1. The Crucible

2. Journal Explain whether you agree with the following statements.
People are generally good by nature.
People will do the right thing in difficult times.
I will do the right thing when it is dangerously unpopular

3. Question What is a crucible?
1. a container of metal or refractory material employed for heating substances to high temperatures.
2. Metallurgy . a hollow area at the bottom of a furnace in which the metal collects.
3. a severe, searching test or trial.

4. Act 1 Notes How are we supposed to feel about Parris?
What do we learn about the adult’s views of the children of Salem? Is it based on anything associated with reality?
What did you learn about life in Salem at this time?

5. Analyzing the People
“Simply, it was this: for good purposes, even high purposes, the people of Salem developed a theocracy, a combine of state and religious power whose function was to keep the community together, and to prevent any kind of disunity that might open it to destruction by material or ideological enemies…The witch-hunt was a perverse manifestation of the panic which set in among all classes when the balance began to turn toward greater individual freedom.”
Using this quote as a guide, what does it reveal the true reason for the witch-hunt was and what were the leaders of Salem trying to do?

6. Act one notes
It has been said that you can tell a lot about a person by how they treat those beneath them, what does the opening lines between Parris and Tutuba reveal about Parris?
What are Abigail and Parris afraid of? What does it say about their character?
What is Parris more upset over: his daughter’s health or his career? What does it say about his character?
Reread Abigail’s statement and write down the words she uses to describe Goody Proctor then tell me what the use of those words tells us.

7. Act One Continued
What does Mrs. Puttnam reveal about the night the strange events started?
What does Betty reveal as the true purpose of the witchcraft that night?
What did we learn specifically from the scene with John and Abigail?

8. Act One Conclusion
What does Betty reveal as the true purpose of the witchcraft that night?
What did we learn specifically from the scene with John and Abigail?
How are the Putnam’s and the Nurse’s different from one another? What do they argue about?
What sorts of things does Parris want as part of his role as their pastor? How are these demands taken by Giles and Proctor?
When Reverend Hale arrives, what information does he pull out of Abigail? What does Abigail add to the story when Tutuba arrives?
When does Tutuba say that Sara Good and Goody Osborn are witches, how are she and the other girls treated by the adults?

9. Act Two Analysis (part one)
What happened between acts one and two? What is the punishment for the accused witches if they do not confess?
What would you do and why?
Explain the significance of this quote. What does it show, what were the two arguing about right up before it, and what does Elizabeth mean by it?
Proctor – “Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not.”
Elizabeth - “I do not judge you. The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you. I never thought you but a good man, John, only somewhat bewildered.”
In order to bring down Abigail, what must he do that he is unwilling to do? Why is he unwilling to do it?
What information does Mary reveal happened in the court that day. Who is the accuser?
When Hale arrives what test does he put Proctor to? What does Proctor forget? What does this slip of knowledge reveal about his character?
What does this quote from Hale reveal about the Puritan ethic?
“Theology, sir, is a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small.”

10. Act Two Analysis (part two)
When Hale arrives what test does he put Proctor to? What does Proctor forget? What does this slip of knowledge reveal about his character?
How does Hale respond when Proctor informs him about the conversation with Abigail about witchcraft?
What charges are brought against Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey?
Looking deeper at the charges, what do you think the real motivations are and why were they really leveled against these two women?
What evidence is brought against Elizabeth, how is it refuted, what is the result?
How has Hale changed from Act one to Act two? What precipitated that change?
Based on everything we have seen, write an analytical explanation that reveals what the theme of hysteria is doing in the play.

11. Act 2 Questions (abridged)
What happened between acts one and two? What is the punishment for the accused witches if they do not confess?
What would you do and why?
When Hale arrives what test does he put Proctor to? What does Proctor forget? What does this slip of knowledge reveal about his character?
What does this quote from Hale reveal about the Puritan ethic?
“Theology, sir, is a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small.”
How does Hale respond when Proctor informs him about the conversation with Abigail about witchcraft?
What charges are brought against Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey?
Looking deeper at the charges, what do you think the real motivations are and why were they really leveled against these two women?

12. Act 3 Analysis (day one)
Contrast Proctor, Giles, and Francis to Parris, Hawthorne and Danforth for:
authority, power, reason, and motivation.
In an effort to gain power, what do Hawthorne and Danforth do to Proctor and what does it reveal about their characters?
Why does Parris fight so hard agianst Proctor?
In what way does Proctor complicate things for the village? What does the Judges reaction tell us that a theme is being created?
What happens when Marry Warren takes the stand? What happens to her at the end of the scene?
Why does Proctor reveal his affair with Abigail, what is the result of the reveal, what theme becomes clear from it?
What is the motivation of Abigail and her troop of accusers?

13. Character Map Day
Today, you will be creating a character connection poster where you draw connections between each of the characters below. You also need to explain what the connection is between each character using a color coded key and a short description of how they are connected.
Abigail
John
Elizabeth
Mary
The Putnam’s
Parris
Rebecca Nurse
Giles Corey
Reverend Hale
Danforth

15. Act 4 Analysis (part one)
What do the conversations between Tituba and Sara Good reveal about the witchcraft trials. (i.e. how has justice been not served correctly?)
What physical changes have Parris and Proctor gone through? What does each change signify?
What have been some of the unforeseen consequences of the witch trial?
What has happened to Abigail and why do you think she did what she did?
Why won’t the judges declare everyone innocent? Why is he so committed to being wrong?

16. Act 4 Analysis (part 2)
Why did Giles allow himself to be tortured to death by pressing?
Why does Proctor go through the process of confessing to consorting with the devil only to refute it when they want to nail his signature on the door?
In what way is Proctor redeemed through the experience?
At first Proctor was ________ through his ______ but the act of _________ allows him to ______________.
Perhaps the most significant theme in this play is that of reputation. Write an statement of theme that

17. Why does Proctor confess himself a witch?
When Proctor eventually confesses of consorting with the devil, why does he refuse to give any names other than his own?