THE CRUCIBLE UNIT TEST REVIEW ACT I In

THE CRUCIBLE UNIT TEST REVIEW

ACT I

* In the opening scene of the play, Reverend Parris is praying and weeping because his • His daughter Betty is sick. • His niece Abigail has been involved in suspicious activities in the woods. • The town is “infected” with witchcraft.

When Abigail tells John of her love for him, John responds by • John tells her that their affair is over.

Why did Mrs. Putnam send her 8 year -old daughter Ruth to see Tituba? • She wanted to find out if evil spirits killed her children.

What is Rebecca Nurse’s opinion of Betty Parris’s illness? • She believes that it is a childish phase that will soon pass.

Why is Mrs. Putnam quickly convinced that Sarah Osburn is a witch? • Sarah Osburn was the midwife present at some of the births of Ann’s children.

Many of Giles Corey’s neighbors dislike him because of his fondness for _____. • Unjustified lawsuits

Rev. Hale sternly warns the Salem citizens that they must be prepared to accept that • There is no witchcraft in their town.

Rev. Parris openly criticizes John Proctor for • He has not attended church regularly.

*Abigail responds to the witchcraft rumors by • Accusing others, threatening the younger girls, and “confessing” her sins

*What are the motives for the confessions at the end of Act One? • To ensure their own survival and to obtain revenge on others

ACT II

*During John and Elizabeth Proctor’s conversation, the audience learns that • Elizabeth may still be angry at John. • John is angry that Elizabeth still does not trust him. • Elizabeth is now intimidated by their servant Mary. • She wants John to go and testify against Abigail. • John knows the truth of Betty’s “illness. ” • Many people have been accused of witchcraft.

*Mary Warren, their servant, returns from court and tells them • • • Elizabeth has been accused of witchcraft. She has made a poppet (doll) for Elizabeth. She will need to be in court each day. 39 people have been arrested Sarah Osburn will be hanged

Elizabeth realizes that • Abigail wants to kill her and marry John.

*Rev. Hale is kind toward the Proctors, but he is greatly disturbed when he learns that John • Has not attended church regularly • Only 2 of his 3 sons have been baptized • He only knows 9 of the 10 commandments

John tells Rev. Hale that he • He had to take care of his wife. • He dislikes Rev. Parris’s stern preaching and obsession with money.

Giles Corey and Francis Nurse bring what news? • Their wives have been arrested.

Abigail claims that Elizabeth is • Torturing her by stabbing the poppet (doll)

Ezekiel Cheever arrives to arrest • Elizabeth Proctor

Elizabeth calls _____ a murderer. • Abigail Williams

John compares _____ to Pontius Pilate. • Rev. Hale

ACT III

Martha Corey says that she does not know what a witch is, but the judge asks her, • “How do you know then that you are NOT a witch? ”

Judge Danforth says that _____ have been accused and _____ have been condemned. • Over 400 • 71

There are _____ names on the petition defending Nurse, Corey, and Proctor. • 91

*Giles Corey makes which statements in court? • He did not mean to accuse his wife of witchcraft, only of reading too much. • He wrote the petition to free three recently accused. • He accuses Thomas Putnam of getting his young daughter to accuse people in order to obtain their land.

*Mary Warren tries to • Tell the truth • She is herself accused of witchcraft • She accuses John Proctor of witchcraft

John Proctor admits to the court that • He had committed adultery with Abigail Williams.

Rev. Hale becomes convinced that the witchcraft accusations are_____, and he _____. • False; leaves the court

*John Proctor is shocked when his wife Elizabeth • She lied to protect him. • She would not judge him. • She is pregnant with their fourth child.

Judge Danforth orders the arrest of _____. • John Proctor

John Proctor calls _____ a _____. • Abigail Williams; whore

ACT IV

In Act IV, Rev. Hale tries to convince which innocent person to confess and avoid hanging? • Rebecca Nurse • John Proctor

Abigail Williams and _____ have stolen Rev. Parris’s money and left town. • Mercy Lewis

*Rev. Parris tells Judge Danforth that • He feels threatened because a dagger was at his door. • He tries to postpone the executions. • He reports rumors of a rebellion.

19 prisoners are hanged; one, _____, is _____to death instead. • Giles Corey; pressed

Elizabeth Proctor is protected for the time being because of her • pregnancy

Despite several appeals, Judge Danforth refuses to • Postpone the executions.

Judge Hathorne rejoices and calls it a blessing when _____ agrees to _____. • John Proctor; confess himself as a witch.

John admires _____ and _____ for their refusal to confess. • Rebecca Nurse; Martha & Giles Corey

When John tells Elizabeth that he is tempted to _____, she tells him that she cannot _____. • Confess; judge him.

Though John Proctor is willing to _____, he is unwilling to _____. • Confess; give up his reputation; accuse others

ALLEGORY—symbolism present through an entire work • The Crucible was written as a protest against Senator Mc. Carthy’s persecution of supposed Communists in the 1950’s.

ALLITERATION—repetition of initial consonant sounds • “We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom…”

ALLUSION—reference that the author expects readers to know • “Pontius Pilate! God will not let you wash your hands of this!” • “Now remember what the angel Raphael said to the boy Tobias. Remember it. ” • “I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face…and it is my face, and yours, Danforth!”

DIALECT—use of regional speech • All of Tituba’s lines in this play are examples of dialect.

FORESHADOWING—clues or hints about the future • “[Dr. Griggs] bid me tell you, that you might look to unnatural things for the cause of it. ” • “There is prodigious danger in the seeking of loose spirits. I fear it, I fear it. ” • “Let you fear nothing! Another judgment waits us all!”

HYPERBOLE—use of exaggeration to make a point • “I have seen [all my children and grandchildren] through their silly seasons, and when it come on them they will run the Devil bowlegged keeping up with their mischief. ” • “This farm’s a continent when you go foot by foot droppin’ seeds into it. ” • “I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of tears could not melt the resolution of the statutes. ”

IMAGERY—use of one or more of the 5 senses to create a mental picture • ”Lilacs have a purple smell…the smell of nightfall…Massachusetts is a beauty in the spring. ” • “Excellency, abandoned cattle bellow on the highroads, the stink of rotting crops hangs everywhere…better you should wonder how they do not burn your province!”

IRONY—the opposite of what is expected • When questioned by Rev. Hale, John Proctor forgets the one commandment he should remember the best. His wife Elizabeth gently reminds him, “Adultery, John. ” • Judge Danforth tells John, “I have until this moment not the slightest reason to suspect the children may be deceiving me. ” • John Proctor declares his wife’s unfailing honesty: “There are them that cannot sing, and them that cannot weep—my wife cannot lie. ” However, Elizabeth does lie. She covers up John’s sin by committing one herself.

METAPHOR—comparison of 2 unlike things that does NOT use like or as • “Theology, sir, is a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small. ” • • “I have known her, sir…my dear good wife…took this girl soon after, sir, and put her out on the highroad…and being what she is, a lump of vanity, sir…she thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave!”

ONOMATOPOEIA—words whose sound suggest their meaning • “I heard a screeching and gibberish coming from [Tituba’s] mouth!” • ”So many time, Mr. Proctor, [Goody Osburn] come to this very door, beggin’ bread and a cup of cider—and mark this: whenever I turned her away empty, she mumbled. ”

PERSONIFICATION—giving human traits to non-human objects or ideas • I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem—vengeance is walking Salem! Common vengeance writes the law!” • “Do you know, Mr. Proctor, that the entire contention of the state in these trials is that the voice of Heaven is speaking through the children? ” • “Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his truth? ”

SIMILE—comparison of 2 unlike things using like or as • “I saw [Tituba]…swaying like a dumb beast over that fire!” • “Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God’s fingers? • “Mr. Proctor…I beg you be clear, open as the sky, and honest. ” • “I came into this village like a bridegroom to his beloved…”

SYMBOL—object that represents both itself and a larger concept • The poppet (doll)—was used both in The Crucible and in the actual Salem Witch Trials as a symbol of witchcraft. The so-called witches were accused of sticking pins in the poppets in order to harm their human victims through the use of voodoo.

SYNECDOCHE—use of a part to represent the whole • “You are the high court; your word is good enough!”

LITERARY THEORIES • According to Dr. Christopher Booker’s 7 Basic Plots Theory, The Crucible can be labeled as a Rebirth tale. • According to Dr. Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, the character of Rebecca Nurse is a Christ figure.