Ron's Responses in WyzAnt Answers

Start with a topic that you have a strong opinion and be daring with your choice. As with anything written, it is only as "good" as the reader finds "interesting." Mind you, "interesting" can include being politically incorrect, abrasive, and offensive as well as being in line with the popular opinion spun out into the interweb. Then focus your thesis on the opposing argument. Do the research to convince yourself (or at least make a valid, believable theory) that the opinion based in fact in which you are writing is the one and only intelligent conclusion one can surmise. Write about something bold and spectacular and have a long list on your bibliography page. You might think that Abraham Lincoln was the best President ever so you could write the argument that he was the worst. You might believe that Elvis Presley was and is the undisputed King of Rock and Roll, so there is a counter point that might lead to the conclusion that he stole every song from Southern Black culture and was only popular because he was white. I'm not trying to offend, but how many of us have read or written papers that were dull or were just written regurgitation of the same old crap. Be bold, daring, different, and challenging. 

The American Dream, as depicted in Death of a Salesman, is an abstract concept invented by the individual chasing it. The American Dream is different for everybody and can be shattered just as quick as Biff's admiration of his father when he catches Willy with another woman. Willy's American Dream was to be well liked and he passed that on to his children. But then reality sets in and Biff goes off (after disillusionment of the dream he was sold by his father) to fulfill his American Dream of peace of mind found through hard work. Happy, on the other hand, buys into what his father was selling him and decides to fill his American dream with the hedonistic traits that were just under Willy's surface. Willy was ever trying to convince himself that he was the greatest salesman and was "well liked" in which he thought was respect. After Willy's death, happy vows to be better than his father was, but seems doomed at the end of the play to continue living the lies of the American Dream that were instilled in him by his father.