Sample Quote Responses from Period 3

Sample quote responses from period 3

Read each sample. We will discuss and critique these samples in class tomorrow. Note what is good about each one as well as what each needs for improvement.

Sample #1

“No uncorrupted man may fear this court” (91). Danforth tells Hale that an innocent man need not be afraid of the court after Hale tells him that “there is a prodigious fear of this court in the country” (90). This is verbal irony since Danforth strongly believes the justice of the courts and the “prodigious guilt in the country” (91). It is especially ironic that the statement is the exact opposite if what is happening for the guilty liars are openly supporting the court proceedings and are pointing the finger at the innocent.

Sample #2 Said by Danforth to everyone in the room, “witchcraft is ipso facto…who may possibly be a witness to it? The witch and the victim.” This is verbal irony because even though he knows it is “ipso facto”, he still accuses the victims of witchcraft without proper evidence. If he had not followed what he believed in, they would have condemened so many witches and the plot would not have been so long. It contrasts with the current American justice system because now people would not just rely on the victim and the accused as evidence like in Salem.

Sample #3

After Proctor pleads for Elizabeth’s vindication, Elizabeth is asked to share her knowledge of the affair Proctor confessed to Danforth and the court. Unfortunately Elizabeth announces to the court that Proctor had no special relations with Abigail. In turn, Proctor exclaims, “Elizabeth, I have confessed it” (105). This quote plays on many different levels. It revelas an irony of fate; if Elizabeth had confessed to her knowledge of Proctor’s affair, everything would have been “dandy”. However, because of Elizabeth’s lie, the plot thickens and the story continues.