Death of a Salesman Lesson Plan

A Salesman's Death

Kind of Activity:

Discussion

Objective:

Understanding a play's title and its plays on words

Structure:

What is the "death of a salesman"?

Ask the students what they thought the title referred to when they began reading the play. They will have assumed, naturally, that it meant Willy was going to die at some point. How do they feel about this "spoiler" in the title of the work? Lead them to the realization that the death doesn't necessarily refer to Willy actually dying; it has a richer meaning if we take it as his metaphoric death, especially the encroaching death of his self-identity as a salesman.

Should the stress be...