do you not consider that a connection with you, must disgrace him in the eyes of everybody?'...'I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me.' " (318)
• Elizabeth's firery resolve is seen in this passage, as she has the courage to speak up to a woman as intimidating and rich as Lady Catherine. Her independence of thought is also seen, as she does not bend to the pressure of Lady Catherine. Her actions in this situation, can be compared to those of Darcy in that she exhibits a stubborness and lack of thought towards how people percieve her, even in the relationship-based era they live in.
• Theme: Austen uses P/P to comment on the frivolity of the social scene during this time period, and to attest to the benefit of a strong mind and truthful character. Elizabeth displays the characteristics that eventually "get her the guy" in the end: she speaks her mind, is not afraid to go against social conventions, and is truthful in her opinions. As a result, Austen rewards this character with a suitable husband. If we look at Miss Bingley, on the other hand, she binds herself to the strictest social conventions when it comes to interactions with someone she has the intention of marrying, and is a horrible person to everyone else. Austen, however, does not condone reckless independence, as seen in Lydia's case. A good balance of social conformity and goodness is seen in Jane, who appears as if she will be blissfully happy for the rest of her life. Jane is the one who finds true love, without really seeking it out in the first place. This is significant because the love that will be present in her marriage will make her life quite different than her parent's marriage. It is evident that Mr. and Mrs. Bennet once had some semblance of love for eachother, but Mrs. Bennet can be seen in the book remniscing about militia men from the days of her youth. This is Austen showing what people like Lydia could possibly be like in the future; not completely happy, living vicariously through her daughters, and obsessed with getting them married. The real winner, however, is Elizabeth, because she finds someone who can handle her strong will and opinions.

*This version has taken into account the peer comment.

Ceremony Summary/Analysis

• Summary: Tayo returns to Laguna from a veteran's hospital after partially recovering from post-traumatic stress after WWII. His trauma was brought on by the death of his brother Rocky when they were overseas, his visions of Josiah's death during the war, and the draught he brought upon his people while cursing the rains in the Philippines. He socializes with his old friends who are also veterans; they bury their emotions with drink and reminisce about the war most of the time. As Tayo's condition begins to deteriorate after he gets home, his Grandma sends for Ku'oosh, a Native American medicine man who performs an ancient ceremony for those who have killed others in battle. However, Tayo's situation is very different from anything the Native American culture has ever experienced, due to the white people's involvement in WWII, and the ceremony does not completely cure Tayo. Ku'oosh then sends Tayo to another medicine man in Gallup, a nearby town where racism against Native Americans is very prevalent, named Betonie. Betonie in a way encompasses the collective consciousness embraced by the Native Americans in that his home is filled with collected calendars, phone books, and other various objects. Betonie creates a new ceremony for Tayo, but the ceremony is not all the way complete when Tayo leaves Gallup. Tayo must find the cattle that his late uncle Josiah was encouraged to buy by Night Swan, an older cantina dancer both Josiah and Tayo slept with. Finding these wild cattle was integral to the completion of Tayo's ceremony. Before he begins his journey to find the cattle, however, Tayo momentarily lapses back into the drunken lifestyles of his friends, Harley and Leroy. He then travels to the ranch in search of the cattle, but instead he finds Ts'eh. After a night spent with her, Tayo is able to find his cattle on a white man's ranch and free them. When Tayo collects his cattle and returns home, the drought still harasses his land, and he knows the ceremony is not over. He goes back to his family's ranch and finds, Ts'eh; they spend the summer together. At the end of the summer, Ts'eh warns Tayo that Emo is coming for him, and Tayo is able to escape in time. He hides in an abandoned mine, and it is there that he realizes this is where his ceremony is completed. He must endure the torture of Harley by Emo in order to complete his ceremony. Afterwards, Tayo returns home and Ku'oosh, after hearing about his ceremony, declares Tayo cured.
• Basics:
• Author: Leslie Marmon Silko
• Setting: jungles of south Pacific, American Southwest (Laguna Pueblo)
• Plot:
• rising action: Tayo's search for cattle, his ceremony
• climax: night at the uranium mine, Harley's torture
• falling action: return home, death of many of his friends
• Significant Characters: Tayo (WWII veteran, struggles with inner demons, requires Native American ceremony), Ku'oosh (medicine man of Tayo's village, unable to cure him using traditional ceremonies), Betonie (medicine man of Gallup, creates new ceremony to cure Tayo), Ts'eh (mysterious woman highly associated with nature, not necessarily a single being, but rather someone from Native American belief incarnated as her), Emo (Native American greatly influenced by white evil from the war, kills many of Tayo's "friends")
• Narritive Voice:
• POV: Ceremony is told from a third person POV. The narrator is limited in its omniscience, however, and really focuses on Tayo's inner thoughts and emotions.
• Tone: Silko takes a cultural approach to this story, structuring it with poems from the Native American culture as the backbone of this story. Therefore, the tone conveys the image of sitting with people of Silko's community, sharing stories as part of their tradition.
• Imagery: Silko has filled this book with imagery of nature. She describes every nook and cranny of the arroyos and mountains, and this contributes to the importance of nature in the book and to the Native American culture as a whole. It helps to highlight the theme of the destruction white people bring to the earth.
• Symbolism:
• yellow: important color, symbolizes life in its entirety; can be representing something at the beginning of its lifecycle, or at the end
• hazel eyes: Tayo, Betonie, and Night Swan all have hazel eyes, which seem to represent the mixing of cultures, these characters are the ones who veer away from the very traditional Native American culture, they also seek to be accepted completely by the people of the tribe
• the cattle: show the persistent wild spirit of nature, even though white culture is seeking to destroy it
• stories: show the resilience of the Native American culture, very important for keeping the culture reminded of earlier events; war stories, which infuriate Tayo, are like Native American stories, but mutated by white violence and destruction
• cardinal directions: these directions are associated with almost every natural process or story in the Pueblo culture: weather, seasons, colors, supernatural worlds, ect.
• southwest: direction cattle run, trying to return to roots
• west: associated with the white war (Tayo returns from east Asia/ west coast hospital)
• Quotes:
• " "We've been gathering these things for a long time- hundreds of years. She was doing it before I was born, and he was working before she came. And on and on back down in time." " (111)
• This quote shows the importance of history to the Native American culture. Here, history is collected as stories as well as objects, like calendars and phonebooks. Betonie uses these things to help create a ceremony for Tayo.
• "The old GMC pickup was crushed around them like the shiny metal coffin the Veterans Office bought for each of them." (240)
• Here the destruction of white culture can be seen. The use of "crushed" in reference to the car as well as the coffin suggests the effect of white culture on Native American culture.
• Theme: Ceremony shows us that while there are many powerful evils in the world, adherence to traditional conventions can be used as a guide to return safely to one's roots. While Tayo doesn't use the ceremony that was used in the past, he is able to find one that works for him. This is able to solve the problems that the Native American culture had never experienced. By adding this knowledge to their collective consciousness, they will be flexible enough to withstand the onslaught of white culture. Failure to use traditional conventions is evidenced in death of several of Tayo's friends. Emo is truly evil and actually tortures and kills Harley, which can be seen as a parallel of the destruction of white culture. Leroy dies in a car crash; note the elements of white culture that are used in describing his death (quote above).

*This version takes into account the peer comment.

Death of a Salesman Summary/Analysis

• Summary: Death of a Salesman begins with an exhausted Willy returning from an out of town business trip. Upstairs, Happy and Biff, who are in their 30s but still living with their parents, reminisce about their younger years. Back downstairs, Willy daydreams about the earlier years, when Biff's life still held promise and money didn't seem so tight, however, we can see that things are starting to unravel: Biff is failing math, Willy's mistress makes an appearance, and Linda gets Willy to tell her the truth about his sales trip, which wasn't so successful after all. He lapses into another daydream about a younger Linda. Here Willy expresses his regret of not going with Ben, his older brother, on an adventure to Alaska and Africa, where Ben became rich. In the present, Linda and the two boys come downstairs to try and console Willy, and that is when Happy and Biff discuss going into business together and Willy tells Linda that he will ask for a New York, instead of travelling, sales job in the morning. The act ends on a happy note, with everyone going to bed full of promise. In the morning, Willy visits Howard, his boss, and attempts to ask him for a New York job, but Howard is too preoccupied with a new piece of technology, the wire recorder. This suggestion that Willy is too old fashioned in his methods is only solidified when Howard refuses Willy the job and instead fires him, because he and his job have been eliminated by call centers within the office. After this incident, Willy goes to Charley's office to ask for money before meeting up with Happy and Biff at a nice restaurant. At the restaurant, it is revealed that Biff failed to get a salesman job that day, and after fighting with them, Willy reverts to daydreaming about his mistress. We find out that Willy's affair is the reason for Biff not going to summer school and therefore failing high school. Back at their house, Willy is found in the backyard, in a state of daydreams, planting seeds, which suggest that he wants to start again, or return to nature to "be free". Biff decides to leave the house, and when he tries to bring Willy inside and say goodbye, Willy becomes mad with him. The motif of $20,000 culminates in Willy's suggestion that that amount would be useful to the family, and they could get it from insurance money if he were to die. With that, Willy crashes his car and kills himself. At the funeral, Linda apologizes for not being able to cry, and ends with telling Willy that they are now "free".
• Basics:
• Author: Arthur Miller
• Setting:  Brooklyn, late 1940s
• Significant characters: Willy, Linda (the coddling mother, trying to keep the family together), Happy (searching for his father's approval, even as an adult), Biff (even though he was brought up as a god figure, has failed to live up to expectations), Bernard (realistic, voice of reason, understated success)
• Title significance: the title on the surface obviously suggests Willy's death, but deeper, it shows Willy's desire for a well-attended funeral, which he thinks shows that he was well liked. Unfortunately, his funeral is exactly opposite. His death also represents the death of his dreams as the result of an evolving, capitalistic society.
• Symbolism:
• The flute music: this occurs whenever Willy is having a daydream, suggests peacefulness (at least at the beginning of these daydreams), could also represent the only memories Willy has of his immediate family (i.e. his brother)
• Ben's travels: daring risks that Willy was never able to take, paralleled by Biff's decsion to leave in the end
• New technologies, methods: suggest that the old styles (represented by Willy) are no longer useful, leads to Willy's job loss, commentary on society
• Quotes:
• "Like a young god. Hercules--something like that. And the sun, the sun all around him...and the cheers when he came out--Loman, Loman, Loman! God Almighty, he'll be great yet." (68)
• Here Willy is reminiscing about Biff playing in a football game when he was younger. The God reference calls to attention the fact that, even though he was raised as a Jesus figure, it is too late in life for Biff to fulfill that role. One also questions how valid Willy's declaration of Biff's popularity, seeing as his own popularity is a lie.
• "How the hell did I ever get the idea I was a salesman there?...I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been! We've been talking in a dream for fifteen years." (104) or "The door of your life is wide open!/Pop! I'm a dime a dozen, and so are you!" (132)
• These quote show Biff's disillusionment as he realizes what he was raised to do, and what he has acutally done. However, he fails to get his dad to see the truth he sees.
• Theme: In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller is commenting on the evolving and unjust American capitalist society. As a man who put his entire life into his work, Willy loses everything when he loses his job as the result of new technologies. These technologies are brought about by the competitive nature of a capitalist market. With the loss of Willy's job, his dream, essentially the classic American dream, is lost as well. On top of that, his supposed reputation does not recieve conformation, as there is hardly anyone at his funeral. The fact that he dies just for money enforces the power of the capitalist system to control people's lives. Biff represents a character who wants to return to his roots and go back to being a farmer, which still leaves a sense of hope for morals sometime in the future.

*This version takes into account the peer comment.

The American Dream Summary/Analysis

• Summary: This play is basically an afternoon in Mommy and Daddy's apartment. They begin with childish conversations about what Mommy did the day before, and they keep mentioning that they are expecting a visitor, who is late. Grandma is also present, and offers contrast to the Mommy/Daddy characters. Their visitor arrives, and it is Mrs. Barker, a professional woman. Everyone seems to have forgotten key facts about the others, including names. They remain fixated on the subject of Grandma's boxes and the conflicts that branch off of that, including the imminent fact that they will need to have Grandma taken to a nursing home soon. It is evident that Daddy is being harshly emasculated by Mommy. Finally, they begin to remember a story from long ago about Mommy and Daddy's baby that they mutilated, and that is when the Young Man shows up. The Young Man displays a hollow aspect that was created in him when Mommy and Daddy murdered his twin. Grandma ends the play after Mommy and Daddy have decided to take the Young Man into their household by breaking the fourth wall and speaking her final lines to the audience directly.
• Basics:
• Author: Edward Albee
• Setting: average middle-class American living room, mid 1900s
• Significant characters: Mommy (very controlling, demeaning towards Daddy, but still immature and childish), Daddy (even more childish than Mommy, submissive), Mrs. Barker (a professional woman), Young Man (hollow shell left from the murder of his twin), Grandma (relative voice of reason in the play)
• Symbolism:
• Throughout the play, Grandma contrasts heavily with all of the other characters in that she represents the ideals of the old American dream.These ideals include:
• reverence for past experiences
• respect for the elderly
• connection to personal experience
• Mommy, Daddy and Mrs. Barker serve as transition individuals between the old and new American Dreams, and the Young Man represents the new American dream.  New ideals include:
•  materialism
• conformism
• arrogance
• feminism
• Mrs. Barker symbolizes the system to which society adheres. Her role causes the audience to reevaluate if the system should be blindly accepted.
• Quotes:
• "Most people think that when you get so old, you either freeze to death, or you burn up. But you don't." (19)
• Here Grandma can be seen as interpreting the demise of the old American dream. The treatment of Grandma throughout the play is analogous to how the old ideals are being treated by newer societal conventions. The possible Hell reference brings in the fate of the old American dream.
• "I don't know why I bother to take them with me. They don't have much in them... a few images, a little garbled by now... you know... the things one accumulates." (84-85), "I have been drained, torn asunder... disemboweled. I have, now, only my person... my body, my face. I use what I have... I let people love me." (78)
• These two quotes highlight the ideals of the old and new American dreams. While the old focuses more on intangible things such as memories, the new is fixated with material things, like the human form.
• Theme: Albee is offering a commentation on the state of American society and a call for the return to older, less radical values. It is evident that the older values are to be seen as preferable when their characteristics are listed and compared to eachother. Grandma, while an absurdist character, is able to show Albee's point by continually talking about the mistreatment of old people, i.e. the old American Dream. The emasculating and destructive nature of Mommy pushes the negative responses towards the new American Dream.

*This version takes into account the peer comment.

Synthesis IV

       Process of writing a prompt:

1. Analyze the prompt: look for goals, techniques, effects, and meanings; make sure your thesis answers the prompt.
2. Analyze the excerpt: identify meaning, themes, details, techniques.
3. Formulate thesis: should be able to act as topic sentences if the rest of your paper was suddenly "sucked out of existence" (-Holmes); answers the prompt.
4. Write! plain style: concise, direct sentences, not many adjectives/adverbs.