Junior English
Page 1 Name: ______Period: ___ *Assignment: Close Reading
Historical Background The Red Scare and McCarthyism in the 1950s
Arthur Miller had been fascinated by what he calls the ‘inexplicable darkness’ surrounding the
Salem witchcraft trials ever since he was a college student in the 1930s. He did not write about the event
until the 1940s and ’50s when the Cold War mentality in America caused a purge of liberals and
suspected communist sympathizers.
Chief among those politicians who capitalized on the fear of the ‘red threat’ in America was
Senator Joseph McCarthy. After World War II, Americans realized the Soviet Union was a powerful and
potentially dangerous adversary. This view was seemingly confirmed by the news of Soviet nuclear
capability. Threatened by real and imagined concerns, many Americans viewed this force as a sinister
obstacle to the goal of world peace. Riding the wave of popular opinion, Senator McCarthy created a stir
and rose to national prominence by announcing to the media that he had information proving that high
ranking officers and executives in the United States State Department and in the military were known
members of the Communist Party.
His unsupported allegations gave rise to various congressional investigations designed to expose
the dangerous threats hidden in society. In all walks of life - in film and television, business, education,
and in government - innocent people were unjustly persecuted for their views. Civil liberties were
suspended as many people were fired from their jobs simply because they were suspected of being
communists. No longer was one innocent until proven guilty, which is the foundation of the American
justice system. An accusation by an unknown informant was sufficient to end a person’s career and
severely damage their reputation.
Page 2 Although Senator McCarthy enjoyed a few years of celebrity with his hostile interrogations, he was eventually proven to be a fraud. The ‘red scare’ ended, but not before many innocent people had their lives, families and careers destroyed.
Arthur Miller was struck by the incredible similarities between the hysteria in Salem in 1692 and the hostile life in American society after World War II. He decided to write a play that would explore ‘the mystery of the handing over of conscience,’ which he viewed as ‘the central and informing fact of the time.’ In The Crucible, Miller uses the Salem witch trials to address this problem and to show why it is imperative that one not let his or her ‘name’ be used to hurt others.
Ironically, in 1956, three years after The Crucible opened on the Broadway stage in New York
City, life imitated art. Miller was called in to testify before the House Committee on Un-American
Activities. He courageously refused to say anything that would bring harm upon another individual.
A Note on the Historical Accuracy of This Play
This play is not history in the sense in which the word is used by the academic historian.
Dramatic purposes have sometimes required many characters to be fused into one; the number of girls involved in the “crying out” has been reduced; Abigail Williams’ age has been raised; while there were several judges of almost equal authority, I have symbolized them all in Hawthorne and Danforth.
However, I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history. The fate of each character is exactly that of his historical model, and there is no one in the drama who did not play a similar—and in some cases, exactly the same—role in history.
As for the characters of the persons, little is known about most of them excepting what may be surmised from a few letters, the trial record, certain broadsides written at the time, and references to their conduct in sources of varying reliability. They may therefore be taken as creations of my own, drawn to the best of my ability in conformity I have written for this text.
– Author Miller
Page 3 The Crucible: Vocabulary
Directions: Below is a list of vocabulary words for each act of Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. When defining each word, be sure to continue following the requirements for vocabulary entries.
Requirements for Vocabulary Entries: Look up each word in the dictionary and write the following on the vocabulary sheet provided or on a separate sheet of paper:
a) word c) definition(s)* b) part(s) of speech d) use in an original sentence
* If there are three or fewer definitions, write them all. If there are more than three, be sure to write only the first three. However, it is imperative that the definitions correspond with the way the word is used in the text.
Act III Vocabulary Act I Vocabulary 1. Remorseless pg. 863 1. Dissembling pg. 833 2. Affidavit pg. 864 2. Apprehension/Trepidation pg. 833/846 3. Deposition pg. 865 3. Propriety pg. 833 4. Anonymity pg. 868 4. Abominations pg. 833 5. Immaculate pg. 869 5. Sniveling pg. 834 6. Guile pg. 870 6. Conjure pg. 836 7. Pretense pg. 870 7. Merciless pg. 836 8. Dumfounded pg. 873 8. Subservient pg. 837 9. Menacingly pg. 837 10. Marvel pg. 839 Act IV Vocabulary 11. Prodigious pg. 841 12. Fathom pg. 841 1. Righteous pg. 880 13. Brute pg. 845 2. Adamant pg. 881 14. Licentious pg. 846 3. Gaunt pg. 881 4. Embodiment pg. 882 5. Scaffold pg. 884 Act II Vocabulary 6. Purged pg. 885 7. Incredulous pg. 885 1. Condemnation pg. 851 2. Perplexed pg. 852 3. Indignant pg. 853 4. Contempt pg. 855 5. Afoot pg. 858 6. Bewildered pg. 859 7. Calamity pg. 859
Page 4 8. Evasively pg. 860 9. Blasphemy pg. 861 10. Lechery pg. 862
The Crucible: Character Identification Parris House Francis Nurse Reverend Samuel Parris The Girls Rebecca Nurse Betty Parris Abigail Williams The Court Susanna Walcott Ezekiel Cheever Putnam House Mercy Lewis Marshal Herrick Thomas Putnam Mary Waren Judge Hathorne Ann Putnam Deputy Governor Danforth Ruth Putnam Corey House Giles Corey Others Proctor House Martha Corey Reverend John Hale John Proctor Tituba Elizabeth Proctor Nurse House Sarah Good The Crucible Reading Guide
ACT I: Cornell Notes Directions: Complete Cornell notes in Response Notebook. Response Notebook: Key Points & Themes In Notebook 1. Setting and mood at the start of the story. 2. Forbidden entertainments by Puritans in 1692 Salem. 3. Reason for witch hunts. 4. Reasons for Parris’ uneasiness (beginning of Act I). 5. Actions of Abigail, Betty and the others prior to opening scene. 6. Reasons Parris sends for Reverend Hale in Beverly. 7. Reasons Ann Putnam sent Ruth to Tituba. 8. Abigail Williams and John Proctor relationship. 9. Reasons Putnams resent the Nurses. 10. Reverend Hale and his background.
ACT II: Cornell Notes
Directions: Complete Cornell notes in Response Notebook.
Page 5 Response Notebook: Key Points & Themes In Notebook 1. Act I conclusion setting versus Act II introduction. 2. Proctor’s marital relationship present state. 3. Mary Warren’s attitude since going to Salem. 4. Elizabeth request of John; his reaction/response 5. Evidence the court admits to convict people as witches. 6. Forces John Proctor’s involvement with court; Risks. 7. The doll; motives. 8. Proctor’s attitude toward Parris; examples. 9. Commandments 10. Rebecca Nurse 11. Martha Corey 12. Elizabeth Proctor ACT III: Cornell Notes Directions: Complete Cornell notes in Response Notebook. Response Notebook: Key Points & Themes in notebook 1. People criticize court proceedings. 2. Parris’s role in the court. 3. Proctor’s persistence. 4. Danforth’s proposal. 5. Mary Warren 6. Abigail Williams 7. Elizabeth’s and her husband’s reputation. 8. Hale changes.
ACT IV: Cornell Notes
Directions: Complete Cornell notes in Response Notebook. Response Notebook: Key Points & Themes in notebook 1. Conditions in Salem. 2. Hale’s current role in the witch trials; how different. 3. Hale: “Most precious” principle. 4. Elizabeth’s confession to John. 5. Signing a confession; dilemmas. 6. John turns to Elizabeth for advice. 7. John’s decision; reaction. 8. John Proctor = Tragic Hero (tragic hero has the potential for greatness but is doomed to fail. He is trapped in a situation where he cannot win. He makes some sort of tragic flaw, and this causes his fall from greatness. Even though he is a fallen hero, he still wins a moral victory, and his spirit lives on.)
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