all my sons – act i

in pairs or small groups, answer as many of these questions as you can. be

sure to include the names of your group members.

in which country, in which month, in which period does the action

of the play occur?

briefly describe the kind of man keller is (education, outlook,

etc.)

how does mother interpret the incident of the tree?

what do we know of the trial? who was involved? when did it take

place? who was sent to prison? what happened to them? in

what way did this affect everybody?

in which instances have we seen deception so far? list the names

of the characters who did the “deceiving”, who they deceived

and what the deception was about.

newspapers are mentioned often in act i. what is the role that

they play?

why does bert come to the kellers’ house? for what purpose did
 miller include him in the play?

chris’ speech in the car to ann is central to understanding chris

and the issues of the play. how does chris feel about what

happened to him in the war? what do we learn about chris’

character and values from what he says about the war? why

didn’t chris tell ann about his feelings towards her sooner?

money is one of the themes that comes up in the play. in what

different ways do different characters relate to money? list

the characters’ names and their opinions. (list at least 2

characters.)

mother is reluctant to accept larry’s death. she says many things

that indicate that she has made larry’s death symbolic of some

even greater tragedy. find 2 examples.

find 2 examples of dramatic irony.