Unit 4 - Strd 2, KWL with the Crucible - CLDE 5820
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Philosophy
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Feb 20, 2024
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The Crucible - Act II
Character traits (AKA characterization) is often developed and demonstrated through dialogue and actions. In The Crucible
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
, the evolving relationship between John and Elizabeth Proctor is important to the plot, but Elizabeth Proctor is not introduced to the audience until Act II. K-W-L Questions
K What do readers already know about the relationship between John and Elizabeth? W What questions do you have? What do you expect their relationship to be like? L After reading Act II, what did you learn about their relationship based on what they say and how they interact?
Guiding Questions for Discussion:
1.
Dialogue often reveals a character’s nature (characterization). Stage direction often reveals more internal motives. John and Elizabeth are married. How would you describe them as a married couple (loving, estranged, hostile, etc.)? Support and explain your answer using specific evidence from the text. 2.
Although all of Act I takes place in a single day, it has been eight days since the girls accused several people of witchcraft. In Act I, Marry Warren was a servant in the Proctor household. When Mr. Proctor commanded her to go home, she did so meekly. She behaves very differently now. Make textual connections. What has changed in Mary Warren’s life that has made her behavior change so drastically? Support and explain answers using specific evidence from the text. 3.
Do the Proctors believe there is witchcraft hurting people in Salem? Support and explain your answer using specific evidence from the text.
4.
Mr. Proctor has some essential information for the court. What does he know? What reason is there – according to Mr. Proctor – for him to hesitate to tell what he knows? Think critically; Mr. Proctor has another reason to hesitate. What other possible reason may cause Mr. Proctor to not want to go to the court and publically
tell official court judges what he knows? 5.
Mary Warren returns from court. She says she is sick, and she gives Mrs. Proctor a small gift, and she says that “We must all love each other now” (line 266). Later she breaks down and cries. This is not a physical illness, but something is troubling Mary Warren mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. Interpret. What is she feeling and why? Support and explain your answer.
6.
Two women have been convicted (found guilty) of witchcraft. Who will be hanged and who will be put in jail? Both of these people were accused at the same time and both were accused of the same crime. Why do they get different sentences? 7.
Two women have both been convicted of witchcraft; both women are social outcasts. One is poor and homeless; one is a drunkard. Like the slave, Tituba, they are easy targets because they are on the bottom rung of society. Think of the
culture in which you live and the culture of The Crucible
; in any society why is it easier to accuse and convict someone in a lower social or financial position? Support and explain your answer.
8.
Mary Warren says she saved someone’s life, but she also makes an indirect threat.
Who is she threatening, and in what way does she try to intimate that she can / will
cause or create a perilous situation?
9.
Elizabeth is finally able to convince John to do something about the witch trials. After Hale tells them that Elizabeth has been accused in court, who does she want John to go see, and why does she want John to speak to this person?
10.
Reverend Hale shows up. What is he there to do?
11.
Hale’s questioning gets more intense. Do you think Hale believes and understands all of John Proctor’s excuses / explanations, or does Hale suspect Mr. and Mrs. Proctor are up to evil? Support and explain your answer. 12.
Proctor tells Hale something about “the children’s sickness.” Hale believes he has irrefutable evidence of witch craft. What makes him believe the accusations of witchcraft have been proven? How does Proctor explain that this evidence is far from reliable? 13.
Hale’s words do not clearly indicate if he believes what Proctor has reluctantly told him. This is why stage directions and an author’s notes are so important. Quote the words and cite the exact line numbers that clearly indicate whether Hale is open to believing what Proctor has just told him or not. 14.
Make a prediction, will Hale continue believing in the witch trails, or will he listen to Proctor and reconsider? Support and explain your answer. 15.
The Proctors and Hale all learn that two more women have been jailed. Who? How was the arrest of these two women respectively each foreshadowed? 16.
Explain: What have each of these women been accused of and how it is related to witchcraft?
17.
Proctor witnesses another arrest. Who is Cheever there to arrest, and how is
this arrest related to a poppet (doll)? 18.
Proctor explains the root / motivation for the accusations of witchcraft. He says “vengeance is walking Salem” (line 1137-8). What kind of figurative language
(metaphor, hyperbole, or personification, simile) is this? Interpret: what does John Proctor mean?
19.
Hale suggests a way out, meaning a way to show that the accusations are false. Proctor believes that there are ulterior and malicious motives. What does Hale ask John to do in order to explain keep such an injustice from being done? Interpret Hale’s request on line 1216-34.
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20.
Through all of the calamity of the arrest and carrying out of the warrants, Reverend Hale believes that the trials must be followed through; he doesn’t believe an innocent person will be found guilty. “Though our hearts break, we cannot flinch; these are new times, sir. There is a misty plot afoot so subtle […] I have seen too many frightful proofs in court – the Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points!” (line 907-16). Later he hears proof regarding the poppet and the woman accused of trying to murder Abigail Williams. Why is he so sure the court will administer proper justice and not sentence innocent people? Make a prediction. Will he continue to believe in witches, or will he realize there is lying going on by some in the court? Why or why
not? Support and explain your answer.