Author's Argument (Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller)

Précis

In Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman (1949), the characters explore what is commonly referred to as the “American Dream” as well as who is able to attain the “American Dream.” Soon after the start of the play the reader is introduced to the main character Willy Loman, the salesman after whom the book is titled.  Willy is an aging salesman who appears to be in declining health, mentally, as he often becomes immersed in daydreams and also partakes in conversations with himself.  His mental stability, or lack thereof will ultimately lead to his demise.  Willy has two sons, Biff and Happy, both of which he is disappointed in, as he believes that they have done nothing to further themselves.  Both Will and his sons embark on a journey in hopes of “bettering themselves.”  Willy is convinced that his boss will graciously allow him to work closer to home while Biff and Happy are hoping that a childhood friend will provide them with the opportunity to become businessman.  Both are turned down.  Willy unfortunately gets fired in the midst of asking his boss to allow him to work closer to home.  Biff, Happy, and Willy meet up for dinner where they all attempt to discuss the failures of they day.  Willy will have none of it and embarks on a daydream.  Biff and Happy storm out of the restaurant, with two women in tow, leaving Biff to his daydream.  Once Biff and Happy return home their mother questions them as to why they have abandoned their father.  Once Willy returns home Biff tries to apologize to his father but an argument erupts.  Biff tells his father that he is not meant to be anything great but his father is still under the impression that he has finally agreed to become a successful businessman.  In the end Willy kills himself by crashing his car so that Biff can take the life insurance money and begin his business.  Luckily Biff was able to reconcile with his father before he was tragically killed.  In the end, Biff remains against pursuing a career in business while Happy decides to pursue a career in business just as his father had.

Vocabulary

·      Befuddle- to confuse

·      Taciturn- inclined to silence

·      Crestfallen- dejected or discouraged

·      Trepidation- fear or alarm

·      Laconic- using few words

Tone

·      Assertive

·      Honest

·      Genuine

Rhetorical Strategies

·      Telegraphic Sentence- “Wonderful coffee.  Meal in itself” (page 71).

·      Simile- “Like a young god.  Hercules – something like that” (page 54).

·      Rhetorical Question- “Where are the rest of your pants” (page 51)?

·      Dashes Within A Sentence- “I’m-I’m overjoyed to see how you made the
      grade, Bernard, overjoyed.  It’s an encouraging thing to see a young man
      really-really— Looks very good for Biff- very” (Page 92).

·      Symbolism- “The jungle is dark, but full of diamonds” (Page 106).

Discussion Questions

1.  Throughout the play Biff and Happy are referred to as “boys.”  Do you believe that by the end of the title they are worthy of being called “men?”

2.  How would the play have been different had Willy not been as confused as he appeared throughout the play?

3. Is Willy’s gesture of planting seeds symbolic?  If so, what is it symbolic of?

Important Quotation

"He's liked, but he's not well liked" (page 20).

Author's Argument #3 (Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach)

Précis

In chapter’s nine through twelve of Mary Roach’s non-fiction work Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003), Roach explores more of the various little-known contributions of human cadavers. In chapter nine of the book, she explores the removal of the head from the human body.  Roach figures that it must be possible to communicate with the recently removed head in the first ten or so seconds after removal if one asks the head a question and then directs the head to blink back.  Roach follows this chapter up with one on the fairly ancient concept of “medicinal cannibalism.”  Medicinal cannibalism is fairly similar to the traditional definition of cannibalism except for the fact that the human flesh that is being enjoyed is human remains.  In the eleventh chapter the author looks at alternative funerals.  She furthers her knowledge by visiting the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital to tour the dead animal freezer.  In the final chapter of the book Roach explores what she would like to have done with her cadaver once she dies.  While pondering this decision she reflects upon her entire journey including the various opinions that she was provided with along the way.  All of Roach’s exploration and reflection throughout the book is significant because it makes people able to talk about a subject that was once thought to be taboo.  With her wit and humor this topic suddenly becomes not only a topic to talk about but also one that comes about naturally.

Vocabulary

• Pronouncement- a formal or authoritative statement
• Fortitude- mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty
• Broughams- a four-wheeled, boxlike, closed carriage for two or four persons
• Elixir- a sweetened, aromatic solution of alcohol and water containing, or used as
   a vehicle for, medicinal substances.
• Spittle- saliva or split


Tone

• Reflective
• Serious (compared to previous chapter)
• Informative

Rhetorical Strategies

•  Telegraphic Sentence- “We must return to hanging” (page 200).
•  Personification- “9:00 The donor’s head eagerly drank water or milk, and tugged as if trying to separate itself from the recipients body” (page 208).
•  Enumeration- “Unlike Demikhov’s and Guthrie’s whole head transplants, these brains, lacking faces, and sensory organs, would live a life confined to memory and thought” (page 209).
•  Simile- “There was a brain sliced like a loaf of bread and a head split in two so that you could see the labyrinths of the sinuses and the deep, secret source of the tongue” (Page 288).
•  Rhetorical Question- “Do you know that it is not at all certain when a head is severed from the body by the guillotine that the feelings, personality and ego are instantaneously abolished…” (page 200)?

Discussion Questions

1.  How does one maintain a clear conscience while eating the remains of another individual?
2.  Why is this book so heavy in side notes, footnotes, and dashes within the sentence that emphasize importance points?
3.  Would it be wise to have people that are thinking about having their bodies donated to science read this book?


Important Quotation

“It makes little sense to try and control what happens to your remains when you are no longer around to reap the joys or benefits of that control.  People who make elaborate requests concerning disposition of their bodies are probably people who have trouble with the concept of not existing.” (page 290).

Author's Argument #2 (Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach)

Précis 


In chapter’s five through eight of Mary Roach’s non-fiction work Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003), Roach explores more of the various little-known contributions of human cadavers. In chapter five of the book, she discusses what should be done with the bodies of individuals who were killed in in-air collisions.  She follows this chapter up with another war related topic, the use of human corpses in weapons research.  In the seventh chapter the author discusses the how cadavers were used to investigate the Shroud of Turin, a linen cloth with the image of a man who appears to have suffered physical trauma.  In the eight, and final chapter of the chunk, Roach takes a more reflective approach than she has in the previous chapters.  With the many contributions that she has recently learned of she reconsiders what it is to be dead and explores the idea of a live burial. Roach’s exploration of the contributions of human corpses and her reflection on their contributions is significant because it makes many people able to better appreciate the things that we have today as many of the contributions and practices would not have been made possible without the help of the cadavers.


Vocabulary


• Propagate- to cause (an organism) to multiply by any process of natural 
   reproduction from the parent stock.
• Fuselage- the complete central structure to which the wing, tail surfaces, and 
   engines are attached on an airplane.
• Ostensibly- outwardly appearing as such
• Promulgate- to make known by open declaration
• Stoical- enduring pain and hardship without showing one's feelings or complaining


Tone


• Comic
• Light
• Informative


Rhetorical Strategies


•  Dashes Within a Sentence- “What—or who—had brought Flight 800 down from the sky” 
    (page 114)?
•  Personification- “Leader lines spoke away from the dots on their labels: ‘brown leather 
    shoes,’‘coilpot,’ ‘piece of spine,’ ‘stewardess’” (page 115).
•  Enumeration- “Leader lines spoke away from the dots on their labels: ‘brown leather 
    shoes,’ ‘coilpot,’‘piece of spine,’ ‘stewardess’” (page 115).
•  Simile- “To make a long story short, the catapulted guinea pigs’ lungs looked a lot like 
    the Comet     
    passengers’ lungs” (Page 123).
•  Rhetorical Question- “Who decides when it’s okay to sacrifice human lives to save 
    money” (page 125)?


Discussion Questions


1.  On page 119, when Roach states the broke ribs are minor is she saying that all broken   
     ribs are minor or that in this case the broken ribs are minor?
2.  Why is it that Roach uses Chapter 8 as a somewhat reflective chapter when there are so 
     many other chapters left in the book? 
3.  Will the rest of the Chapters deal with the contributions of human cadavers as most of 
     those preceding chapter 8 have?


Important Quotation


“There is a photograph of Zugibe and one of his volunteers in the aforementioned Sindon article.  Zugibe is dressed in a knee-length white lab coat and is shown adjusting one of the vital sign leads affixed to the man's chest.  The cross reaches almost to the ceiling, towering over Zugibe and his bank of medical monitors.  The volunteer is naked except for a pair of gym shorts and a hearty mustache.  He wears the unconcerned, mildly zoned-out expression of a person waiting at a bus stop.  Neither man appears to have been self-conscious about being photographed this way.  I think that when you get yourself down deep into a project like this, you lose sight of how odd you must appear to the rest of the world” (page 163).

Author's Argument #1 (Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach)

Précis

In Mary Roach’s non-fiction work Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003), Roach explores the little-known contributions of human cadavers. In the introduction of the book, she likens death to a cruise ship and then provides her own personal take on death.  She follows this up with an anecdote about the death of her mother and how she believes that death, and afterlife, is a journey rather than a single event or a series of events.  In the first few chapters of the book she explores issues including how the heads of individuals can be used for plastic surgeons to practice on, the lack of respect that human remains are treated with, how the process of human decay takes place, and the different kinds of research that cadavers can, and have been used for.  Roach’s exploration of all of the topics is significant because it makes many people, who were once unaware of how important the role that human corpses play in our society, are now able to better understand their importance.

Vocabulary

·       Altruism- a concern for the welfare of others

·      Desiccate- to dry out thoroughly

·      Procur- to get by special effort

·      Putrefacation- the decomposition of organic matter

·      Rigor Mortis- one of the recognizable signs of death that is caused by a chemical change in  
     muscles after death

Tone

·       Assertive

·      Humorous

·      Sarcastic

Rhetorical Strategies

·       Telegraphic Sentence- “The brain has shut down.  The flesh begins to soften” (page 9).

·      Simile- “Before switching on the aspirator, Theo takes a cloth to the man’s chin and wipes 
     away a substance that looks but surely doesn’t taste like chocolate syrup” (page 75).

·      Rhetoric Question- “What do you do with a dead person for an hour”

(page 13)?

·      Metaphor- “The early surgeons weren't the hyper-educated cowboy-saviors that they are today” (Page 28).

·      Parallel Sentence Structure- “Because you're holding this disconnected hand,and it's holding you back" (Page 25).

Discussion Questions

1.                     Did Roach and her brother actually sit with their mother’s coffin and play jumble?

2.                     Why is Mary Roach able to describe death subjectively while others described in the book, so far, seemed to be forced to describe it objectively?

3.                     Why is it that whenever death is talked about no one is able to discuss it in a subjective manner like Roach is able to?

Important Quotation

            "I want you to know that you are always there when I see patients. When I palpate an abdomen, yours are the organs I imagine. When I listen to a heart, I recall holding your heart" (page 38).

"The writers, i do believe, who get the best and most lasting response from their readers are the writers who offer a happy ending through moral development. By a happy ending, I do not mean mere fortunate events--a marriage or a last minute rescue from death-- but some kind of spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even at death." ~Fay Weldon

Contrary to popular belief, writers have not made a promise to themselves or to their readers to provide a “happy ending.” The finale bestowed upon the story doesn’t necessarily have to satisfy the person who reads the book. If the writer chooses to provide a “happy ending” it does not have to be marked by a physical change or event, better yet, it can be a moral or spiritual change. In fact, many writers receive more recognition for providing a “happy ending” that represent these types of changes rather than those that mark some sort of physical change. This is because physical changes are often superficial and will change with time, whether for better or for worse. When one changes from an ethical standpoint they are less likely to change for the worse at a later date. A prime example of this is Aesop’s Fables, which remains a popular choice in the moral foundation of today’s children.

"To belong is to understand the tacit codes of the people you live with." ~Blood and Belonging

To belong is a feeling that we yearn for by nature. Whether or not one chooses to admit this desire varies from person to person. Once the sense of belonging is achieved, there automatically are unspoken rules that must be followed. In addition to these unspoken rules, there are those rules that are spoken. The spoken rules are generally more important than the unspoken. This is evident through the fact that they are verbally stated rather than simply common knowledge. All of these rules are beneficial because they provide principles for the relationship. An example of how spoken rules equate to belonging could be found within many social groups. When you are new to a social group you will most likely be informed of only the spoken rules. Over time you will learn of the unspoken rules. In many instances there are just as many unspoken rules as there are spoken rules. As you learn of the unspoken rules, over time, you will begin to feel more a part of the group because you have learned something new, something that you would have not learned had you not been a part of this group.