Book Reports / Death of the Salesman - essay and creative writing [5]

Yeah I am. :D

yay...someone else who is doing the same thing. Yeah I'm in unit 3 but I had to redo unit 2 essay questions about The Great Gatsby, as you can see. After i finish that then i'm going to start unit 3 essay questions.

I only did one essay for The Death of A salesman:

In the novel, Death of a Salesman by Arther Miller, there are few motifs that carry along the play. Only one of the motifs will be discussed. That motif is the one of Diamonds. Diamonds in the play represent, wealth, success and the ability to pass material items to his family. This is something that the man character in the play has failed at. The following quotest will be examined: "You guys! There was a man started with the clothes on his back and ended up with diamond mines.", "Principally diamond mines." , "...It's who you know and the smile on your face! It's contacts, Ben, contacts! The whole wealth of Alaska passes over the lunch table at the Commodore Hotel, and that's the wonder, the wonder of this country, that a man can end with diamonds here on the basis of being liked!..", "Oh, Ben, that's the whole beauty of it! I see it like a diamond, shining in the dark, hard and rough, that I can pick up and touch in my hand. Not like --- like an appointment!..." , "The jungle is dark but full of diamonds, Willy." and "It's dark there, but full of diamonds."

Willy is quoted to saying on page forty-one, "You guys! There was a man started with the clothes on his back and ended up with diamond mines." He is telling his boys about the success that their Uncle Ben had discovered while in Africa. The mention of Ben's diamond mines comes after Bernard comes to tell him that Biff was stealing. Willy is reeling with anger and remembers Ben in one of his many memories.

Ben later comes in another memory where he mentions Africa as being: "Principally diamond mines." Later on Willy is still in his memory mode where he remembers telling Ben: "...It's who you know and the smile on your face! It's contacts, Ben, contacts! The whole wealth of Alaska passes over the lunch table at the Commodore Hotel, and that's the wonder, the wonder of this country, that a man can end with diamonds here on the basis of being liked!.." Willy explains to Ben that in order to get diamonds you don't need to walk into the jungle rather it's having contacts and being well liked that will get you diamonds. Diamonds in this quote is referred to with wealth and money.

"Oh, Ben, that's the whole beauty of it! I see it like a diamond, shining in the dark, hard and rough, that I can pick up and touch in my hand. Not like --- like an appointment!..." Willy is gardening in the night time. He has asked Ben for his help in his discussion on whether or not he should commit suicide. Willy says that he knows that the twenty thousand dollars is so close to him that he could reach out and grab it. Hence by diamonds he is talking about the twenty thousand dollars that his family will get when he dies.

Near the end of act two. After Willy had heard a confession from Biff that he loves him. He hears Ben telling him: "The jungle is dark but full of diamonds, Willy." Willy is thinking that by killing himself that he is giving something to his family. Something he wasn't able to do during his life as a salesman. "It's dark there, but full of diamonds." says Ben. As Ben has given him warning that his family might hate him if he did what he is suggesting. Yet again Willy is confident that they won't. He then sees that committing suicide will be giving Biff 'diamonds' or wealth. He justifies with himself that it is the right thing to do and that his son will love him for it. Then finally he takes the plunge and he crashes the car after everyone is sent to bed.

The motif of the diamonds is very important in the play, Death of a Salesman. It signifies wealth and success and as well as Willy's failure as a salesman in the play. He had lost many opportunities to find his diamonds by following his elder brother to Alaska. Which he opted not to do as by a suggestion by Linda. The diamonds motif pushes the story forward through till the very end. It is also the final push for Willy finally decided to kill himself. He sees by doing this for his son he gives him the diamonds that he failed to find.

I'm going to be doing essay questions about King Lear...From lesson 12 key question and Lesson 14, key question.

Writing Feedback / "The Great Gatsby is seen in two ways" - Help with Essay Writing - [10]

Everything in The Great Gatsby is seen in two ways: on the one hand as glamorous, romantic and exciting, and on the other as crude, corrupt or even disgusting. This double vision applies to people, places and events. In a unified essay of 750 - 1000 words, show how this is true, and explain its significance, using specific references to the novel to support your ideas.

*identifies more than three examples of people, places and/or events being views in different and or opposing ways.
*explains the double perspective and supports the explanation with relevant examples; discusses the extent to which the narrator is in and not in gatsby's world.

I had a lot of trouble to decide how i wanted to structure it. I must have tried to rewrite it in various different ways but all ways I could think of including in the essay below i didn't really like.

I also would like to mention that I'm a bet rusty when it comes to essays...the last time that i wrote an essay was I'd say about 8 or 9 years ago. So, now i have to do them again to upgrade my highschool courses.

I was also never really good at essays either.

My questions are:

1) Could I do three examples or more of say: people and events instead of doing places? I think that is what the question is implying anyway.

2) is there a book or relevant article that will help me in writing an essay?

3) anything i may have missed , whether it be small or not, just point it out. Please.

The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and depicts life in the roaring twenties, this is a term used for the nineteen twenties. Through out the story there is a double vision that applies to people, places and events with in the story. Double vision in the story can be seen as glamourous, romantic, and exciting or as crude, corrupt and disgusting. The significance of the double vision is to depict how the "Roaring Twenties" had two views of viewing life.

People in The Great Gatsby have a standard double vision to them all: Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. Tom is defiantly one of the least liked character's in the novel. He is a racist, adulterer and reacts violently some or rather most of them times. He even hits Myrtle so far as to break her nose. His character it's self is quite crude to begin with. Eventually as the book progresses, Myrtle is hit by Gatsby's car, that Daisy was driving, and dies. Tom is in shock but then he goes over to handle Wilson. After he has calmed him down he, Nick and Jordan continue back to East Egg. On the way there, Tom sheds some tears; " In a little while I heard a low husky sob and saw that tears were overflowing down his face. 'Goddamn coward!' he whimpered. 'He didn't even stop his car.'" This shows that he was devastated to lose someone as close as Myrtle. He reveals he has genuine romantic feelings for his mistress, but at the same time he is angry with the person who done this.

Daisy the beautiful girl from Louisville, Kentucky whom was very popular with military men at the base located there. However below the beauty she is a careless person, as Nick describes her. Her true love is with money and material luxury making her view of love corrupt in a sense that she only values those items. She also thinks of her daughter as a second thought.

'You ought to see the baby.'
'I'd like to.'
'She's asleep. She's three years old. Haven't you ever seen her?'
'Never.'
'Well, you ought to see her. She's-'

For a brief time she was capable of romantic feelings was when she was with Gatsby for that brief time, before he was shipped for war overseas. She then had given up on waiting and married Tom in nineteen nineteen.

Jay Gatsby had a dream when he returned from war. That was to win back Daisy. He held large glamourous parties at his home on West Egg. He also made sure that the house was facing the opposite of Tom and Daisy's house on East Egg. As well as gain wealth from illegal sources that would be considered corrupt.

Places in The Great Gatsby also have double vision applied to them. New York is a place in novel where they enter it but then leave again. It is said that New York is exciting and can be a place to meet "romantic ladies" as Nick says. However it can also be a dangerous place. People get shot there. Tom and Myrtle choose New York as a place to commit their adultery and as well to fight. " 'Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!' shouted Mrs. Wilson. 'I'll say it when ever I want to! Daisy! Dai-'

Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand."

West Egg is a place where all the inhabitants are all recently wealthy. They also don't have a good sense of taste either. This place is exciting like New York however it is a place that doesn't merit the good taste of the people of East Egg whom have a socially established connections. This makes West Egg seem to be filled with many corrupt individuals.

East Egg is home to people with inherited wealth and an already established social connection unlike the people on West Egg. They are glamourous here. They are also snobs in a way because of their highly established social connection and their good luxurious taste for life and material items. These people can come off as disgusting because of the way they think of other people on the West Egg.

Event's in The Great Gatsby: Gatsby's Parties are large and glamourous. They are parties where you can meet people without being romantic. It is a fun large and exciting party.

Tom's party was small and cluster phobic. People lost each other and found each other then lost each one once again. Nick wanted to escape from the this party but he couldn't find a way out. He also get drunk at this party.

Nick's dinner invite to Tom and Daisy's house, at the being of the book. It seems like an exciting opportunity for Nick to meet his cousin and a old friend of his Tom once again. Things quickly go array when Tom receives a call. When Jordan tells Nick that it is from Tom's mistress he is quite surprised. For Nick to find out in this manner it was quite crude and or corrupt because when Tom and Daisy come back they act as though everything is fine. When really underneath it all it really isn't okay.

Double Vision in The Great Gatsby can be seen in two ways, glamourous, romantic and exciting or crude, corrupt and disgusting. These double visions are seen throughout the story in various forms of people, places and events. It gives off to show how true the double vision is applied to the various parts of the story. In conclusion there is always a small double vision that is seen throughout the novel.