Small Group Review of the Crucible
Directions:
You and your group members will respond to the question(s) assigned to your group. The
response will be in written form and must be presented to the class in the form of a
discussion. (In other words, your group will lead the class in a discussion/debate on the
topic given in the question.) Your group will have 20 – 30 min. to prepare a response and
5 – 10 minutes to present the information. In a sense you are teaching the class.
1. In the Crucible we are presented with dramatic foils. (Foils are characters that
contrast one another) Choose two sets of characters that are foils and explain how
they are different using a Venn Diagram. Make sure you are very detailed and
provide specific examples from the play.
2. Take one of the following citations listed below and either attack or defend the
opinion presented. Make sure you use specific examples from the play that will
support your opinion.
a. “The way the Crucible speaks to us today has less to do with any specific
instance of collective indictment than it does with the relentless group
mentality of Modern America, where people, crushed under
bureaucratic/consumerism/media culture, rely more and more on forces
outside themselves to determine what to like, what to say, what to believe”
(Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly).
b. The Crucible still speaks to weaknesses of the human character, but stretch
as you will, there is simply nothing in today’s society to match the
paranoia that McCarthy and others exploited. So we are left with a story
about a community of people so ignorant and superstitious you would
probably look up the village idiot for advice.” (Jack Mathews, Newsday)
c. Forget McCarthyism, the Crucible is simply a colonial fatal attraction.
(Richard Corliss, Time)
d. The final irony of the Crucible is that it could not flourish during the
McCarthy Era. The Crucible was not about a particular social deformation,
but rather something more universal – fear of forces one cannot
understand and control” (Victor Navasky, New York Times)
3. What role does sex and sexual repression play in the Crucible?
4. How does the symbolism play a role in the Crucible?
5. Discuss how the following themes are presented in the play:
a. Community Unity and Exclusion
b. Justice vs. revenge
c. Ignorance vs. wisdom
d. Order vs. individual freedom