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Selected Projects from The Crucible
Choose a project from the list below. Complete your project carefully and
fully. You will be graded on historical authenticity, creativity, and
thoroughness.
1. Choose a character from the play. Write three one-page journal
entries that this character may have written during the time of the
witch trials.
2. Write a ballad summarizing the life and death of one of the
characters.
3. Choose your favorite character. Write the story in a letter form
(first person) to a relative still in England. Be sure you follow through
from the beginning of the play until the last hangings.
4. Since colonial Salem was a theocracy, it was logical to test characters
based on knowledge of the Bible. How can we test or measure
character in the U.S. today? Devise a character test for “good
American citizens.” It needs to be in a form we can administer to
students in the class/school/faculty.
5. Investigate the system of civil law by which the Salem Witch Trials
were conducted. You need to include a description of the trial process
including the nature and role of the jury, witnesses, evidence, proof,
confession, and punishment.
6. Make a profile of the ideal early American settler. What character
traits would enable a person not only to survive the demands of
pioneering but also to flourish?
7. Establishing a colony in the New World was a daunting undertaking
filled with danger. Plan an expedition to found a settlement in New
England in the early seventeenth century. (1) Decide what to take
(and why). (2) List the supplies you will need. (3) Draw up a
constitution and laws your community will need to operate smoothly.
8. Make a blueprint, model, or scale drawing of a typical house in colonial
New England based on information you research in American history.
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9. In Puritan villages it was common for families to hire young, single
women as live-in servants. In return for their services, these girls
were given their room and board. The practice continues today as au
pairs. Design a booklet that today’s nannies and au pairs could use as a
guide. Your booklet should address such issues as child care, food,
safety, payment, and legal issues.
10. The Puritans were haunted by imagined terrors of the night. The
most sinister was the witch – an ordinary citizen (usually but not
always a woman) who had given herself/himself to the devil. Witches
kept beer from fermenting and butter from hardening, prevented
conception, and caused miscarriages. They were thought to cast spells
on animals and humans, causing sickness and death. Create a picture
or model of a witch.
11. Tituba came from Barbados, an island in the West Indies settled by
the British in 1627. Slaves were brought from Africa to Barbados to
work on the plantations. Research the island’s geography and climate
to find out why it was so desirable for colonization. You must have
both a poster AND a report as well as other interesting activities.
12. Today we might administer a polygraph or “lie detector” test to
determine innocence or guilt. Research polygraphy and devise a set of
questions you would ask Mary Warren, Goody Osburn, Elizabeth
Proctor, John Proctor or any of the other characters accused of
witchcraft in the play.
13. Years after the witchcraft trials, a monument was erected to the
victims of the Salem Witch Trials. Design a suitable monument (a
memorial garden, a statue, or a plaque) to commemorate the events
and victims of this time.
14. Since its debut on January 22, 1953, The Crucible has rarely been
off-stage. Select a cast of twenty-one present-day actors for a 2011
film version. After the name of each actor, write a brief
statement/paragraph telling why that performer would be a good
choice for that role.