Question 1
Either
A: 'Although he is a small man and a very flawed one Joe Keller becomes a tragic hero because he has striven to realise and achieve the American Dream' How far do you agree with this assessment?
- You need to define what is meant by 'tragic hero' and what you understand by the 'American Dream'
- What is your reaction to the way Joe ends his life at the end of the play; what are your feelings about it and why?
- To what extent do you believe his life has been governed by wanting to realise the 'dream'?
- And how has this influenced the key action in the play: the failure to stop the delivery of the faulty cylinder heads?
- In what senses if any is he a tragic hero?
Or
B: What do we learn about Kate and Joe here and how does this scene prepare us for later events in the play?
Frank (noticing tree) Hey, what happened to your tree?
Keller Aint that awful? The wind must've got it last night. You heard the wind, didn't you?
Frank Yeah, I got a mess in my yard, too (goes to tree) What a pity. (turning to Keller) What'd Kate say?
Keller They're all asleep yet. I'm just waiting for her to see it.
Frank (struck) You know?- It's funny.
Keller What?
Frank Larry was born in August. He'd been twenty- seven this month. And this tree blows down.
Keller (touched) I'm surprised you remember his birthday, Frank. That's nice.
Frank Well, I'm working on his horoscope.
Keller How can you make him a horoscope? That's for the future ain't it?
Frank Well, what I'm doing is this, see. Larry was reported missing on November 25th, right?
Keller: Yeah?
Frank Well, then, we assume that if he was killed it was on November 25th. Now, what Kate wants -
Keller Oh, Kate asked you to make a horoscope?
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