Mrs. Friedrich
A.P. Literature and Composition
Death of a Salesman and Oedipus Compare/Contrast Assignment—Due Tuesday, January 31
Directions:
For this assignment, you are going to write an essay that focuses on the characters of Oedipus and Willy Loman.
In the essay, you will need to describe each character’s tragic flaw, focusing on how this flaw caused his ultimate
downfall. Use your notes about what constitutes a tragic hero (according to Aristotle) to decide whether or not Willy
Loman fits the mold. In addition to the two main characters, you may also analyze thematic elements present in both
plays—blindness, truth, family, etc. You must use direct evidence from both plays to support your claims.
Suggested format:
Introduction: Give background on both plays—mention their titles and their authors, and give a BRIEF description of the
basic plot of each (remember, too much plot summary = death). Be sure to include an arguable thesis statement toward
the end of the introduction—one sentence that tells the reader what to expect in your essay. Make sure that the thesis
passes the “so what” test.
Example:
Willy Loman and Oedipus are characters in tragic plays. (So what?)
Better:
Willy Loman and Oedipus are two characters who ultimately meet their demise because of their
tragic flaws.
Body paragraphs: You have some freedom here depending on what you want to focus on. You may want to devote an
entire paragraph to blindness—showing how both Willy and Oedipus suffered some kind of metaphorical blindness. You
may want to devote an entire paragraph to Oedipus and his flaws, and another paragraph to Willy and his flaws. You
can discuss the role of family in the plays and how they contributed to the downfalls of the main characters. Whatever
you choose, be sure that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence, and that you use transitions between the
paragraphs to connect ideas.
Conclusion: Be sure that you include a clear concluding paragraph that ties up any loose ends from your essay. Your
thesis statement should be restated somewhere in this paragraph, and you should also summarize the main points of
each of your body paragraphs. Give the essay a finished feeling—end with a quote from one of the plays that really
stood out to you, or direct a question to your reader. It’s ok to give your thoughts and opinions in this final paragraph.
Take your time with the conclusion—don’t rush through it just so that you can be finished.
Using Quotes: When you cite direct quotes from plays, they should be in the following format:
On page 1767 of Death of a Salesman Linda states, “Willy, dear, I got a new kind of American-type cheese today.
It’s whipped.”
OR:
Linda stated, “Willy, dear, I got a new kind of American-type cheese today. It’s whipped” (1767).
When using quotes from Oedipus, use the line numbers—for Death of a Salesman, use page numbers since there aren’t
any line numbers.
If you do not directly state a quote word for word, you do not need to cite it!
Rubric
INTRODUCTION
Thesis Statement
Background information about the two plays
BODY PARAGRAPHS
Topic Sentences
Quotes/evidence (at least one per body
paragraph)
Transitions
CONCLUSION
Restated Thesis
Summary of main ideas
Strong ending
IDEAS AND CONTENT
Each body paragraph has a clear focus and all
support relates to the topic sentence
Support is more than simple plot summary
FLUENCY
Sentences are free of fragments and run-ons
Sentences are varied in length
Sentences have unique beginnings
WORD CHOICE
Active, lively verbs are used
Dead words are avoided
Essay is free of slang and idioms
CONVENTIONS
Paper is free of grammatical and spelling errors
VOICE
Paper is free of 1st or 2nd person pronouns
10 points
10 points
10 points
30 points
10 points
10 points
10 points
20 points
10 points
10 points
10 points
10 points
10 points
10 points
10 points
10 points
10 points
10 points