The Crucible Essay Options
Name:
Date:
Directions: You will have until Monday to plan this essay and two class periods to write it, revise it, and peer edit it. It
will be due on________. Please look at the questions thoroughly and be sure to answer all parts.
1.Think about the views of Puritan life that you formed after reading Jonathan Edward’s “Sinner’s in the Hands
of an Angry God.” In what ways did reading the The Crucible confirm or challenge these views? Write a complete and
well-written essay explaining your position using specific support detail from both texts.
2. An Allegory is a work of fiction or drama in which the elements ---characters, settings, and plot--- work
together to teach a moral lesson. Frequently, this involves using things, people, and settings as symbols. The
Crucible was written at the time of McCarthyism and the Committee to investigate “un-American Activities” and Miller
has said it was meant to teach a lesson about the dangers of those political practices. In a complete and well-written
essay, explain how The Crucible is an allegory with support details from the class presentations and from the play.
3. A tragedy is a dramatic work that presents the downfall of a dignified character. The story operates on a cause and effect relationship: the
events are set in motion by poor judgment or a poor decision that leads inevitably to a disastrous conclusion (usually death). In a complete and wellwritten essay, explain how the details in The Crucible build upon each other to create a perfect tragedy.
4. A tragic hero is a dignified character, usually a main character, whose basic goodness and superiority are marred by a tragic flaw that brings
about or contributes to his or her downfall. The tragic hero recognizes his or her own flaw but only after it is too late. In a complete and well-written
essay, point out a tragic hero from The Crucible and explain the tragic flaw that lead to his or her downfall. Use the details from the play as support for your
position.
5.T he term Catharsis, or “emotional cleansing,” was first used by the Greek Philosopher Aristotle to define the process by which an audience
member is overcome by emotion upon watching the resolution of a tragedy. It was said that the display of this emotion had a purging or cleansing
effect on the audience, which caused them to feel better when they are done watching. In modern drama, catharsis occurs in conjunction with the
identification (or empathy) with a main character’s struggles and the seemingly impossible circumstances they endure. In a complete and wellwritten essay, explain how the details of The Crucible lead the audience to catharsis..
6. Greed, self-profit, self-promotion, and self-protection are all common motivations for decision-making by several important characters in The
Crucible. These characteristics lead to different definitions of justice and, ultimately, to the corruption of the court and the ill-fate of many
characters in the play. In a complete and well-written essay, discuss how this is true. Use the details from the play as support for your position.
7. John Proctor and Reverend John Hale may be called dynamic characters or characters that undergo significant changes in the course of the
play. In particular, these two characters undergo a crisis of their consciences and a severe change in their behavior due to guilt. In a complete and
well-written essay, discuss how this is true. Use the details from the play as support for your position.
8. A foil is a character that provides a striking contrast to another character. For example, a practical character may foil a flighty character. A
writer might use foil to emphasize certain traits of another character or simply to set off or enhance this character through contrast. In The
Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams are perfect foils to each other. In a complete and well-written essay, use the details from the play to explain
what Miller emphasizes in Elizabeth by presenting Abigail as a foil.
9.Film makers often make choices for cinematic interest and time that alter the characters or the theme of a film. How do the film version and the
written version of The Crucible differ and how does the difference change our interpretation of the characters and the overall theme of the film? Discuss these
differences and their effect on interest in a complete and well-written essay.
10. A central conflict is the most important conflict in a story from which all other conflicts are generated. The central conflict is connected to the
major theme we are to learn from a literary work. In The Crucible, the central conflict is seemingly unrelated to the other important conflicts, and
yet, had it not occurred, the rest of the events in the play would have had no foundation and the major lesson would not have been learned. What
was the central conflict in the The Crucible? How did this conflict create a chain reaction of problems that became larger than it? What lesson are we to learn
from analyzing all of these conflicts together? Write a complete and well-written essay explaining your answer using examples from the play as evidence.
11. *In “How can we understand their Hatred?” Elie Wiesel writes about the dangers of fanaticism. In that essay, Wiesel cites several reasons why
fanaticism is able to flourish and what people can do to stop it. Write about how the points in his essay parallel the points in The Crucible and discuss what
the reader is to learn about the world by studying both works together. Write a complete and well-written essay explaining your answer using examples from
the essay and play as evidence. * A link to this essay is on the website.
The Crucible Essay Rubric
Name:
Date:

Has an introduction that captures attention, gives background and
introduces the topic (10)

Has a thesis statement that has a specific subject and feeling to guide
the rest of the essay (10)

Has at least three developmental paragraphs with proper paragraph
structure. Each paragraph has only one topic in each.(10)

Each point is illustrated with complete detail, so the reader can visualize
the point that is trying to be proven. Specific Examples are used to support
arguments. Incorporates quotations seamlessly. (10)

Analyses question with clarity and a clear understanding of the topic
(10)

Support points are accurate (10).

Grammar and sentence structure generally proper and spelling is
generally accurate (10)

Developmental Paragraphs support the thesis (10)

Conclusion restates the main idea and relates them to the reader (10)

Essay has unity (10)

Has coherence, reads logically from one point to the next, and has
transitions Words are carefully chosen and are the best choice for the
sentence. (10)

Connects the issues from The Crucible to the real world and explains
their importance to the reader (10)
Total Points: _____