Due__________
Name _____________________________Date assigned___________
THE CRUCIBLE, by Arthur Miller Essay
Essay Options: Choose only one topic, MLA formatted paper, 3 – 5 pages text and works
cited page.
IT MUST BE TYPED!!
HINT: Use quotes from text and from other resources distributed in class to help you.
Show off your knowledge of the play. The essay must be done in MLA format and be sure
to include a “works cited” page.
1. Present Abigail Williams as the most evil force in the play, “The Crucible.” (Define “evil”
then cite different incidents which she created and was involved in throughout the entire play
that proved her to be “evil.”
2. Present John Proctor as a tragic hero found in “The Crucible.” BE SURE TO USE THE
FORMAL LITERARY DEFINITION as your guide. Do not guess the definition.
3. Defend the theme as found in The Crucible: “to be safe, people decide to follow along with
the crowd.” (cite who these people are, the times in which they “followed” for their own
safety, and why, in particular.)
4. Choose one theme from the list below, and in detail describe how it is revealed in the play
and what overall effect it had on the outcome of the play, The Crucible. What characters, in
particular, and HOW were they guilty of such a sin? What did it do to them and the village?
BE SURE TO USE A FORMAL DEFINITION OF THE SIN as your guide.
• Pride
• Greed/Avarice
• Envy
• Wrath/Anger • Lust
• Gluttony
• Sloth
You may choose to focus on just Abigail and explain how each of these vices fuel into each
other while following her actions throughout the play.
5. Imagine a jury has been selected by the people of Salem Village, and has permitted John
Proctor a lawyer, and they have hired you. This is your chance to save John Proctor. Write a
lawyer’s closing argument as you are seeking a verdict of “not guilty” for John Proctor, who
were sentenced to hang for committing the crime of witchcraft. (Cite all evidence and
events that would portray their innocence. All the details, quotes, and evidence you will find
in the document, of the play, The Crucible.)
6. Alternate theses.. or topics such as
 COMMUNISM - (how the play was Allegorical)
 How World history repeats itself, humans never learning from their mistakes.... Cite other
events in history which are similar and we should’ve learned from, but didn’t etc..