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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. How much money is involved?

2. According to Linda, what extra expense had Willy also paid?

3. How does Linda react to Charley's words at the beginning of the scene?

4. What food does Happy want served at the restaurant?

5. What does Biff think Linda needs?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Happy think Biff should handle telling Willy the bad news when he arrives at the restaurant?

2. 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."?

3. What is Willy's final fantasy?

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

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

6. Is Charley's summation of Willy and his life as a salesman an accurate one?

7. Account for Linda's bewilderment at Willy's suicide.

8. Explain Happy's refusal to go with Biff and make a life for themselves in the country.

9. What is the effect of Willy's words, "The gist of it is that I haven't got a story left in my head."?

10. Which personal qualities does Happy reveal when Miss Forsythe enters the restaurant and he talks to her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the significance of irony in Death of a Salesman. Are the characters aware of the ironies in the story? How does it affect their behaviors?

Essay Topic 2

"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.

Essay Topic 3

"Death of a Salesman is a savage indictment of commercial values." Discuss with close reference to the play.

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