Introduction to Death of a Salesman
Lesson Title: “Unknown Citizen” and Intro. to Death of a Salesman
Course and Grade: American Literature, 11th
Generalization: The main idea here is that the ‘everyman’ or average Joe is unremarkable and lives a life of quiet desperation under the veneer of normalcy.
Learning Targets:
Facts: Main characters in the play Death of a Salesman are: Willy, Linda, Biff, Happy Loman, Ben (Willy’s dead brother), his best friend Charley, and Charley’s son Bernard; Willy is a salesman who is convinced that qualities like personal attractiveness, charm and charisma will bring the American Dream into his grasp; he lives in a world of memories and daydreams; like Gatsby, his dreams are illusions, but he never even achieves the appearance of wealth and his dreams are for his sons; Willy merely deludes himself into believing his sons can be greater than he is, that he can still give them what they need to succeed, but, this is an illusion; Willy inhabits a world of things he cannot sell, products that wear out: things are important to him and to Biff, but relationships suffer.
Skills: Note-taking, making inferences.
Materials: Lesson plan, copies of Death of a Salesman, SmartBoard, “The Unknown Citizen” projected on to SmartBoard, copy of The Great Gatsby, audio and/or video of “Life is a Lemon” by Meatloaf playable through the classroom speakers and the SmartBoard, paper, pencils/pens, copies of Cliff’s Notes on Act I of Death of a Salesman.
Anticipatory Set: Read the quotation of day by Henry David Thoreau: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
Have students respond to it: how does this relate to Gatsby? To us today? Re-read last few paragraphs of last chapter of Gatsby. “His dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him … Gatsby believed in the future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our
Course and Grade: American Literature, 11th
Generalization: The main idea here is that the ‘everyman’ or average Joe is unremarkable and lives a life of quiet desperation under the veneer of normalcy.
Learning Targets:
Facts: Main characters in the play Death of a Salesman are: Willy, Linda, Biff, Happy Loman, Ben (Willy’s dead brother), his best friend Charley, and Charley’s son Bernard; Willy is a salesman who is convinced that qualities like personal attractiveness, charm and charisma will bring the American Dream into his grasp; he lives in a world of memories and daydreams; like Gatsby, his dreams are illusions, but he never even achieves the appearance of wealth and his dreams are for his sons; Willy merely deludes himself into believing his sons can be greater than he is, that he can still give them what they need to succeed, but, this is an illusion; Willy inhabits a world of things he cannot sell, products that wear out: things are important to him and to Biff, but relationships suffer.
Skills: Note-taking, making inferences.
Materials: Lesson plan, copies of Death of a Salesman, SmartBoard, “The Unknown Citizen” projected on to SmartBoard, copy of The Great Gatsby, audio and/or video of “Life is a Lemon” by Meatloaf playable through the classroom speakers and the SmartBoard, paper, pencils/pens, copies of Cliff’s Notes on Act I of Death of a Salesman.
Anticipatory Set: Read the quotation of day by Henry David Thoreau: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
Have students respond to it: how does this relate to Gatsby? To us today? Re-read last few paragraphs of last chapter of Gatsby. “His dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him … Gatsby believed in the future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our