Thursday, November 19, 2009

Arthur Miller Blog Post

Sorry this is so late!!!
Read some biographical information about Arthur Miller. What are the subjects of his other writings? What have critics said about his importance in modern drama? In what ways are his experiences reflected in his writings?

13 comments:

  1. Some of Arthur Miller's other works include: All My Sons, The Crucible, The Man Who Had All the Luck and The Last Yankee. The reflected topics were mainly tied with human tragedy, covering notions such as luck, depression, conviction and moral courage. I believe his experiences are greatly reflected in his plays because as a child he was raised by an illiterate but successful business man in a privileged lifestyle, but with the coming of the Wall Street Crash, he lost everything. He worked several jobs to put himself through college to earn a BA in English, which made him no stranger to human tragedy, and showed him the way to overcome such obstacles.
    Miller went on to write many successful plays that are still often read today. Many critics claim that his tragedies had an almost optimistic feel, and endowed upon the Americans a new sense of voice. He was able to protest through his works in a way to connect with the audience and instill in them a sense of liberal values. I believe this also closely relates to the time period he wrote in, as well as the experiences he had in his lifetime.

    -A. Eraybar 5

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  2. His other well known works are The Crucible, All my Sons, A View from the Bridge, and After the Fall. He went to the University of Michigan and after he passed away they named a theater there after him. A lot of his plays deal with very serious subject matter such as political in The Crucible and social in Death of a Salesman. My mom tells me that many people thought of him being serious because of the subject matter in his plays when in reality he was a gentle and humorous. Some critics criticized After the Fall because they said it related to closely to the suicide of his previous wife Marilyn Monroe.
    R.Baker, Period 3

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  3. Arthur Miller grew up in Harlem, New York and grew up with his two Jewish parents. In 1934 he studied journalism at the University of Michigan. He produced a play called, All My Sons.. which he won the New York Drama Critics Circle award and two tony awards. He wrote a novel called, Focus (1945) about anti-semitism. Many of his plays show his liking for classic Greek dramatists and also how families are ruined by false values. Miller married Marilyn Monroe in 1956 and divorced in 1961. Miller thought that theatre could change the world. His three most successful plays are Death of a Salesman, the Crucible, and All My Sons. He has won about 8 or more awards for his success in American drama.

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  4. Arthur Miller grew up in Harlem, New York and grew up with his two Jewish parents. In 1934 he studied journalism at the University of Michigan. He produced a play called, All My Sons.. which he won the New York Drama Critics Circle award and two tony awards. He wrote a novel called, Focus (1945) about anti-semitism. Many of his plays show his liking for classic Greek dramatists and also how families are ruined by false values. Miller married Marilyn Monroe in 1956 and divorced in 1961. Miller thought that theatre could change the world. His three most successful plays are Death of a Salesman, the Crucible, and All My Sons. He has won about 8 or more awards for his success in American drama.

    Kayla p.5

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  5. All My Sons, The Man Who Had All The Luck, Marilyn Monroe, Writing Crucible, and Salem Witch Trials are some of Arthur Miller's writings. Born in Harlem, New York City, Arthur Miller was an American playwright and essayist. During the 1940s, 50s, and early 60s, Miller was in the public eye while he was married to Marilyn Monroe. As a child, his father was illiterate, but wealthy, and he had to work to pay for his college. Family conflicts between father and son often occur during Miller's work so his family experiences affected his works. Arthur Miller's works have influenced modern drama by expressing the value of good and noble truths. These characteristics of his work have great importance on modern drama.

    Jeff Warner Per. 3

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  6. Arthur Miller was born in Harlem New York City and lived with his family. They moved to a six-storey building between Lenox and fifth avenue. Many of Arthurs plays relate to families that are destroyed by false values. Arthur Miller was awarded with the title of "Outstanding Father of the Year" which led to his success of being a famous writter. Miller was also very involved in politics all throughout his life.

    Kaitlin Pelazza- p. 5

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  7. Arthur Miller’s personal life is often reflected in his writings. His family’s garment manufacturing business failed during the Great Depression when he was a young child, leaving his dad penniless. The Great Depression and World War II greatly influenced Miler’s writing. His first work, “The Man Who Had All the Luck” depicted the dissatisfaction of a seemingly successful man. This theme recurs in Miller’s other works, such as “Death of a Salesman”. These plays portray the hardships faced by white working class Americans. McCarthyism and the accusation of alleged Communists during the post World War II era fueled the writing of “The Crucible” which focuses on the Salem witch trial of Puritan America. Arthur Miller has been quoted as saying “whoever is writing in the United States is using the American Dream as an ironical pole of his story. People elsewhere tend to accept, to a far greater degree anyway, that the conditions of life are hostile to man's pretensions.” These words essentially encapsulate his writing style and general themes. Critics continue to view him as a highly influential writer who did not shy away from writing about the reality, regardless of the harshness it may have entailed.

    Delaram
    Period 5

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  8. Arthur Miller was an American Playwright from Harlem, New York. He was received the Pulitzer Prize for drama and was married to Marilyn Monroe. Some of his popular works include “The Crucible”,” All My Sons” and “After the Fall”. His works often focus on how families are ruined by false values. This relates to Thoreau because he emphasizes how the American people value material things instead of family matters or nature. This false sense of value is what ultimately brings down the family in Arthur Miller’s plays. Critics say “After the Fall” related too closely to the suicide of his wife, Marilyn Monroe. Arthur Miller’s works express importance of modern drama by emphasizing what our true values should be and teach us that the “American Dream” shouldn’t be growing up to be rich or famous.
    -Jerry G. P5

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  9. Arthur Miller favors tragic stories as opposed to the cliche "happy ever after" stories. He started writing plays when he was a student attending the university of Michigan and they included The Man Who Had All the Luck and All My Sons which recieved the Drama Critics' Circle Award. His Death of a Salesman won a Pulitzer Prize also. He grew up in a difficulut environment due to the Depression, in which his fathers buisness failed. Perhaps this is why he favors tragedies, because his own life must have been somewhat tragic at times so he knows what is really tragic in life. He quotes "I think the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing-his sense of personal dignity." Arthur Miller seems to me like he was very well educated and that he enjoys writing his plays very much. From looking at his past i also believe he is a very hard worker because he had many jobs of all different kinds that i would assume helped payed for his education.

    Lucy

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  10. Arthur Miller wrote many plays which tried to bring about more social awareness. He wrote a tragedy of a man who was destroyed by his own values, which were the values of society at the time. He also very frequently incorporated a tragic hero in his stories as a common man. He wrote about both social and political ideas of his. Two of his most influential and successful plays include "Death of a Salesman" and "The Crucible." He was very famous during his time and was one of the most successful American playwrights. Something that helped him achieve his celebrity status was probably the fact that he was married to Marilyn Monroe. His experiences are reflected in his writings because in some of his writings he was trying to show society that its ideals were not good and that it should reconsider what is important in life. Something like loyalty is what he would advocate for society to add into its morals. This relates to his life because he refused to turn people in to the government because he was loyal to them and didn't believe that they should be persecuted for their actions. Some of his critics say that early in his career he let his political philosophy take up too much of his writings. However, he is generally considered a great playwright who has written numerous plays with important messages.
    -Buddy P. 5

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  11. Arthur Miller was born in New York City in 1915. His father lost his job during The Great Depression which forced them to move to a smaller home in Brooklyn, NY. He began writing plays as a Student at University of Michigan. He wrote many plays such as; All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, A View From the Bridge, An Incident at Vichy and The Man Who Had All the Luck. There are many more. His plays were about creating characters that had conflicts, personal and social responsibility, the outcome of past actions, and the factors of guilt and hope. His experiences in hi life are represented in his plays because he grew up during the depression when people went through hard times financially and being able to keep their jobs. He was married 3 times. To Mary Grace Slattery in 1940, Marilyn Monroe in 1956, and Inge Morath in 1962. He had a daughter named Rebecca. He won many medals for his work.

    -Kendra, period 3

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