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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the reason Biff gives Willy for Birnbaum's dislike of him?

2. Which is the first of several lies Happy tells Miss Forsythe?

3. Why does Linda stop picking up the flowers from the floor?

4. What privilege does the Woman promise Willy?

5. Who mentions that the cemetery gates will soon be closing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is wrong with Happy's assertion that "the only dream you can have [is] to come out number one man."?

2. Account for Willy's anger towards Biff.

3. What is Willy's reaction to Biff's attempt to tell the day's events truthfully?

4. Why does Charlie reply with just a grunt to Happy's angry attitude to his father's suicide and claim that "We would've helped him."?

5. How is it that Biff has come to regard his father as a hypocrite?

6. Why did Willy never find true happiness?

7. Is Death of a Salesman an uncompromising indictment of "The American Dream"?

8. What insight does Biff experience in the few moments he does get to see Bill Oliver?

9. How does Biff feel about lying to his father about the Bill Oliver interview?

10. Is Biff correct in saying of Willy that "He never knew who he was."?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"BIFF: 'He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong.'"

"CHARLEY: 'Nobody dost blame this man.'"

Do you agree with Charley? If Willy cannot be blamed for his tragedy, where does the blame (if any) lie?

Essay Topic 2

"Death of a Salesman shows us that there is no hope for the 'low man.'"Do you agree? Refer closely to the play. What does this play say about the American Dream?

Essay Topic 3

"As a salesman, Willy Loman was like a low-ranking priest in the religion of commerce, with all its fake values and promises." Discuss with close reference to Death of a Salesman.

(see the answer keys)

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