Death of a Salesman Unit (Complete No Prep)


Product Description

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman used to be one of my least favorite plays to teach. I found it depressing, and I had a difficult time teaching it in a way that was meaningful to students. Then, I created this bundle so that students would not only learn about drama, tragedy, irony, etc. but also think about their own futures, while they are contemplating their post-secondary education. While Willy Loman’s dreams are unrealistic and unattainable, students contemplate their own dreams, strengths, and weaknesses. You will definitely have more than a few excellent discussions when teaching this play.

This unit has been conceived with the teacher in mind. It contains a Student Guide, a Teacher Guide, and a comprehensive Answer Key. All you have to do is print the packages and teach them. It’s as easy as that! I’ve also included two different options for end unit evaluations, which both contain evaluation grids and answer key. The unit is, in my opinion, visually appealing and the contents teach analysis of literature.

What the bundle contains: (The documents, except for the evaluations, are in PDF format.)

The Student Guide contain 16 pages: (2 versions, with graphics and one without)

-Notes on the American Dream

-An anticipation guide

-An in-depth look at success as it pertains to the lives of the students (which can, later on, be related to the play.)

-Thematic comprehension questions for each act

-Work on motifs and symbols used in the play

-Work on characterization

-Poem association (Langston Hughes’ poem)

-Notes on tragedy (Aristotle’s definition and modern definition)

-Review notes for students

Answer Key contains 29 pages:

-Answers to ALL of the students’ work

-Introduction to Arthur Miller

-Comprehensive notes on each scene of the play (to help students understand and appreciate literary techniques used by the author)

-List of themes and how they are developed – Revue sheet

Final evaluation contains three different options:

1) A unit test with answer key. Contains 3 essay type questions.

2) An essay. Contains essay topics, work process (steps 1…..), an outline guide, and an evaluation grid.

ALL EVALUATIONS ARE FORMATTED IN WORD DOCUMENTS FOR EASY CHANGES AND MODIFICATIONS AND INCLUDE A COMPREHENSIVE ANSWER KEY.

The Teacher Guide contains 5 pages:

-Includes 8 complete lessons that leave the teacher nothing to do, but to teach.

Lesson 1: Historical context and pre-reading

Lesson 2: Setting and reading (there are specific pages assigned to each lesson)

Lesson 3: Symbols, Motifs and reading the play

Lesson 4: Character chart and reading the play

Lesson 5: Reading – exploring irony and the meaning of the title

Lesson 6: Reading and a look at the difference between modern and classic tragedy

Lesson 7: Theme development and review

Lesson 8: Evaluation (Option 1 – test (answer key included), Option 2 – Essay (evaluation grid, work process, outline included)

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Essay Evaluation Comments with Drop Down Boxes

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
70 pages
Answer Key
Included with rubric
Teaching Duration
2 Weeks