Introduction to The Crucible

1. Introduction to The Crucible

2. False Memory Test Based on the experiment shown in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfhIuaD183I: You will need a piece of scratch paper for this activity. A list of words will be shown and read aloud to you. You will then have one minute to write down as many of the words as you can possibly remember.

3. Test 1: Sour Nice Candy Honey Sugar Soda Bitter Chocolate Good Heart Taste Cake Tooth Tart Pie

4. Try again. Test 2: Mad Wrath Fear Happy Hate Fight Rage Hatred Temper Mean Fury Calm Ire Emotion Enrage

5. Results • How many of you think you did better on the second test than the first test? • Look at your first list. Raise your hand if you wrote down the word sweet. • Look at your second list. Raise your hand if you wrote down the word anger or angry. • If you raised your hand either time, you have experienced a false memory; those words were not on either list. • “There is no correlation between the subjective feeling of certainty one has about a memory and the memory’s accuracy.”

6. Talk amongst yourselves. How accurate was your memory? Have you ever seen or read anything in the news about false eyewitness testimony or unjust convictions? What do you know about the Salem witch trials and Puritan culture? What do you know (or not know) about McCarthyism?

7. Transition… Last six weeks our focus was on Transcendentalists who (as you will remember) were very focused on promoting self-knowledge, self-awareness, and individuality. They also believed in the ideal that everyone is generally good and will do the right thing… … and now we’re taking a complete 180. This unit deals with the opposite trait of groupthink. Groupthink is: the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility. Defined by a Psychology website: “Groupthink, a term coined by social psychologist Irving Janis (1972), occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of “mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment” (p. 9).  Groups affected by groupthink ignore alternatives and tend to take irrational actions that dehumanize other groups.  A group is especially vulnerable to groupthink when its members are similar in background, when the group is insulated from outside opinions, and when there are no clear rules for decision making.” "What Is Groupthink." What Is Groupthink. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2013.

8. Who was Arthur Miller? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulT8phOxSWU • American playwright • Best known for Death of a Salesman and The Crucible • Colorful public life • Rocky marriage to Marilyn Monroe • Refused to cooperate with the House of Un-American Activities Committee

9. A Brief History Colonial Massachusetts, 1692—1693 More than 200 people accused of practicing witchcraft; 20 executed (19 hanged; 1 pressed to death) http://www.history.com/shows/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us/videos/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us-salem-witch-trials • Salem was a struggling town at this time. • Colonists displaced by war (William & Mary vs. France, 1689) – many went to Salem Village • This strained Salem’s resources, worsening rivalries between wealthy families and those who still depended on agriculture • Controversy over Salem’s minister, Rev. Samuel Parris, whose rigid ways and greedy nature caused many to dislike him • The Puritan villagers believed all the quarreling was the work of the Devil.

10. Accusations • January 1692: Rev. Parris’s daughter Elizabeth, 9, and niece Abigail Williams, 11, begin having “fits” • Screaming, throwing things, making strange sounds, contorting themselves into strange positions • February 29: under pressure from town magistrates, the girls blame their fits on three women • Tituba (Parris family’s Caribbean slave) • Sarah Goode (homeless beggar) • Sarah Osborne (poor, elderly woman) • Paranoia leads to a stream of accusations

11. 10 Tests for Guilt at the Salem Witch Trials Spectral evidence (testimony of dreams and visions) Eyewitness testimony Witch cake Witch’s teat (any kind of mole or unusual blemish) Artifacts (dolls; ointments; books) Lord’s Prayer Test (must be uttered without error) Touch test (accused witch’s effect on their “victims”) Forced confession by dunking Pressing (how Giles Corey died) Bound submersion (a floating test) Seems legit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9PY_3E3h2c

12. What is a “witch hunt”? witch hunt: noun a searching out for persecution of persons accused of witchcraft the searching out and deliberate harassment of those (as political opponents) with unpopular views a political campaign launched on the illusion of investigating activities against the state (Merriam-Webster online)

13. What causes a witch hunt? • Insufficient tolerance for human diversity • Prejudice/Bias • Scapegoating • Persecution of unpopular minority groups • Overblown fear of the unfamiliar • Heightened emotions • Irrational fear and paranoia • Self-righteousness and moral judgment • Blind idealism • Moral absolution and a stringent concept of purity/morality • Mob mentality • Hysteria • \ • Corruption of power • Self-absorbed authority figures • Greed

14. Scapegoat Every good witch hunt needs a scapegoat (a person that is blamed by others, regardless of whether they deserve the blame or not). In 1692 Salem, people were accused of witch craft, even though they had done nothing wrong. In the 1950s, people were accused of being Communists even though many weren’t.

15. The Crucible Packet • This will serve as your holy grail to following The Crucible and will also work as your final exam study guide. Do not lose it as you will not get another.

16. The Crucible Starts on page 1037 I need readers for: • Tituba • Rev. Parris • Abigail Williams • Susanna Walcott • Mrs. Ann Putnam • Mr. Thomas Putnam • Mercy Lewis • Betty Parris • Mary Warren • John Proctor • Rebecca Nurse • Giles Corey • Rev. Hale

17. Introduction to Act II The Puritans

18. An Introduction King Henry VIII • Puritans: 16th or 17th century English religious persons seeking a change in style of worship • Puritans sought more “purity” in worship and doctrine than was present in the English Anglican church (created by King Henry VIII). • The Anglican church, at this time, had a large focus on ornate ceremonies and worship services. • “Separating Puritans” came to America in order to practice their own religion freely.

19. Beliefs • Puritans, as the name implies, followed a simple, pure form of religious doctrine and worship. Among their beliefs: • God’s authority over humans • Simplified their lives to remove distractions from religious duty • People were sinful by nature • The Puritans did not hate women, but women were certainly under more scrutiny than men. • Life should be dictated by Scripture • Fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible

20. Puritans believed in a lifestyle full of moderation and devotion to studying the Word of God. They had little time for material possessions and other things that might distract them from their duty. They believed that people were sinful and must always beg for God’s mercy. If you were alive during the Puritan times, do you think you would’ve been a ‘good Puritan’? Explain why or why not.

21. I will need readers for… • p. 1060 • Elizabeth Proctor • John Proctor • Mary Warren • Rev. Hale • Giles Corey • Francis Nurse • Ezekiel Cheever • Marshal Herrick