Summary+Pages+Lindsay

=Summary #1= = =

(graded already in paper.)
Title of Article: Babylonian confusion and biblical inversion in Miller's The Crucible Title of the Article: **Arthur Miller's Words and Deeds.** (11 pages) Bibliography:
 * Arthur Miller's Words and Deeds**-Magazine article by Paul Roazen; Queen's Quarterly, Vol. 111, Fall 2004

“Arthur Miller’s Words and Deeds” mention the correlation between life and work of Arthur Miller. It discusses why Miller’s plays have been as popular as they’ve been hotly debated. The author of this article as a matter of fact focuses a lot on award-winning Martin Gottfried’s newest biography of Arthur Miller: __His Life and Works__. Drawing from riches to rags childhood, Miller works with autobiographical elements in his literature. Roazen refers to the biography and mentions that Gottfried explores many of those elements through this fascinating and insightful biography. At one point, Gottfried quotes Miller's sister, Joan, as saying, "Arthur carries scars from that time. It doesn't take a great observer to notice that. It is a memory, in his nerves, and in his muscles, that he just can't get rid of. Whatever tragedies he experienced in is own life, Miller certainly was able to transform many of those experiences into triumph in the power of his works of literature. As Gottfried says, "there are... more than theatrical reasons for telling his life story. Arthur Miller became a singular and representative figure of his era." One thing that was interesting was the fact that Arthur Miller was married four times: three of gentiles, one was Marilyn Monroe. As Miller got married to Marilyn Monroe, he was able to avoid political conflicts because the government thought it was too embarrassing to punish a hot celebrity’s husband. For Miller "sanity depends on facing the truth, and there is always hope, for the future is humankind's to make; indeed, making a better future is the obligation of being alive." Roazen says that Miller’s life is very much reflected on his works: “the plays reveal the Miller’s childhood.” However, that is not always the case. Although Miller’s family encountered downfall in their circumstanced during the Great Depression, and his father failed in his business, Miller said that he was optimistic about his situation and stood up for it. Nevertheless, in __Death of the Salesman__, when Willy commits suicide through a purposeful accident, there is no evidence that Willy’s death helped his family’s situation to better. In Miller’s case-in real life-his father’s failure definitely incited him to work harder and achieve success. Nonetheless, looking at it from another point of view, Miller’s works in general do tend to reveal his own life, which makes it more interesting for the readers when they know this in advance. So Miller's controversial life and his classic works will certainly not soon be forgotten in the pages of literary history.

=Summary #2=

Title of Article: Babylonian confusion and biblical inversion in Miller's The Crucible Number of pages: 9 Summary about __The Crucible__ Bibliography: (Article from Questia.com) Ardolino, Frank. "Babylonian Confusion and Biblical Inversion in Miller's the Crucible." //Journal of Evolutionary Psychology// (2003): 64+. //Questia//. Web. 7 Feb. 2010.

Frank Ardolino is practically summarizing what critics say about //The Crucible.// He mentions that some critics say that the play is contrived, mechanical and woodened and has predictable themes. However, he also comments what other critics say: “The crucible qualifies as a Greek tragedy” because it involves Proctor’s overcoming of guilt and Abby’s social conscience. Ardonlino states that Proctor’s heroism is contrasted with the growth of Abby’s evil madness. But more importantly the article concentrates on how Miller is represented for McCarthyism: : ”the cause of moral and political disintegration through the creation of hysteria and paranoia.” Moreover, he comments that the hysteria generated by the released irrationality has been related to the language Miller uses to delineate character and to indicate the perversion of the political, legal, social, and moral dimensions of Salem. I found it interesting how Ardonlino mentioned that the critics do not recognize or demonstrate Miller’s use of biblical references and motifs in the Crucible. And I do not agree with this because in the play thre is a scene where Abby "rises, staring as though inspired and cries out,” which practically shows the perversion of Pentecost. What I also found interesting was how Ardonlino said that Miller uses the “topos of Babel/Babylon to mark Abby and her followers as the creators of Babylon confusion” in the form of hysterical and false accusations. Their "babbling" spectacles influence the deluded authorities to kill innocent people, who are in fact the representatives of a true Christianity based on the simple and calm telling of the truth.

I agree. The Babylonian references ARE interesting. Also good to mention the Pentecost. The question is. . . does Miller belong to a sect that knows about the Pentecost? Overall, this seems an uninspiring source except about the Babylon reference. Does this fit in terms of your other book?

Summary #3
Number of pages : 24 Summary: Arthur Miller Title of Article: “Arthur Miller, an American Playwright Bibliography: Walsh, David. "Arthur Miller, an American playwright." //World Socialist Web Site//. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. .

David Walsh comments on Arthur Miller’s plays and work during his lifetime. Mainly, he criticizes that Miller’s plays and he himself maintained a critical attitude toward American society till his death. He famously opposed the Vietnam War. His works, according to Walsh, had severed limitations and failed as an artist. The critic strongly states that Miller should not be considered as one of the great playwrights in Americasince his dramas no longer is praiseworthy. Moreover, he maintains that Miller’s work exposed the flaws in the fabric of the American dream and was just merely drawn from Great Depression—so it does not have depth into it. There were couple of things that I found interesting in this article. I already knew the fact that Miller was greatly impacted from the Great Depression due to the downfall of economy and reduced circumstances in his family. However, I did not know that Miller was propelled to the left and admired USSR. “He later recalled that students ‘connected the Soviets with socialism and socialism’.” Moreover, the fact that Walsh states that the plays lack spontaneity and inspiration and that the dramatic mechanisms are rather obvious is interesting. I do agree that Miller’s works can be a little dreary and dull due to lack of spontaneity and inartistic work. But I think this is because the theme just can’t involve much action that would draw the audience’s attention at once. However, I simply cannot agree to his critical statement: “sentimental tribute to “Everyman” Willy Loman, is something of a pseudo-tragedy that does not look terribly deeply at the lower middle class “dream of success” or any other aspect of American life.” Willy Loman in the play is a crucial character that shows the typical life of lower-middle class life and it’s portrayed throughout the play. When he feels lost and tries to make his sons achieve what he has not been able to, we as the audience know that that’s what fathers of the lower-middle class are like. Miller did not write a shallow play or a character. Walsh should not be so critical about every single thing about Miller.

Nice job catching the main point. However, I know this is a summary, but you really do need a couple more details for a "summary" of this article. 7/10