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Titel
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Death of a Salesman & the American Dream (EKSAMEN)
About the topic:
(værklæsning)
The focus of this topic is studying Arthur Miller's classic drama "Death of a Salesman" from 1949. One of the most prominent themes in the play is the 'American Dream' and the struggles and sacrifices involved in attempting to achieve it. It is therefore a continuation of our previous topic about American Values (desuden bygger det videre på den viden eleverne har om USA fra deres tidligere to-årige forløb i engelsk).
We also discussed the significance of family relations (specifically, dysfunctional family pattterns), father-son relationships (the lack of understanding between Willy and his eldest son Biff), and gender roles (Linda as the ever-supportive, but subdued wife).
A brief summary of the play:
Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Death-of-a-Salesman:
Death of a Salesman, a play in “two acts and a requiem” by Arthur Miller, written in 1948 and produced in 1949. Miller won a Pulitzer Prize for the work, which he described as “the tragedy of a man who gave his life, or sold it” in pursuit of the American Dream.
After many years on the road as a traveling salesman, Willy Loman realizes he has been a failure as a father and a husband. His sons, Happy and Biff, are not successful—on his terms (being “well liked”) or any others. His career fading, Willy escapes into dreamy reminiscences of an idealized past. In the play’s climactic scene, Biff prepares to leave home, starts arguing with Willy, confesses that he has spent three months in jail, and mocks his father’s belief in “a smile and a shoeshine.” Willy, bitter and broken, his illusions shattered, commits suicide.
Technical terms concerning plays (fagbegreber):
We have focused on genre traits of plays that are different from other types of fiction that we are used to working with in English lessons (short stories and novels):
- the importance of plays as being PERFORMED rather than simply READ.
- stage directions and their importance to the reader.
- how the dialogue between characters carries most of the action, as there are few to no descriptions, like you would see in a novel or short story.
- the structure of a play and elements of a tragedy (going back to Aristotle)
- this includes 'the fatal flaw' and Willy Loman as a tragic hero
Skriftligt fokus:
Vi har arbejdet med essay prompts i chatbots, vedrørende forskellige temaer i stykket. Her skulle eleverne få chatbotten til at skrive et essay ud fra visse parametre, og så skulle de lave ændringer i essayet, så det passede til deres sproglige niveau og analytiske forudsætninger, og aflevere begge dele til mig, inkl. refleksioner over deres arbejde. Det virkede oplagt at at arbejde med AI omkring dette værk, da der findes utallige (brugbare!) study guides til stykket på nettet.
Omfang: 150 sider
Tilladte digitale hjælpemidler under prøver/eksamen:
ordbogen.com
abc.ordbogen.com
minlaering.dk
oald8.com
sproglinks.dk/engelsk
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