Category Archives: English 11

Blackout Poem – “Death of a Salesman”

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Don’t come back

Pushes back

awful form

then fall on the floor

start rolling around

furious and humiliated

I picture

hollow, empty

I fight them

in my frustration

“Death of a Salesman” is a tragic play written by Arthur Miller based on 1950s America. Willy Loman, a salesman who is married to Linda and has two sons, Biff, and Happy, returns home from a failed sales trip most of the nights. He always believed in American dream where people gets success from their hard work. However, in spite of  working hard day and night, he has to borrow money from Charlie, his neighbor, for insurance, fridge, house mortgage, and car. He believes he could be successful just like Ben but never turned out to be one and decides to commit suicide for the insurance money, which is a lot more than what he brings home. He sees this as a chance for his family to be rich and prosperous again. He is a symbol of a depression, lost, and miserable man. He even cheats on his wife, who cares about him the most. He does not notice that he has a developing Alzheimer. All of Willy Loman’s behaviors, the flow of the play shows this as a tragedy.

My blackout poem describes how Willy Loman tries to be successful but always gets pushed back, and falls to the bottom, which gets repeated. His lacking of money, him getting no respect from others, and getting humiliated from Howard, frustrates him, which also leaves him empty when returning home. My illustration shows Willy Loman looking up the night sky, looking at the stars, hoping that someday his perseverance leads him to reach those stars.

DOAS – Monologue

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The following shows my understanding of the monologue.

Willy: I have been depressed and have instability in my emotions which have lead me to cheat on my dear wife. My mind and my body is dying as the time goes which I want it to be ended quickly. My love for cars, love for my family and friends are just an excuse that keeps me alive. Other than that, there is no point of living as a salesman, travelling from cities to cities. People does not recognizes me anymore, no one respects me, not even Howard, whom and which I have dedicated.

I believe this is a monologue as his talking to someone about his depression, his describing his life, and his speech is uninterrupted.

This would fit in the situation when his having a talk about his issues and trying to fix it.

Characterization (3D) – “Maurice”

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Maurice, second tallest among the choir boys, is a fictional character that shows the savageness next to Roger and Jack. He first appears with a black cap with silver badge, shorts, shirt and black cloak. He is not a mean person but thanks to being with Jack, Roger and being a hunter, he feels powerful and bullies the littluns with Roger by breaking sandcastles. He also bullies Piggy with Jack and Roger by not giving him food, calls name, and physically assaults him. He rebels against Ralph, Simon and Piggy by removing the conch and moves to other area with the other hunters. His clothes are torn, he looks dirty and messy as his stay on the island gets longer just like the other boys. He assualts a pig with Roger and Jack. He enjoys sodomizing a pig with them and dances around with other hunters like savages. Jack, Roger and Maurice forshadows darkness and evilness that’s going to upon on the island.

1 “Then Jack grabbed Maurice and rubbed the stuff over his cheeks”(Golding 195).

  • blood on his face

2 “We’ll raid them and take fire. There must be four of you; Henry and you, Robert and Maurice. We’ll put on paint and sneak up;” (Golding 196).

  • hunters paint

3 “We ought to have a drum,” said Maurice, “then we could do it properly,” (Golding 165).

  • wants a drum, just like the conch

4 “Finally the laughter died away and the naming continued. There was Maurice, next in size among the choir boys to Jack, but broad and grin- ning all the time,” (Golding 27).

  • tall and broad, grins a lot

5 “Shorts, shirts, and different garments they carried in their hands; but each boy wore a square black cap with a silver badge on it. Their bodies, from throat to ankle, were hidden by black cloaks which bore a long silver cross on the left breast and each neck was finished off with a ham-bone frill,” (Golding 24).

  • wears choir clothes

6 “We shall take fire from the others. Listen. Tomorrow we’ll hunt and get meat. Tonight I’ll go along with two hunters—who’ll come?” (Golding 232).

  • hes a hunter

7 “The hunters took their spears, the cooks took spits, and the rest clubs of firewood. A circling movement developed and a chant,” (Golding 217).

  • has a spear

8 “’Pick up the pig.’ Maurice and Robert skewered the carcass, lifted the dead weight, and stood ready,” (Golding 197).

  • strong
  • likes to terrorize littluns
  • follows
  • not to be messed with because of Jack

Lord of The Flies- Island description

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The Scar: “Beyond falls and cliffs there was a gash visible in the trees; there were
the splintered trunks and then the drag, leaving only a fringe of palm
between the scar and the sea. There, too, jutting into the lagoon, was the
platform, with insect-like figures moving near it” (Golding 26-27)

The Island: “It was roughly boat-shaped: humped near this end with behind them
the jumbled descent to the shore. On either side rocks, cliffs, treetops
and a steep slope: forward there, the length of the boat, a tamer descent,
tree-clad, with hints of pink: and then the jungly flat of the island, dense
green, but drawn at the end to a pink tail. There, where the island petered
out in water, was another island; a rock, almost detached, standing
like a fort, facing them across the green with one bold, pink bastion” (Golding 26)

Coral Reef: “Out there, perhaps a mile away, the white surf flinked on a coral reef, and
beyond that the open sea was dark blue. Within the irregular arc of coral
the lagoon was still as a mountain lake—blue of all shades and shadowy
green and purple. The beach between the palm terrace and the water
was a thin stick, endless apparently” (Golding 4)

Platform Meeting Place: “A great platform of pink granite thrust up uncompromisingly
through forest and terrace and sand and lagoon to make a raised jetty
four feet high” (Golding 6)

The Forest: “The most usual feature of the rock was a pink cliff surmounted by a skewed block; and that again surmounted, and that again, till the pinkness became a stack of balanced rock projecting through the looped fantasy of the forest creepers. Where the pink cliffs rose out of the ground there were often narrow tracks winding upwards. They could edge along them, deep in the plant world, their faces to the rock.”

Lagoon: “But the island ran true to form and the incredible pool, which clearly was only invaded by the sea at high tide, was so deep at one end as to be dark green. Ralph inspected the whole thirty yards carefully and then plunged in. The water was warmer than his blood and he might have been swimming in a huge bath”

Mountain: “They were on the lip of a circular hollow in the side of the mountain. This was filled with a blue flower, a rock plant of some sort, and the overflow hung down the vent and spilled lavishly among the canopy of the forest. The air was thick with butterflies, lifting, fluttering, settling. Beyond the hollow was the square top of the mountain and soon they were standing on it”

Beach: “The three boys walked briskly on the sand. The tide was low and there was a strip of weed-strewn beach that was almost as firm as a road.”

Shore: “The shore was fledged with palm trees. These stood or leaned or re- clined against the light and their green feathers were a hundred feet up in the air.”

Coral Reef: “The coral was scribbled in the sea as though a giant had bent down to reproduce the shape of the island in a flowing chalk line but tired before he had finished.”

This is the ideal landscape of the island that my group came up with.

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” Narrative

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When he woke up, he saw himself looking up the sky and thought.

“That was a good dream, I had for so long!” Feeling proud and disdainful, he stood up and saw a crowd surrounding him and his wife moving through the crowd worried.

“Walter Mitty! What are you doing, lying on the floor! Why don’t you be an actor!” Mrs. Mitty nagging furiously. She held his hand like she was holding her son’s hand and began walking through the crowd, covering her face.

As they were walking towards the parking lot, all of a sudden, there was a commotion across the street.

“My bag! Someone please get my bag!” A middle-aged woman started yelling as a pickpocket ran with her bag. Walter Mitty, let go of his wife’s hand and began chasing him. As he was chasing this inscrutable man, the crowd was cheering, their clothes looking haggard, and perspiration drenching the atmosphere. He saw himself as Jesse Owens. Competing against Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson and many others on the incomparable race ever in 1936 Summer Olympics. He felt like a flash running in almost a light speed. He could feel his legs light as a feather, as he gets closer to the finish line, the crowd got louder and louder and the race was over. Many cameras were facing him. Interviewers interviewing him. He saw himself first on the podium. As he was panting fast, he saw himself holding a bag, the pickpocket on the floor, people staring at him and his wife running towards him.

His wife slapped him angrily and started nagging at him, feeling proud inside. “Walter Mitty! You think you are a hero? I was so worried for you!” As Walter Mitty handed the bag to the old women, the crowd applauded. Walter Mitty felt like a hero in his childhood comic book. He stood glorious and proud.

“Walter Mitty! Quit standing there and hurry up!” Mrs. Mitty criticizing. Walter Mitty ran to his wife. The sun was setting as he and his wife walked down the street towards the parking lot.

 

Plot Point Photo Compilation

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This project is based on the short story “Father and Son” by Bernard McLaverty. This story was set in 20th century during Irish Civil War. The main characters, Father and Son has a very bad relationship and has been arguing ever since son got home from London. Son has been missing for 2 years until the police called his father. Ever since then, father has been worried about son’s health and behaviour and tried talking to him but never worked. The situation gets worse; having his son killed by his “friends”. Father gets surprised that his son was killed and has to face mournful situation; his dead son around his arm.

1) Exposition

“I hear him not eating anything, going about the kitchen with a stomach full of wind.”
“This is my son who let me down. I love him so much it hurts but he won’t talk to me “

The first quote was the son describing how his father is falling apart. The Second quote was describing how the father feels the son is letting him down. This shows that both of them have certain expectations for the other and both feel the other isn’t doing their part.

2) Initiating Incident
“What do you be doing out to this time?”
“Not again”
“Answer me.”
“Talking.”
“Who with?”
“Friends. Just go to bed, Da, will you?”
“what do you talk about?”
“Nothing much.”
“Talk to me, son.”
“What about?”

In the story, this argument is what initiated/escalated the tension between the father and the son. It shows a lack of communication between the two.

3) Rising Action
“Your fingers, orange with nicotine”
“A breakfast of two Valium and the rest of them rattling in your pocket, walking down the street to your work.”


These quotes were thoughts that were going through the heads of the son and the father. The first quote shows how the father knows that his son is addicted to nicotine. The second quote is how the son knows his father is addicted to drugs. This shows that both of them knew that the other had problems but none of them were willing to put their egos aside and were willing to help each other. This led to even more escalation.

4) Rising Action
Let me put my arm around your shoulders and let me listen to what is making you thin.


Dad wants to know what conflict his son is having inside and tries to help him out but son doesn’t want to hear his dad out. This leads to arguments son and dad have in the future

5) Rising Action
“My son with friends. Talking. What he does not do with me.”


This was the last incident before the climax. The son brought in his friends and it caused a major shift in the story.

6) Climax
“There is a bang. A dish cloth drops from my hand and I run to the kitchen door.

The father heard a bang while washing dishes and the bang indicated that something had gone down with his son and his son’s friends.

7) Falling Action

“I take my son’s limp head in my hands and see a hole in his nose that shouldn’t be there.”

The father had noticed his son on the ground and now is seeing a gunshot wound on his son’s nose, judging from where he was seconds before. His friends probably shot him in the nose.

8) Denouement

“My son, let me put my arms around you,”

This was the final action that took place in the short story. The father seemed to be saddened by his son being on the floor lying there as he got shot in the nose and is most likely deceased at this point

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Michael Foster from the short story “Two Fisherman” by Morley Callaghan is a young newspaper reporter of a small town who has the ambition of becoming the good citizen of the small town he lives in by keeping good relationships with the town. Michael Foster; tall, long-legged Caucasian guy who has a really good American accent, seemed like a middle-class man. Having a good social skills, his connections with people is strong. Michael Foster is a “eager young fellow, who wanted to go to the city some day and work on an important newspaper” (Callaghan 1), where he had to meet the hangman privately for the interview.

“As Michael rowed the boat around to the boathouse, he hoped that Smitty wouldn’t realize he didn’t want to be seen walking back to town with him” (Callaghan 3) as he felt that the town people would give him negative reputation for he and Smitty being together. Smitty, being so kind and timid, has a terrible reputation among the town people for being a hangman and got his reputation worsened for hanging Thomas Delaney. Michael Foster fears of getting judged by the town people and his attitude towards Smitty is very neutral when being around with a group of people. However, he is very cautious, sociable, friendly, resourceful, motivated and well-respected person.

Capital punishment in “Two Fishermen”

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Capital Punishment is a law used to execute criminals who have committed a crime. Canada have banned this law in 1976 and replaced with 25 years of life sentence. However, this law still exist in Canadian National Defence Act for more serious military offences. The last execution was in 1962.

In the short story the ‘Two Fishermen’, Thomas Delaney was charged with execution for murdering Matthew Rhinehart, who molested Thomas Delaney’s wife. I believe Matthew Rhinehart has to be the one who has to be charged for the crime. Thomas Delaney basically died as a hero. I believed Matthew Rhinehart is the one who have done wrong as sexual assault is a huge crime. One could say Thomas Delaney was the one who committed bigger crime as he murdered a man, but he had no choice of killing him while conflicting. Matthew Rhinehart is a trash of the society as he have no respect for women and I believe Thomas Delaney have done something right for the society. His action and mistake have lead to execution and I feel pity for Thomas Delaney and his wife. This event might be one of unforgettable moment for his wife.