The Crucible and The Salem Witch Trials
The purpose of this webquest is to give students an opportunity to build a
general understanding of the events surrounding and the people involved in the
Salem Witch Trials prior to reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller. This webquest
will be used as an integrated lesson between English and history classes and be
targeted for high school students.
Introduction
She's a Witch! He's a Witch! Are you a Witch?
What would you do if a loved one was accused of being a witch? What if YOU
were accused?
In the Salem Witch Trials hundreds were accused and arrested, while twenty-one
people lost their lives. Since 1692 investigators have been trying to uncover the
truth about what truly happened to cause this outbreak of accusations and
witchcraft, and for the past 300 years people have been fascinated by this
horrific event in human history. One famous modern playwright, Arthur Miller,
wrote a play involving the events of the Salem Witch Trials.
He attempts to answer questions about real life events from both 1692 and the
1950s through his drama. How does one get labeled a witch? What caused
the accusations? Who were the victims and who were the accusers? How were
people found guilty or innocent? What evidence and testimony did the judges
rely on? What other factors were causing problems in the community?
Could something like this ever happen again?
Task
Your task... To research and build an understanding of Puritan life.
To investigate and analyze primary and secondary sources about the Salem
Witch Trials.
To determine what were the roles of the people involved, what were the reasons
behind the accusations, what happened during the trials, and what was the
aftermath of this event.
To understand why Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible and understand the historical
events surrounding the writing and publication of the play.
To determine whether or not an event like this could ever happen again.
By the end of this WebQuest, you will have enough information to write a
newspaper article highlighting some of the events from the Salem Witch Trials
and comparing/contrasting it to events during the time of Miller's writing. Why
did Arthur Miller write The Crucible?
Process
New Learning with Research
Part One
Research Puritan Life using the following websites:
Source A http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/purdef.htm
Source B http://mary-trotter-kion.suite101.com/growing-up-in-salem-massachusetts-a7559
Source C http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/puritans.html
Source D http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/puritan2.html
Source E http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/puritan/purhist.html
Answer each of the following questions as completely and fully as possible.
1) What was the primary influence in a Puritan's life?
2) How did Puritans live? Describe their lifestyle.
3) What was life like for Puritan children?
4) How is Salem Town different from Salem Village?
5) What were some of the problems plaguing the people living in Salem?
Part Two
Research the Salem Witch Trials using the following
websites:
Source F http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm
Source G http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/salem/home.html
Source H http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/salem.htm
Source I http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/education/index.shtml
Source J
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/salemwitchtrials/life/
Answer each of the following questions as completely and fully as possible.
1) Who were the accused and who were the accusers?
2) What were some of the reasons (both stated in the trials and implied by your
further research) people were accused?
3) What evidence from the accusers was used in court?
4) How did the court find the accused innocent or guilty?
5) Why did the Witchcraft Trials end? What were some of the consequences or
aftermath of the trials?