The Crucible: Act One Questions

I would describe Abigail Williams character as selfish and lining person.

Abigail Williams plays a significant role in advancing the action of Act I of The Crucible. How would you describe her character?

Parris wanted to know what the girls were doing, so did Senator McCarthy by questioning them so many times.

After World War II, people in the United States feared the threat of Communist ideas infiltrating the United States. Senator McCarthy used ruthless tactics to purge the United States of suspected communists. McCarthy's tactics were indeed more threatening than the people he persecuted. Describe how Reverend Parris's tactics to get girls to confess to witchcraft are very similar to McCarthy's "witch hunts."

They are talking about WITCHCRAFT so much that it is spreading rumors of it.

Explain how Parris's problems with his congregation help to fan the belief that witches are present in Salem. Use examples from the drama to support your responses.

He is not a good minister he is more concerned about himself then about others he believes he is the final authority what is good for the soul and what isn't he does not believe that members of his congregation do anything without his permission.

Explain how Parris's view of himself as a minister affects his congregation. Use details from the drama to support your response.

Rev. Hale's are respected, along with the bible. Giles Cory was suspicion of books. He said that his wife was reading books and that while she was reading them he couldn't pray, when she stopped he could pray again (cause of suspicion)

How are books both respected and the causes of suspicion in Act One.

I would describe that Abigail and the Proctors relationship as awkward.

How would you describe the relationship between Abigail and the Proctors in Act I of The Crucible? Give one example from the play that shed light on their relationship.

Abigail is a bad influence and she gets it from her parents deaf.

In Act I of The Crucible, there's a scene the girls are alone conversing with one another. What can you infer about Abigail's influence over the other girls from the scene? Where does her influence come from?

She was being nerves on what the might do to her. They believe that she did it.

What motivates Tituba to begin naming names to Reverend Hale toward the end of Act I of The Crucible? How does her naming of names advance an important part of the drama of the play?

Many of her babies died and the only successful child (Ruth) was acting a little strange

Why does Ann Putnam believe that witch craft exits in Salem?

Says that the girls are not possessed just being silly. She tell Rev. Hale not to talk about witch craft because it will make people think more about witches, she tell Proctor not to talk about Rev.

Describe one way that the character Rebecca Nurse attempts to foil, frustrate other characters through logic in Act One of this drama.

So they wouldn't get publicly hung, whipped, stoned or burned at the stake like Abigail threatened.

Explain why the girls are more willing to lie and blame others than to tell the truth about what they did in the woods. Use two details from the drama to support your response.

It revealed that Abigail had a bad life after her parents died.

Read the following example of dialogue and then explain what is about the character through the dialogue: ABIGAIL: Now look at you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things and I will come to you in the the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning the I will shudder you. And you know I can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents' heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down.

It revealed that Rebecca speaks the truth and believes that there is no witchcraft.

Read the following example of dialogue and then explain what is about the character through the dialogue: REBECCA: I think she'll wake up in time. Pray calm yourselves.... I think she'll wake when she tries of it. A child's spirit is like a child, you can never catch it by running after it; you must stand still, and, for love, it will soon itself come back.

The girls were dancing in the woods, Parris saw a dress on the ground and it stirred up such suspicion because thick the girls were contaminating with the devil.

The plot developments come quickly in Act I of The Crucible. Much of the gathering hysteria over witchcraft arises from the episode in the woods involving Abigail, Tituba, and the other girls. Recount this key plot development: what the girls were doing in the woods, what Parris saw when he came across them, and why their activity has stirred up such suspicion and disapproval.

Miller's book brings light to the idea that governments can be corrupt and individuals have to be mindful of this before believing in ruling bodies' claims of purity without proper evidence based in valid, reliable data.

Thinking About the Essential Question: How does literature shape or reflect society? Arthur Miller had a specific, critical agenda in mind in the writing The Crucible-to show the damage that can result from widespread suspicion, paranoia, and repression in a society. What kind of picture of the sixteenth-century Puritan society of Salem does Miller convey in Act I of The Crucible? Develop your answer supported by details from Act I of the play.

Abigail is Parris s niece and she lives in his house her negative actions reflect negatively on him

Why is Parris so worried about Abigail's reputation?