"Education Needs a Digital-Age Upgrade" By Virginia Heffernan, August 7, 2011

Virginia Heffernan, again in this article, remains very opinionated over the matter of how today's education system needs to be dramatically updated to meet the standards of today's technological advancements. She claims that schools need to keep up with technology. The reason for this broad statement she says, is because years from now, kids that are in grade-school now, will most likely not be doing the kinds of jobs that exist today. Technology is rapidly advancing, meaning that most of these kids will be practicing jobs that are unheard of nowadays. I agree with her when she says, "We can't keep preparing kids for a world that doesn't exist. We can't keep ignoring the formidable cognitive skills they're developing on their own." I like her style of writing and the way that she critiques. I appreciate how she makes broad statements about society, yet is clearly able to back them up with facts and evidence. I also enjoy reading her opinions because they lead me to realize a lot about our society that I didn't realize before.

"The Price of Typos" By Virginia Heffernan, July 17, 2011

I really like how this article, is once again, very opinionated. I appreciated how she said, "Bad spellers are a breed apart from good ones." She seems to feel very strongly about how she can't stand typos in writing. She makes the point, that a good writer tends to "see language as a system." I can completely relate to this statement, especially after reading, "On Writing Well." Heffernan also mentions that the rise of technology has both increased and decreased the amount of typos in writing these days. Increased, because people always counted on editors to filter through the author's mistakes but now that technology is so advanced in our society, these editors are not as common. Decreased, because technology now has the power to slightly edit these mistakes during the entire writing process. Overall, I like her style of writing because she takes such a small matter and is able to expand on the idea, allowing me to see more into depth on her statements.

"Television's Curse Was Its Blessing" By Virginia Heffernan, The New York Times, May 8, 2011

In this article, Virginia Heffernan discusses how the "curse" on the media may be an advantage. She uses the evidence of how television often has the bad reputation for "risking intellectual damage." I like the way that she writes here because it seems at first--despite the title of the article--that she is going to prove that television is a bad thing and that it is often surrounded by a "cloud of moral judgement" making the whole world think that the entire media is corrupt. However, in the end she makes the point that the whole "curse" was actually a blessing in disguise because people can't ignore this overall concept. Heffernan states, "Sometimes high moral judgenebt from the government is exactly what the arts need most." She alludes to other types of media, including major motion pictures, music, and books. I enjoyed her opinion on the matter of what television has done to our society and I certainly agree with the majority of her statements.

Death of a Salesman- Themes

There were a variety of themes that were explored throughout the play. One of the main themes that I found while reading the play was that family plays a huge role in success. This theme was very apparent in the plot of the play because it often seemed as if Willy did nothing but criticize his son's inability to get started in life, but things may have been different if he had showed more support for Biff and encouraged him rather than discourage him on top of his already existing frustration with himself. Another theme that stood out in the play for me was that being the absolute best or the most successful at something is not always the most important aspect. Throughout the play, it often appeared that that Biff, Happy, and Willy only cared about succeeding in business and making money. There was so much pressure that the result ended up being that nothing really worked out the way it could have. Linda on the other hand, was aware that the family relationships were important and she was the strong-willed character of the family who worked to make the relationship between Biff and his father stronger rather than watch the two of them fight over something so trivial, even if it may not have appeared that way. These were the most apparent themes in the play and were portrayed multiple times in the interaction between the characters in the play.

Death of a Salesman- Character and Plot Analysis 4

Now that we have reached the conclusion of the play, the resolution of the plot is starting to gradually become clearer. This portion of the play consists mostly of continuing tension between the Loman family until the very end. Biff and his father seem to continually bump heads with one another and spend most of their time together arguing about how Biff is, in his father's eyes, a failure in life because of his inability to get started in the business world. Linda is not heard from very much as the play comes to a close, however she does appear in the end to be very mad at Biff for fighting. Once again, she seems to play the role of the mediator in the relationship between the family, as does Happy towards the conclusion. She progressively becomes more and more unsatisfied with Biff, as she feels that Willy is dying and Biff should be making more of an effort to get along with his father during this time. For me, as the reader, it is difficult to see who is most at fault or the cause of the tension relationship because it appears as if both Biff and his father put a lot of pressure on each other. It is apparent that Willy feels that his son is not as successful as he should be at this point in his life but it is also extremely evident that Biff feels this pressure immensely and easily lets it get to him. After Willy dies at the end of the play, I felt the respect that Biff and the rest of the Loman family felt for him. I truly appreciated how the play ended with Willy able to know that Biff really did love him.

Death of a Salesman- Character and Plot Analysis 3

The beginning of Act II begins with Willy still in a joyful mood as he ponders the idea of his son going to meet with Billy Oliver about the business idea. Willy's happiness sustains as Linda tells him that he is going to meet his sons for dinner, just the three of them. Later on when he actually does meet his sons, Biff feels horribly about telling his father how the meeting went, since it did not exactly go as planned. In my opinion, this section of the play can be interpreted as a falling action in the plot. The climax could most likely be classified as the scene in which Biff and Happy reveal their business plan to their father regarding selling sporting goods. This scene was a turning point in the plot, as well as a turning point in Willy's characterization. For most of the play beforehand, it seemed as if Willy was just a depressed and "lost" man until this scene. As the story moves on, the characters continue to remain steady and the overall idea of the plot relatively stays the same, in the way that the same rotation of events as a whole keeps reoccurring. It is clearly evident at this point in the play that success does not come easy for these men and that family plays a huge role in supporting one another.

Death of a Salesman- Character and Plot Analysis 2

As the plot further reveals itself the mood of the play begins to lighten up a bit. This particularly occurs when Biff and Happy come up with the idea to sell sporting goods as a way of starting up in the business world together (1.63). Willy finally starts to agree with the boys and be happy with Biff's willingness for the plan as he says, "That is a one-million-dollar idea!" (1.63) This pleasure and agreement with his sons, however does not come easily or from the very start. This section of the play, being the second part to the first act, once again starts out with a gloomy mood that later transitions to happiness and an overwhelming feeling of success. Willy still appears the same, meaning his moods alter and most often contrast at different times. Linda seems to care still even more about Biff and Willy's relationship. She brings it up in conversation between her and her son. She asks Biff to please try and work on their relationship because his father is dying. She explains how she knows that he has been trying to kill himself (1.58). This obviously worries him very much so he promises to try. In my opinion, at this point in the play, Linda once again appears to be the mediator between Biff and his father. She takes both sides reasonably and being the motherly, loving wife that she is, she tries to come to a solution with Biff. When Willy returns, his mood immediately lifts when he hears the plan for his sons to sell sporting goods. His happiness most likely comes from the idea of his son finally making an effort to succeed in his eyes. Willy's mood twists once again towards the end of the act. He is all of a sudden yelling at his wife to stop talking anytime she tries to mediate the conflict between him and Biff. It is saddening to me to see the way that he gets mad at her. As the plot continues on, the main characters seem to hold steady in the way that they started out at the beginning of the play. It will be interesting to see how they change in the second act, as well as to see if Biff and Happy succeed in business with one another and please their wishful father.

Death of a Salesman- Character and Plot Analysis 1

At the beginning of "Death of a Salesman" we are introduced to four main characters, these being Willy, Linda, Biff, and Happy, of the Loman family. The tone of the beginning of the play kind of unravels to be a bit depressing and gives off a negative vibe to the reader. It seems that Linda is the optimistic one of the family, as she continually encourages her husband, despite his negativity and "disappearing" mind at this point. From the initial conversations of the play the characters all have very different and contrasting personalities. Willy is outspoken, yet he seems a bit bipolar in the way that one minute he participates in normal conversation and the next he is mad at Biff or upset about something else. Linda appears to be the caring and considerate motherly wife. She obviously loves her husband and cares for his well-being. It is particularly evident that she cares about Biff and Willy's relationship. Linda's lines in the play are often stage-directed as if to be said with a caring tone or "with infinite patience" (1.17). Biff, like his brother Happy, seems to be very "lost" (1.19). He has not succeeded too much in the world of business and can never seem to get one step ahead in his life. This clearly frustrates both him and his father which is a known cause for the tension in their relationship thus far. Lastly, Happy, the younger of the two brothers, seems more confused (1.19) because of his inability to let himself face setbacks or defeats in life. On the outside Happy appears to be stronger-willed and more motivated with his self confidence than Biff, but to me, as the reader, it seems as if both men suffer from the same sense of "loss" in life as neither can really get started too well in life during the time.