Act I  Part 1 | Part II | Part III  | Part IV | Part V |Enrichment  Activities | Test |

New Vocabulary in Act One:

Basic: heathen / conjure/ faction/ abomination/ gibberish/ deference/ naught/ dwindling/ abyss/ intimation/ formidable/ trepidation/ titillate/ notorious/ prodigious/ fathom/ defamation/ anarchy/ avidly/ licentious/ blanched/ evade/ subservient/ clamor/ calumny/ ingratiating/

Advanced: diabolism/ cosmology / inculcation / succubi / abrogation / congerie / scourge/ propitiation / klatch/ laxity / lascivious / yeomanry / ecclesiast / exaltation / exude /

Find out the definitions of the new words

Part I

Aim: What breeds the witch-hunt as stated in the Overture, Act I ,according to the narrator ?

Motivational Activity ( Do Now):

A. Fear plays an important role in the play you are about to read. Make a two-column chart of examples of people acting from fears that are justified and fears that are irrational. Are people's fear based more on fact or on rumor?

B. What events or emotions/motives) can lead people to act irrationally?

Procedure:

  1. Read aloud the Overture of the play in Act One.
  2. Each student read out one line or a phrase that is important to him/her from the selection.
  3. Select one quote put it down in your notebook and respond to it. Please read the Double-Entry Journal for more information.
  4. Put your quote and response in the Discussion Forum.
  5. Respond at least to two other students' responses to their quotes.
  6. List the reasons why witch-hunt can take place in Salem.

Homework: You have two choices to do your homework-

1. Organize the listed reasons and write in a coherent manner explaining why the ground for witch-hunt is ready.

2. Pretend to be a resident in the 1692 Salem. Describe the life you live and the people you neighbor with. You may use any of the following forms to give such an account- diary, a letter, a monologue, a dialogue( creating a scene), a narrative poem, an excerpt of your memoir, etc. You may write from the point view of a child, or a patrol, or a priest, or the magistrate, etc.

Part II

Aim: Why can we regard Parris and Thomas Putman as the typical Salem Puritans in 1692?

Motivational Activity:

Share our writing from the point of view of a Salem resident in the Discussion Forum. We shall meet all sorts of typical Salem people  from your descriptions.

Do  Now:

In Act I, on page 9, when Parris speaks to Susanna,"...There be no unnatural cause here... Let him look to medicine...", what is he afraid of?

From page 10 to page 12, find more speeches by Parris that show he is an egotistic person, who is hungry for power and his social establishment. Remember in drama, characters are portrayed through their speeches and not told by the playwright.

More examples-

"Then why can she not move herself since midnight?  This child is desperate!  Abigail lowers her eyes.  It must come out--my enemies will bring it out.  Let me know what you done there.  Abigail, do  you understand that I have many enemies?"

"And I pray you feel the ministry and perhaps your cousin's life.  Whatever abomination you have done, give me all of it now, for I dare not be taken unaware when I go before them down there."

"Abigail, I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character.  I have given you a home, child, I have put clothes upon your back--now give me upright answer. Your name in the town--it is entirely white, is it not?"

Procedure:

Read Act I ( From "Reverend is praying now..." to " Mercy: "I'd fear no more, Goody Putnam. It was a grand sneeze..." and discuss the following questions:( If you still have questions after our discussion, please go to our Discussion Form and Post a Question)

  1. Why has Reverend Parris sent for a doctor as the play begins?
  2. What advice does the doctor send back?
  3. What does Parris question his niece Abigail about?
  4. What is Parris’ main concern?
  5. Did Abigail tell the truth in the beginning?
  6. Did Parris accept it? Why not?
  7. What did Parris see in the woods the previous night?
  8. What has Elizabeth Proctor said about Abigail? How did Abigail describe Elizabeth Proctor?
  9. Why does Abigail say she was dismissed by the Proctors?
  10. What rumors have circulated the town about Betty Parris? What proof later occurs that "proves" that she is a witch?
  11. Why did Mrs. Putnam contact Tituba?
  12. Read the narrator's description and explain what kind man Mr. Putnam is  and why he is not liked by the Salem residents.

Thomas Putnam

13. In small groups of three, students discuss the main things that have been discussed in the beginning part of Act I, such as the conflict, Parris, Putnam, Abigail, and the strange behavior of Betty and Ruth.

14. Share in class anything important or interesting (heighlights) each group has discovered about the scene.

Homework:

Be Mr. Putnam and give account why he was at Parris house and what he had observed was going on in Salem. His comments on Salem people.

Part III

Aim: What  kind of man is John Proctor? What's his relationship with Abigail as conveyed in their dialogue?

Do Now:

Read the description of John Proctor on Page 20 and make a list of words that directly describe his personality. Make a prediction how Proctor would act in the witch-hunt.

Motivational Activity:

Share in class the description of John Proctor and what students think Proctor will do or say in the witch-hunt event.

Procedure:

Activity 1: Read Act I (From Parris:" Will you leave me now, Thomas? I'd pray a while alone." to "Putnam:" I'll have my man on you, Corey! I'll clap  awrit on you!" (page 32)

In class, read aloud the dialogue among the girls-Abigail, Betty, Mercy, and Mary Warren in Act One (Pages 18-20) and discuss in pairs the anwer to the following questions:

Activity 2: Read aloud the dialogue between John Proctor and Abigail (Pages21" Gah! I'd almost forgot how strong you are , John Proctor!" to page 24 "...John, Pity me, pity me" and in pairs discuss and write down the answers to the following questions:

Activity 3: Work in pairs to answer the questions based on the two scenes.

Activity 4: Class discussion and sharing of the same questions.

Use the following questions to guide the student's independent reading for the other scenes:

  1. Who does Abigail accuse of conjuring spirits at this point?
  2. What does Betty Parris reveal about what happened in the woods?

Notes on John Proctor

Homework:

Make a double-entry journal :

Quotes

Responses
1. (from the description of John Proctor)
2. (from the dialogue between Abigail and Proctor)

Part IV

Aim: 1.What's John Proctor's attitude toward Parris? Why?
        2. Why is Reverend Hale in Salem?

Do Now:

Share your homework in pairs about the character descriptions and anything else you know about the play such as the the rivals between the Putnams and the Nurses( narration on page 26), conflicts and mood.

Motivational Activity:

Share in class your knowledge of the play so the student who was absent the day before can catch up.

Procedures:

Activity 1(Guided Reading): Read the narration on page 26. Discuss and provide an written answer to:

Activity 2: Read the scene where John Proctor confronted Parris and expressed openly his dislike of him( from page 27 "I think she will wake in time...""I'll clap a writ on you" on page 32. Discuss and provide an written answer to:

Activity 3: Share in class the answer to the questions above.

Notes on identifying character's traits:

Homework: Make a diagram that indicates all the characters and the relationships among them.

Part V

Aim:

  1. Who is John Hale? Why is he here in Salem?
  2. Why does Abigail start accusing people at this point?

Do Now:

Motivational Activity: Share the examples aloud in class.

Procedure:

Activity 1: Read from "Hale: Pray you, someone take these!" to the end of Act One Abigail: I saw Goody Booth with the Devil!" and discuss the following questions-

  1. What does Giles Corey reveal to Reverend Hale?
  2. When Abigail is questioned by Reverend Hale, who does she blame? What proof does she offer?
  3. What ultimatum is Tituba given?
  4. Who does Tituba accuse of being a witch?
  5. Why does Abigail start accusing people at this point?
  6. Why does Betty Parris start accusing people?

Activity 2: Write a Summary of Act I

1. List the conflicts that are introduced in Act I. Which do you think is the major conflict? Give reasons for your answers.

2. List the major characters introduced in Act I. Identify each and write a one sentence description of his or her personality.

Homework:

 1.Be Abigail and in your Diary explain why you start accusing people at this point.

Or

2. Be Reverend Hale and describe what you have seen what is happening in Salem.

Enrichment Activities:

  1. Who is John Smith? What role did he play in the American history? Visit the site to explore .
  2. Appreciate the poem " To My Dear and Loving Husband" written by Anne Bradstreet who lived during the colonial puritan period. Discuss the meter( meter is the repetition of a regular rhythmic unit), the rhyme scheme used. Identify an example of Couplet of Heroic Couplet. in a line of poetry.
  3. Comment on the view of the child evident in The New England Primer. How is a dutiful, good child supposed to behave? Explain how these short sayings might function as a memory device. Can you think of anything similar in modern American culture?

Test

Part I. Dictation

Part II. Short-Answer Questions

  1. Under what circumstances did the witch-hunt occur in Salem in 1692?
  2. Use five words to describe Puritanical Salem in 1692.
  3. Name the two types of conflicts emerging in Act One.
  4. Describe in details one of the conflicts (such as between whom, the nature of the conflict, etc.)
  5. What is the main plot as developed in Act I?
  6. Describe one of the subplots in Act One.
  7. What is theme conveyed and how is it expressed?
  8. Name three main characters encountered. Describe in details one of them.
  9. Name three literary elements/techniques used in Act I.
  10. What type of play is The Crucible?

Part III. Bonus Questions Lucifer as the arch-fend, but

" Our difficulty in believing the- for the want of a better word- political inspiration of the Devil is due in great part to the fact that he is called up and damned not only by our social antagonists but by our own side, whatever it may be. The Catholic Church, through its Inquisition, is famous for cultivating Lucifer as the arch-fiend, but the Church's enemies relied no less upon the Old Boy to keep the human mind enthralled. Luther was himself accused of alliance with Hell, he in turn accused his enemies."

" Normally the actions and deeds of a man were all the society felt comfortable in judging. The secret intent of an action was left to the minister, priests, and rabbis to deal with. When diabolism rises, however, actions are the least important manifests of the true nature of a man. The Devil, as Reverend Hale said, is a wily one, and, until an hour before he fell, even God thought him beautiful in heaven."

" From all accounts there are no more puritanical mores in the world that those enforced by the Communists in Russia, where women's fashions, for instance, are prudent and all-covering as an American Baptist would desire. The divorce laws lay a tremendous responsibility on the father for the care of his children. Even the laxity of divorce regulations in the early years of the revolution was undoubtedly a revulsion from the 19th century Victorian immobility of marriage and the consequent hypocrisy that developed from it. If for no other reasons, a state so powerful, so jealous of the uniformity of its citizens, cannot long tolerate the atomization of the family. And yet in American eye at least, there remain the conviction that the Russian attitude toward women is lascivious. It is the Devil working again..."

1 2.